Page 104 of Hard Corps (Selected Sinners MC 7)

He grinned and nodded his head. “Club’s already discussed it. There’s an Austin chapter of the Sinners. If you go back, you’ll just transfer to that chapter.”

“Hell, I knew there was an Austin chapter, but I had no idea…”

“Toad’s our Sergeant-At-Arms, and he’s not only my fucking brother-in-law, he’s one of the best motherfuckers in the MC. He’s solid as a rock. Hell, we’ve talked about it, Axton, Biscuit, Otis and me. Only thing we can come up with that makes him different is that he isn’t afraid of anything on earth, and he always thinks before he acts. It’s a result of his training. He was a Marine. You were a Marine. Hell, you were his fucking Platoon Sergeant.”

He slapped his hand against my shoulder and shrugged his shoulders. “I know you don’t want to hear it, but you’re his fucking hero. He spent a lifetime thinking you were dead, and now that he knows you’re alive, he can’t stop talking about you.”

My knee-jerk reaction was to say no, but for some reason I couldn’t seem to bring myself to it.

“Let me think about it,” I said.

“Sounds good.” He responded.

The side door of the house creaked as Katie opened the door. “Lunch is ready.”

She had proven to be one of the most caring, kind, and compassionate women to ever exist. She stayed up at night playing Scrabble with my father – an old tradition of him and my mother’s – and listened to every bullshit story he tried to tell her. She spent her days doing laundry, cooking, and folding clothes, and as much as I believed tasks like those should always be shared, she refused, and insisted I let her do what she described as her work.

Having her as my wife would truly make me the happiest man on earth.

I turned toward the doorway and pressed my hands against my hips. “What would you think about me becoming a Sinner?”

She lifted her head slightly. “Hi, Jackson.”

As her eyes fell to meet mine, she responded. “Becoming a sinner? You’re the devil himself, Alec.”

“Katie,” Jackson said with a nod.

“A Selected Sinner,” I said.

“Sounds good to me,” she said. “You staying for lunch, Jackson?”

“I am now,” he said.

As we walked toward the house I thought of what it would be like to be reunited with my old squad leader, Toad. Riding with him, doing my best to protect him, all the while knowing he had my back…

“So no prospecting?” I asked as I stepped through the door.

“Not a bit,” he responded.

Tight knit bunch of fuckers, aren’t ya?” I asked.

“Devil looks after his own,” he said.

“That the club’s motto?” I asked.

“Sure is,” he said.

Sounds like a place I could call home.