25, Splitting a boulder

Nash

I knew this was going to happen sooner or later after what Tite had done last night. I had tried to explain it to her, but her reasons for doing it made me realise she wouldn’t let it go. Not that time and not any other time in the future. And fuck if I didn’t admire her for it. I was almost sure it made both her and me idiots, but so be it. Seeing her take Lora down last night had been something of the sexiest things I had ever seen. Had she been any other woman, I would have dragged her into the closest bathroom and shown her just how much I liked her little show. The thing between us had stopped me. Partly because I was worried she would beat me up if I tried, and partly because I had a feeling that if I let loose the need for her, I wouldn’t be able to rein it back again. Now as she faced down with Chief, I would have her back. Shadow had pointed out that Tite wasn’t wrong about what she said, and I knew it without him convincing me. Just like I knew I should have cleared the air with her last night. It was what I had intended to do, but then I had let my worry take over and I had been an ass. I would try to do better today. I hadn’t got off to a good start, but seeing her with a half-naked Shadow had done things to me. Feelings I never used to feel came to the surface. Again I felt like an idiot. Fuck! I needed to get a grip. I focused back on what was happening in front of me.

“Chief, you know we all value a stable club,” Doc started. “But what happened last night is why none of the old ladies want to come to the clubhouse any longer. I don’t want Essme to feel like she can’t come with me. And truth be told, I miss not being able to spend time with her.”

“Maya refuses to come, but then she gets worried as she knows the sweet butts are out of control and she thinks they will get to me. Like that would fucking happen. I hate that she has to feel like that. She has the same fucking right, if not more, to be here as the sweet butts,” Ink said. There was an agreeing murmur.

“Have the lot of you gone fucking soft? Want us to open a daycare in the fucking basement? This is a MC club!” Chief barked. I could hear Tite snort.

“It’s not weak to want to protect the rights of your old lady,” she told everyone. “Standing up and protecting the one you care about, whether that is a brother or an old lady, is at the core of why we have clubs like these.”

“That’s right. Society turned their backs on us, so we have built our own society. We will protect what is important to us,” Bones agreed. I knew the club was on top of his list. He would protect it at all costs, and he had been worried that it was deteriorating.

“We have become complacent. The chaos the other clubs have brought into our club has made us slack when it comes to internal matters,” I said. Tite gave me a smile and I felt like puffing out my chest. I was a fucking idiot.

“What if that is the point?” Tite asked.

“What do you mean?” Doc asked.

“What if putting pressure on you from the outside is a way to make you overlook internal issues?” she suggested. Her brain was a thing of beauty. The idea had never crossed my mind.

“Are you fucking saying we have a traitor in our club?!” Chief asked.

“I don’t know. Not necessarily. It can be an outside party that is looking to make you weaker. A way to split boulders is to find a natural weakness, a crack and fill it with water and let it freeze. The ice expanding will crack the boulder,” she said.

“So an outsider wants to destroy the club and instead of coming for us, they find a weakness and let us self destroy?” Ink asked. Tite shrugged.

“It is what I would do if I didn’t have the manpower or resources needed for a head on attack,” she simply said. Her statement made me relieved she was on our side. I would not like to have her as an opponent.

“Even if that is true. What do we do about it?” Doc asked.

“We get the club back into shape,” Bones said with a smirk, looking at Tite. She nodded.

“The stronger the club is, the harder it will be to find a crack to pour water into,” she agreed.

“More lunches?” I asked. Tite laughed and I smiled.

“Sure. And other activities. Everyone should be welcome. Since I know you aren’t keen on having the kids over, which I understand. We will have to find another location to include them. And there will still be beer drinking and adult time. We just have to make sure everyone is included in it,” she said. I liked the plan more now than I had when she had talked about it the first time.

“We will talk about it in church,” Chief said. It was an unspoken message to drop the subject. The only one at the table who wouldn’t attend was Tite. It was a clear marking by our prez that he didn’t want her involved. I wanted to object. It was a shit move, but Tite didn’t seem to mind, so I let it go. It was time for church and I took her aside.

“We will be heading into the meeting,” I told her.

“Sure. Good luck,” she said. She seemed in a better mood than before the talk.

“Will you be okay? It can take a couple of hours,” I asked.

“I’m not a child. I have things to occupy myself with,” she reassured me. A warning bell started ringing.

“Fuck, Tite! Just don’t do something really stupid. At least wait for me to get back out to do the real stupid shit. Okay?”

“You worry too much, Nash. Relax. I will be good. Well, goodish. Now run along or you will miss church,” she told me. I had learnt my lesson in arguing with her, so I gave up and walked into the room.

“What is she going to do?” Bones asked me and looked at Tite who was walking away.

“Fuck if I know. But I have a feeling it will take five years off of my life,” I told him. He chuckled and patted my back. I honestly didn’t mind as much as I let on. Life with Tite in it was at least not boring, and she did have some good points. Now we just needed to convince our prez they were good ideas. Luckily for us, most of the members sitting around the table had an old lady. It was just Chief, Bones and me who were single. Last night seemed to have awoken something in the others. They realised they didn’t have to just agree with how things were. We could change them.