Dex’s heart stopped.
The leather vest in front of him had the Demon Brethren patches and logo, and the bottom rocker readprospect. He’d been accepted, even if only for a probation period. Despite him being young and openly gay, the club had voted to give him a shot. He could hardly believe his eyes and had to push his bowl away to avoid staining the precious garment.
“Oh fuck! Oh fuck!” He grinned, rubbing his face when it tingled. “What did they say? Do I go meet the prez now? He’s in a bad mood, isn’t he?”
Hammer laughed and gave his shoulder a little squeeze. “You already have a nickname,Grinder.”
Shane frowned, and his lips twisted as if he’d bitten into a lemon. “Is it because you can hear the Grindr notifications wherever he goes?”
Hammer’s eyes darkened, as if a gray cloud passed through. “It’s an inside joke.”
Frank’s loaf-sized hands flattened on the table. “What about?”
Grinding people into mince.
Dex stopped breathing when Hammer met his gaze, but instead of revealing how Dex had spent time following the attack on Cora’s home, Hammer said, “Club business.”
“No, no, no. What the fuck is this?” Frank asked, getting up from his chair so fast his head barely missed the lamp hanging far too low for a home inhabited by someone as tall as him.
Dex glanced at him, surprised. “It’s a prospect vest. It means I’ll be doing a trial period with the club, and they’ll decide if I have it in me to be one of them. I don’t yet know what exactly—”
“I know what itmeans! What I don’t know, is what the fuck it’s doing here!” Frank roared at Hammer like a wolf protecting her cubs from a bear. “You want to get him killed? Why don’t you just fucking shoot him in the head to save time?”
Shane got up as well. “Frank… Calm down. Let’s just finish our nice meal and talk it over.”
Hammer put down his empty bowl before wiping his lips with the back of his hand. “I understand you’re worried, he is your family, but he was the one to ask me for this, and I’m not gonna keep him in a golden cage. He is more than capable of standing on his own two feet. And he will have me to back him up.”
Frank’s face turned dark red. “Leave. And take the fucking vest,” he yelled, ever louder.
Hammer met Dex’s gaze and stood. “Thank you for the food. It was just as you described it.”
Dex wasn’t sure whether he should grab his hand or the vest. “No, stay. Please. Frank can’t tell me what to do.”
Hammer gave him a brief pat on the shoulder but left the vest on the table. “I don’t want to overstay my welcome. I’ll be outside for a while.”
“And take this with you,” Frank said, but when he reached for the patched treasure, Dex snatched it into his arms.
“No fucking way!”
Hammer sighed and faced Frank with the same calm he’d presented since stepping through the threshold. “This is your home, and I’m gonna show myself out, but if you want him to feel like it’shishome too, this isn’t the right way to do it. Goodnight,” he said, locked eyes with each of them, and walked out, leaving a cold hole in the place where he’d just been sitting.
Frank stormed toward Dex the moment the door shut. “Are you fucking kidding me? People die when they get involved in this kind of shit!”
“Frank, Jesus—” Shane said, but didn’t approach, as if he were worried about potential fallout. “I hate to say this, but Hammer is right about one thing—Dex is an adult.”
“But his tiny brain resides in his dick! Can’t you see he’ll doanythingthis guy asks him to? How am I supposed to protect him from that, once he starts prospecting?” Frank spread his massive arms, blocking the door, as if he knew how much Dex wanted to follow Hammer outside.
Dex shook his head as a weight made his chest heavy. “I always took it in stride, because yeah, I fuck up a lot, but now I see that you really think I’m just a dumb waste of space. Nobody asked you to protect me!”
Shane bit his lip, inching between them as if he expected a fight to start any second, “He doesn’t mean it, he’s just—”
“Yourmotherasked me to take care of you, because she couldn’t handle you any longer, and I’ll be damned if I let her down!” Frank barked, his black eyes intense with fury.
Dex recoiled at the sudden stab in his ribcage. “Well, she’s dead, so it’s not like she can be angry at any of us!”
Frank slapped his face, then rapidly stepped back. “I have clearly failed long ago.”
“This is getting real fucking out of hand, all right?” Shane said, raising both hands as he stood between them. “You’re both saying things you’re gonna regret.”