Fuck. Damn. Shit. Alcohol can really screw a man over. I needed to go apologize to Grace. See if I can fix the mess I made last night. First things first—get rid of the Skylar.
“Skylar, I didn't mean a word of that last night. I was drunk and stupid.” I grouped up her bra and panties from the floor and tossed them at her face. “You better be gone in ten minutes.”
I grabbed my jeans and went to the bathroom, closing the door and locking it. Skylar screamed and cursed at me for a full five minutes. I stared at myself in the mirror, wondering how I got to this specific moment in my life. Did I always make the wrong decision? Did I even deserve someone like Grace.
Finally Skylar left and I was able to escape from the bathroom. I went downstairs to find Slade sitting at the bar nursing a beer.
“Rough night?” he asked, his head swaying back and forth. He was still drunk from last night and still going.
“You could say that,” I replied, sitting down next to him.
Slade cracked open a beer and slid it over. “Kill that hangover.”
The thought of more alcohol made me want to empty my stomach all over the bar. But Slade was right, this would get rid of my hangover. I shut my eyes and took a few sips, suppressing the urge to throw up.
“Feel better?” Slade ran his fingers through his long dark hair. Why he never gets it cut is beyond me. But the girls go crazy over it.
I set the beer down and wiped my mouth. “A little. Do you remember what I did last night?”
Slade laughed. “You mean you don't remember?”
“I remember being with Grace and drinking a ton after she left.”
Slade laughed harder, choking on some beer. “Let's just say that you went a little crazy. Tried to pick a fight with anyone who walked by. Eventually Randy had to kick you out. Took five of us to drag you out of there. Your ex-girlfriend followed you home like a lost puppy.”
Embarrassment flooded my cheeks. “Randy is going to kill me.”
“Don't worry about it, we left him a big tip. At least you didn't get stabbed again.”
“Cheers to that.” We clinked our beer cans and continued drinking.
Caleb came over and draped his arms across both of us. “Mason said we have a meeting in an hour.”
“Better not be one of those boring financial meetings with Isaac. We don't need to know all that shit,” Slade said.
I downed the rest of my beer in seconds, hoping it would erase the memory of Grace. It didn't.
—
Mason slammed the gavel into the wood table. “I know everyone's busy but we need to talk about the Sacks County Annual Picnic.”
A collective groan echoed through the meeting room. Every year the Mayor Rimbull, put on a big picnic to get Sacks county together. And every year, the Black Widow MC donated a sizable contribution. It was the one time of the year that we could really make our presence known. To show the community that we were a force of good and not evil.
Mason turned to Isaac. “How are the coffers doing?”
Isaac licked the tip of his finger and flipped through pages. “We're down a lot from last year.”
Slade leaned over to me. “Told you it was going to be a financial meeting.”
Isaac sneered at Slade and continued, “We can only donate about half of what we gave last year.”
Mason nodded. “Well it's better than nothing. Hopefully some of the richer members in the community can make up the difference. Caleb, try Jonathan who owns the strip club and see if he wants to help out this year.”
Caleb nodded and took some notes.
One of the prospects knocked on the door and opened it up slightly. He must have been new because I didn't recognize him. We went through prospects pretty quickly around here. They tended to have a short lifespan.
“What is it?” Mason asked annoyed.
“Mrs. Kramer is still here waiting.”
Mason rubbed his eyes. “I totally forgot. Tell her we'll have a decision in a moment.”
The prospect retracted his head and closed the door.
Mason folded his hands and began, “Mrs. Kramer came to me this morning with a problem.”
“Mrs. Kramer?” Isaac asked.
“She's the one that owns the coffee place on Main,” Mason replied. Isaac nodded. “Her husband has been a little rough with her lately. Her two black eyes and bruises confirm the story.”
“Why did she come to us and not the police?” I said.
“She doesn't want him arrested. Mr. Kramer runs half of the coffee shop and she can't do it without him.”
“So what does she want us to do about it?” Big Mike asked.