“You still visit him?”

“We all do from time to time. Make sure he’s taken care of.”

“You do?”

“Fuck yeah. He’s still a brother. When he’s out, we’ll help him get set up again too.” What I don’t say is we’ll transition him back into the club slowly. Prison can put you under the influence of a lot of different elements. Out of desperation to survive, inmates can end up aligning with people you’d never do business with on the outside. Sometimes those ties are hard to break, even after they’ve been released. We’ll take care of Grinder, but it will be a while before he’s allowed back at the table for sensitive club business.

It’ll be awkward as fuck since he went in as an officer of the club. And hell, I might not even be there to help him adjust if I’m still taking care of Sway’s charter. Sway’s managed to fuck up my life in so many ways I can’t keep track.

“Go straight on nine,” Lilly prompts, pulling me out of my thoughts.

The Tipsy Owl looks more like a house than a restaurant. The parking lot’s so damn small, I’m glad we took Lilly’s car instead of my truck.

Ted’s waiting for us on the back porch. His face brightens when he sees Lilly, making me want to punch him again.

The kiss on the cheek and, “Hey, babe,” he greets her with has me ready to throat-punch him.

Should be a fun evening.

There isn’t enough wine in The Thirsty Owl to make me forget this dude tried to marry my woman.

I don’t care why he asked. For Lilly’s sake, I try to behave. Mostly I listen to them talk about stuff throughout dinner, only adding comments or grunts to the conversation as necessary.

“Not quite how I thought we’d spend our night together,” I say against her ear after the waitress clears our table.

“Well, I appreciate it,” she whispers back. In a louder voice, she says to her friend, “Ted, you’re headed home tomorrow?”

“First thing in the morning.”

The waitress returns and sets the check in the middle of the table. Ted reaches for it, but I snatch it up first. “You’re our guest, Ted.”

He sits back and gives me a quick smirk. “Next time, I’ll buy.”

My smile’s so tight, my jaw aches. “That’s cute you think there’ll be a next time.”

Lilly glares at me, and I wink at her.

Ted’s not offended. His mouth twitches in amusement. Maybe he’s not so bad. “When you come out to pack up her place, I’ll take you guys out.”

“Can’t wait.” That’s not a lie. I can’t wait until she’s back here permanently.