Twisted Steel: An MC Anthology: Second Edition by Elizabeth Knox (top 5 ebook reader txt) 📕

behind his MC. The same place he spread his wife’s. He wanted to be able to keep an eye on us all. He said, “If the wind picks up, you can feel my presence. It isn’t ever goodbye.” Two weeks ago, he said those words. Every day, we would sit and talk. We never brought up Bull again.

Levi, my blood brother, stands to my right. Mom and Dad came by and visited with Angus before he passed away in his sleep last night. I found out Mom brought him many meals and helped take him to the doctor when he needed before he said it was his time and he accepted his fate, to move on with his wife. He didn’t accept any treatment for the cancer.

The wind picks up and the hair on the back of my neck stands straight up. It’s an odd feeling to think it’s possible to have him or a version of him with us here. So, I whisper into the wind, “Rest easy, Angus. Say hello to your missus.”

Bull pours the ashes slowly and the wind picks them up and scatters his remains back to the earth. I’m glad I got the time I did. There are some moments we can never get back, lost forever. I had my goodbyes with a man as close to my old man you can ever get.

The brothers in his MC all give their speeches and condolences to a great man. As sad as it is to let him go, I’m happy he’s with the woman he loved. He lived and died how he wanted. He fucking lived his life.

“Let’s head out,” I tell Levi, wanting to get out of here.

He nods and follows me to my new truck. I bought it before I left, and it reminds me a lot of Angie. She spent so much time pouring over the details of every truck on the lot. She hand-picked the perfect ride for me. It hit my heart that she knew what I had before and wanted to help me replace it.

“What’s that smile for, dipshit?” Levi questions.

“I can’t look at this truck and not think of Angie. She picked it out and test drove it. I actually let her on purpose because the sales guy almost shit himself when she took it on the freeway.” Levi looks confused, so I help fill him in. “Angie can’t drive a car for shit let alone this rig. She cut off so many cars and ran over curbs. I think she may have done some damage to it, and I loved it. I had to buy it, I guess. It was a good day. I wanted to keep something with me.”

Levi jumps in after I do. “You know,” he pauses to slam the door shut, “why do you talk about her like she’s past tense? Does it have to be? It seems to me like you do an awful lot of thinking about her. Since you’ve been here, she’s all you’ve really talked about.”

“She . . .” I stutter because it’s complicated. Angie showed up knocked up by another man and I can’t decide if I want to claim the baby or not. “You could say it’s been a complicated story and I ran home to clear up shit before I went home. Fuck, Levi, I don’t know.”

“You can keep hiding here, cutting hay all summer. Or you can get the fuck over your shit and choose. We both know you don’t have shit here. Go home. Try to live your life the way you want it. It may not be perfect, but it’s yours. Quit hiding from the hard stuff because you look like a pussy, and I know from beating your ass enough growing up that you aren’t one. So, man the fuck up and claim that woman, and your future.”

The rest of the ride back to Mom and Dad’s ranch is quiet. The music plays in the background, but none of that can be heard over the words of the men who have come before me. Mom asked me about Angie, but suspects we either broke up, I’m here for Angus, or it was a sham, and she knew it too. What I love is my parents won’t butt in. They’ve let me live my life regardless. My time is limited and wasting it hiding away here isn’t making it any better.

I drop Levi off at his house, and instead of driving over to my parents’, I send Bull a text message to meet me at the bar downtown alone. I get there before he does, and I have a few tossed back before he sits across from me at the table in the back. I needed a few drinks of liquid courage to get this out. Congratulations, Angus, you got what you wanted today.

“I’m not going to sugarcoat what I need to say. I thought of you as a brother and your actions pissed me the fuck off. What really drove the dagger in my back deeper was the fact that I can’t have kids. When I was in the arena watching you two have a lover’s quarrel, that bull took my chances at ever having my own kids. I hated you for taking away my future.”

Bull has the decency to drop his head to his chest. His fists ball up in his lap. “I never wanted to hurt you, not ever,” he croaks and looks away.

“I know you didn’t, and for a long time I was wrong for placing you in that position. Let’s face it, you ain’t that good. I got to let that shit go, because at this point, I’m the only one fucking up my own life. Can’t give that to you. I own that shit. I’m heading home tomorrow. I’ve been a shit brother to my MC and being here makes me realize that too. So, thanks, Bull, for fucking up my life.” We will never be the friends we