Page 25 of Vandal Unbound

I turn to Knox. “Havoc said some shit to me before I left. Got me thinking.”

Knox takes a bite of his sandwich. “About what?”

“The economy,” Sunny offers helpfully.

“Aliens,” Havoc offers.

“Constipation,” Reaper offers.

Knox turns with his face screwed up.

“What?” Reaper says. “Would it kill any of you to actually eat your fucking vegetables?”

Sunny points to Reaper’s plate. “You got cheese put on your salad.”

“It’s protein and dairy.” Reaper glares down at the cheese mountain on Sunny’s chili. “And I know what a serving size looks like.”

Sunny laughs. “I’m a growing boy, what can I say?”

“You’re a fucking man child,” Havoc says.

“Fuck’s sake,” Knox says, looking back at me. “I asked why you came, you said you’d been thinking. About what?”

“Just stuff. Trying to put things into some kind of perspective.”

He nods like he understands.

He doesn’t. I’m thinking of quitting. Trying to quit. After lunch.

I reach for my beer. “I’m fine,” I say, not knowing whether I’m trying to reassure him…or me.

Knox huffs and dips two fries into a pool of ketchup. “Yeah. Course you are.”

But the sarcasm is so thick, I’d be a fool to miss it.

As I take a sip of the cold beer, my mom’s contact pops up on the screen. I know I can’t keep dodging her forever. I told her I came off my bike, which is her second-worst nightmare. Her first is me getting killed because I’m an Outlaw. The bike accident felt like the lesser of the two evils. She’s been to the clubhouse to see me, and I know she’s worried. I haven’t made it out to her house to help with any of the usual shit I deal with.

There’s a piece of me, one that’s pretty drenched in shame, that doesn’t want her to witness who I am right now.

Hell, I don’t even want the men at this table to witness it…and yet I take a large gulp of the beer, knowing it’s gonna take a lot of the stuff to take the edge off, and it’s a lot less volume if you swallow a bottle of whiskey.

I’m about to down the beer in one long draw, when I catch Daisy’s eyes on me. I see disappointment in her eyes, and it hurts more than it should considering I barely know the woman.

I’m halfway done with my burger when Daisy comes over to the table, the tray tucked efficiently under her arm. “Is everyone doing okay? Your food tasting good? You need more drinks?”

Reaper is closest to her, and he looks up at her with that flirtatious smile of his. “All good here, Daisy. Are you doing okay?”

Fuck. I was gonna ask her that.

She pins a bright smile on her face. “I’m all good, thanks for asking. So, nobody needs anything?”

“Lottery numbers?” Havoc says.

“If I had those, I wouldn’t be sharing them,” Daisy says with a smile.

“Sunny needs a personality transplant,” Reaper says. “If you got one of those behind the bar, he’d appreciate it.”

Sunny throws a sugar packet at the medic.