He tutted. "Don’t pick fights with bears that are bigger than you."
Eyeing us both in the mirror in the gym in the clubhouse’s basement, I grumbled, "One day, old man, I’m gonna put you on the floor."
He grinned at me. "I can’t wait for that fuckin’ day, kid."
Of course, that was when Nyx let loose a holler and hurled himself at Bear. King went low, tackling his dad’s legs out from under him, and cackling, while I twisted around, eager to get in on the action.
With Bear hooting away like a fucking lunatic, somehow, he managed to get out of the tangle of arms and legs we’d pinned him in.
As all three of us were left panting on the ground, he loomed over us and retorted, "How many times?"
As one, we all sang, "Don’t pick fights with bears that are bigger than you."
His smirk wasn’t that of a power-hungry prick, not like his brother. Grizzly was a jackass. Meaner than his namesake, a real jerk when he was drunk. Bear was always fair, though.
I sometimes wondered at that.
Sometimes wondered how it was two kids could be raised the exact same way, and yet, could be so different.
Me, I wanted to fit in. I wanted to belong. My anger issues, my aggression, didn’t help matters, but they were out of my control.
Whereas Scarlet just wanted to cause trouble. She lived for it. I was pretty fucking sure it was the reason she got up in the morning.
As he leaned down and held out a hand for me, the way he hauled me into him had me tensing up. "Rene wants to talk to you ‘bout something, boy. She’s in my office," Bear rumbled in my ear so Nyx and King who were wrestling on the floor like wild animals couldn’t hear.
I blinked up at him, trying to read his expression.
Bear didn’t do pity. It wasn’t in his nature.
He was old school—strong, hard, determined. He was also fucking smart. He didn’t rule with an iron fist, but everyone respected him. Well, apart from Scarlet.
But what I saw in his eyes had me tensing, because, no, Bear didn’t do pity, unless it came time to dealing with my mom, sister, and me.
He nodded slightly, like he knew what I was thinking, and I was grateful that he told me without Nyx and King being able to hear.
I stepped away, already dreading the upcoming conversation, but though my ears weren’t working too well, I heard him holler something that had the guys grunting.
Knowing they’d be fighting, that they were occupied, I found myself doubly grateful because maybe I wouldn’t have to talk about my fuck up of a mom with them after.
Nyx, King, Matt, Jameson, Rob, and I didn’t keep much from one another. We shared how Matt had a massive crush on Cherry, and how he was hoping to lose his V-card to her, we knew Jameson liked dicks as well as pussy, and then we also knew about Nyx—about what was going on with his fam.
Nyx was actually why we were in the gym today. Helping him burn off his aggression was imperative because Caleb, his baby bro, wasn’t doing too good in the hospital.
As for the others, Matt was with his grandma, Jameson was studying for a test tomorrow, and Rob was fixing his bike while Stone ‘supervised,’ otherwise we’d have been a full group and I’d have had to hide this convo from them all.
Thankful for small mercies, I headed up the stairs toward Bear’s office, snagging a towel on the way out and trying to dry myself off.
Scrubbing it over my hair, I passed Hot Lips fucking Grizzly in the hall, and because it wasn’t that unusual a sight, I didn’t really even bother to look.
What I did notice? The sweet scent of weed in the air.
Anything related to my mom always made me want to smoke pot, but Rene didn’t like it, and Bear always shook his head at me when I came home stinking of it.
They were the only real family I had so I didn’t like it when they were disappointed, but sometimes, I didn’t know how else I’d cope.
Knocking on the office door, I headed inside when Rene’s soft voice called out, "Come in."
I frowned at the sight of Scarlet who was popping gum while swinging on the edge of Bear’s desk, muttering, "You shouldn’t sit on there like that."
"Don’t worry about it," Rene replied from her place on the sofa.
Though I cast her a quick glance, I ignored her and moved over to Scarlet, then dragged her off the desk.
She pulled her arm out of my hold, snapped a bubble in my face, and retorted, "Just because you’re so far up Bear’s ass that you can’t tell his shit stinks don’t mean I am."
"Take that back," I growled, stepping into her.
Scarlet and I weren’t good for each other. With a year between us, we should have been joined at the hip, but it felt like I’d been at odds with her since she’d been born.
Maybe that was because we’d both been born addicted to crack?
Even when we were inside our mom’s belly, we’d been fucking fighting for a high, which gave us no room for anything else in our lives… not even a sibling.
Although, that was bullshit, wasn’t it? I had a family made up of brothers and Rene and Bear. They weren’t bound to me by blood, but I’d kill for them. Scarlet alienated every fucker in sight. Me included.
"I ain’t taking shit back," she sneered at me, shoving me aside.
Barely managing to remember that she was a girl, I struggled to hold off from smacking the fuck out of her. "I don’t give a shit what you do, but you don’t disrespect Bear and Rene."
"What you gonna do to stop me?" she snarled, smirking when I just glared at her, no answer tripping from my tongue because, in all honesty, I didn’t have one. I never did where she was concerned, and she knew it.
"Kids, come on, I have something to tell you both."
Scarlet rolled her eyes. "So, Mom’s back in jail. So fucking what?"
I tensed. "She is?" I turned back to Rene. "Is she right?"
The woman who was more of a mom to me than my own sighed. "Yes, Asher, she is."
"For how long this time?" I grumbled, bored more than anything else.
Mom was in and out of jail like she had a bungee cord tied around her waist.
I knew Bear had told her that he wouldn’t bail her ass out anymore, and I didn’t fucking blame him.
"It’s a little more complicated this time, Ash," Rene told me calmly, but the sympathy in her eyes told a different tale.
"Why?"
"It’s looking likely she’ll serve a lot more than a couple of weeks. With the way it’s shaping up, our lawyer’s saying her sentence could be eight years, maybe more."
My eyes flared wide, but the sweetest sensation filled me.
Relief.
I almost sagged back against the desk, my shoulders slumping as it overtook me.
Eight years of peace.
Eight years of fucking freedom.
Maybe more.
Maybe longer.
"Oh, my God, you’re happy about it," Scarlet shrieked, then she hit out at me.
Slapping me across the face, I hissed when her nails caught my cheek, drawing blood like the fucking animal she was.
"Scarlet!" Rene barked, jumping to her feet to wade in. "You stop that now!"
Because I didn’t want Rene to get hurt, I quickly drew away from the little bitch before I hit back, but I didn’t answer her accusation, didn’t even bother catching the drips of blood. Instead, I turned to Rene, asking, "What did she do?"