Boundaries

(Ridge) Mira was lying to me. Not outright, maybe. But she wasn't telling me the whole truth either. I could see it in the way she'd answered my questions earlier. I sat at the bar eating food I didn't really want and tried to figure out what to do about it. Dane had talked to her today. I didn't know what was said, but whatever it was had Mira even more on edge than usual. She wasn't telling me everything. Something was going on. Something bigger than just needing a job and a place to stay. I could see it in the way she answered questions without really answering them. The faint yellow marks on her wrist that I'd noticed when she handed me my water. Someone had hurt her. That much I knew. The question was what I was going to do about it when I didn't even know the details. I watched her move around the bar. She was good at her job. Quick, efficient, didn't take s**t from anyone. She handled herself well with the customers. She didn't need me to fight her battles. But I wanted to anyway. That was the problem. I wanted to know everything about her. Wanted to find whoever hurt her and make sure they never got close to her again. Wanted to keep her here in Crosswell where I could see her every day. That wasn't normal. I didn't get attached to people like this. Didn't bring women around my family. Didn't spend my afternoons sitting in a bar just to watch someone work. But here I was. Around five, the evening crowd started coming in. Crash walked in and sat two seats down from me. "Prez," he said, nodding with respect. “Crash.” He ordered a beer from Mira. She brought it to him without making eye contact. Smart. Crash had been warned once already about getting handsy. He didn't need another warning. For a while, everything was fine. Crash drank his beer. I answered some emails about an upcoming job. Mira worked the floor. Then Crash ordered his fourth beer and things started going wrong. I noticed it when Mira walked past him to clear a table. Crash turned to watch her. Not just looking. Staring. The kind of stare that made my hands curl into fists. Mira ignored him. Brought the empties back to the bar and started washing glasses. Crash finished his fourth beer and ordered a fifth. "Don't you think you've had enough?" Mira asked. “I'll tell you when I've had enough, sweetheart.” “Don't call me that.” "What should I call you then? Baby? Darling?" He grinned, his words starting to slur. “How about the president's old lady?” I was off my stool before I realized I'd moved. "Crash," I said. My voice came out flat. Dangerous. “Time to go.” He looked at me, and for a second I saw the brother I knew. The one who respected the patch and the chain of command. But the alcohol was talking louder. “Come on, Prez. I'm just having some fun.” “No, you're drunk. And you're bothering her. So you're leaving.” “I paid for my drinks.” “And now you're done drinking them. Get out.” Crash's expression changed. The respect slipped. “You're really going to kick out one of your own brothers over some girl?” “I'm kicking you out because I told you once already to keep your hands and your comments to yourself. You didn't listen. And right now, you're disrespecting me and her.” “I didn't touch her.” “You were about to.” We stared at each other. The bar had gone quiet. Everyone watching to see what would happen. The other club members in the room were watching too, waiting to see how I'd handle one of our own stepping out of line. Crash looked at Mira, then back at me. The drunk confidence was making him stupid. “Everyone can see it, Prez. You want her as your old lady. Just claim her already and stop pretending.” “Walk away, Crash. Right now. While you still can.” “Or what? You going to kick me out of the club?” I moved fast. Grabbed the front of his vest and pulled him off the stool. Got right in his face. "You've got two choices," I said, keeping my voice low enough that only he could hear. “You leave now, sober up, and we discuss this at church tonight. Or you keep running your mouth and I guarantee the vote won't go your way. Your call, brother.” That got through. The mention of church, of the other brothers voting on his behavior, sobered him up fast. "Yeah, okay. I'm going." He pulled away from me. “Sorry, Prez. The beer's talking.” “Tell it to the club tonight. Eight o'clock. Be there.” “I'll be there.” He left without another word. I turned to look at the rest of the bar. “Anyone else have a problem?” Silence. “Good. Drink up.” The noise started again. Conversations picking back up. People going back to their pool games and their beers. The other club members gave me nods of respect. I'd handled it right. I sat back down at the bar. My heart was going too fast. Adrenaline making my hands shake. Mira was staring at me. "You didn't have to do that," she said. “Yeah, I did.” She was quiet for a moment, then looked me straight in the eye. “Why do you want me to be your old lady?” The question caught me off guard. Direct. No dancing around it. “Who says I do?” "Crash did. Just now. In front of everyone." She crossed her arms. “So why?” I could lie. Could tell her Crash was drunk and didn't know what he was talking about. But she'd see through it. "Because I do," I said simply. “Well, it's never going to happen.” She said it with certainty. I looked at her for a long moment. Saw the walls she'd built up. The fear hiding behind the attitude. "We'll see," I said. Her eyes widened a little. Like she'd expected me to argue or try to convince her. But I wasn't going to do that. Time would convince her. I would convince her. Not with words, but with actions. “Ridge.” "Mira." I stood up. "I'm not him. Whoever hurt you, whatever he did, I'm not him. And I'm not going anywhere. So yeah, we'll see." I left money on the bar for my food. "I've got church tonight at the clubhouse. Eight o'clock. I'll be back tomorrow." She didn't say anything, just watched me with those guarded eyes, and I walked out and drove to the clubhouse. The meeting room was already full when I walked in, twelve members around the long table with patches on and beers in hand. Crash sat at the end looking sober now, which was good. I took my seat at the head with Dane to my right and Knox to my left, banged my fist on the table once, and told them we had three things on the agenda, the security contract renewal, the expansion vote, and a situation with one of our own. After the first two things on the agenda were fixed, I paused and looked at Crash. “Now we need to handle what happened tonight at The Spoke.” The mood shifted. Everyone knew why Crash was here. "Crash," I said. “You want to speak first? Tell the brothers what happened?” He nodded. Stood up. “I was drunk. Five beers. Got stupid with it. Made comments to Mira I shouldn't have made. Disrespected the Prez when he called me out. It was wrong. I'm sorry.” He sat back down. "Anyone have questions for him?" I asked. Knox spoke up. “You been warned about this before, Crash?” “Yeah. Once. A while back.” “And you did it again anyway?” “Like I said, I was drunk. Wasn't thinking.” "Being drunk isn't an excuse," Dane said. “We all drink. We all know when to shut our mouths.” Crash nodded. “You're right. No excuse.” I sent Crash outside for the vote, Knox suggested three weeks suspension, the vote went that way, and I called Crash back in and told him. His face went pale but he didn't argue. He took off his vest and handed it to Knox, who told him he'd get it back in three weeks if he proved he could control himself. Crash left without a word. The room was quiet for a moment. "Anyone have anything else?" I asked. Priest spoke up. “Next club run is in two weeks. Thinking we head up to the mountains. Three day trip. Who's in?” Hands went up. I should have raised mine too. I always went on runs. But I didn't. "Ridge?" Priest asked. “You coming?” "I'll let you know," I said. More looks around the table. The president always went on runs. Always. "Then we're adjourned," I said, standing up. “Good work tonight, brothers.” Everyone started filing out. Knox clapped me on the back as he passed. Dane stayed behind. "Whatever's going on with you and Mira, you need to figure it out. Because right now, it's affecting your focus." Dane said. “I know.” “So what's your plan?” “Keep showing up. Keep proving I'm different. Keep giving her reasons to stay.” Knox raised an eyebrow. “You're serious about this.” “Yeah. I am.” "The club's not going to like it if you get distracted," Dane said. “We need you focused.” “I am focused.” "You weren't tonight," Knox said. “And you're thinking about skipping the run. Brothers are going to notice.” He was right. I hadn't been focused. My mind had been at The Spoke the whole time. "I'll handle it," I said. "Make sure you do," Dane said. “Because if you can't balance this, you're going to have to choose. Her or the club.” “It won't come to that.” "It might," Knox said. “And when it does, you better know which one you're picking.” They both left. I stood there in the empty meeting room, thinking about what they'd said. Her or the club. It shouldn't be a choice. The club was my life. My family. Everything I'd built. But Mira was different. She made me want things I'd never wanted before. Made me think about futures I'd never considered. I walked out of the meeting room and headed to my quarters. The east wing was quiet. Most of the guys had gone back to their own places or were drinking in the common room. I went into my bedroom and sat on the bed. Pulled out my phone. Stared at it for a moment, then tossed it on the nightstand. Tomorrow I'd go back to The Spoke. I'd see Mira. I'd keep showing her that I meant what I said. I just hoped when the time came, she'd choose to stay.