Ruthless Banshees Book one: Chaos

Chapter Three

Today has been one hell of a day.

The club spent most of the day getting the carnival ready for tomorrow's opening. We have this carnival every year, and the Steele Outlaws make sure it goes smoothly.

We help raise money for cancer research and for families who may need an extra hand with food and bills. We run the beer tent and a few of the carnival booths. The Dunk-a-Biker tank is always a big hit with the teens.

I've always liked staying busy.

Sitting around doing nothing has never been my thing. Give me something to build, fix, or organize and I'm happy.

People love judging us because we wear leather cuts instead of business suits.

If they only knew.

This club has always been about more than motorcycles.

As I looked around the fairgrounds, I couldn't help but smile.

Brothers hauled tables into place while prospects strung lights from one booth to another. The old ladies were decorating tables, hanging banners, and making sure everything looked perfect for tomorrow.

The place was finally starting to come together.

Across the midway, I watched Bishop carrying a stack of folding chairs toward one of the booths. Before he could set them down, his old lady walked over, smiled up at him, and gave him a quick kiss.

Bishop grinned, stole one more kiss before she swatted his chest and told him to get back to work.

Lucky bastard.

Watching them made something twist in my chest.

This club had always been my family.

But lately...

It felt like something was missing.

An old lady.

Someone waiting for me after a long day.

Someone to steal a kiss from when she thought nobody was looking.

Unfortunately, I haven't had much luck in that department.

I can't seem to find a woman who meets my needs...

Much less Diesel's.

Once women find out my best friend and I share our women, they usually run for the hills.

They don't like being shared, and it's not like Diesel and I do things as a couple.

We're straight men.

We just have different needs.

I shook the thought away and watched one of the prospects finish hanging lights while another carried boxes toward the game booths.

Tomorrow this place would be packed.

Kids laughing.

Music playing.

The smell of funnel cakes filling the air.

I smiled to myself.

A loud crash ripped me from my thoughts, followed by enough cussing to make half the fairgrounds stop and look toward the beer tent.

The smile disappeared from my face.

I took off running.

Stone was already sprinting toward it from the opposite side of the midway.

My best friend.

Our President.

"What the hell was that?" he yelled.

"I have no damn idea!"

We reached the beer tent at the same time.

The sight in front of us stopped us both in our tracks.

Diesel was flat on his back in the middle of the tent, staring at the ceiling like he couldnt believe that just happened

Michael—Stone's dad and our former President—was bent over laughing so hard tears were rolling down his face. The old man couldn't even catch his breath.

Helllpppp...

"What the..." I muttered.

Then I happened to look up.

One of our prospects, T-Rex, was hanging from one of the metal poles holding up the tent with both arms wrapped around it.

"Can somebody get me a damn ladder?"

Stone burst out laughing.

I wasn't far behind.

Diesel still hadn't moved.

He just lay there staring at the ceiling like none of this had anything to do with him.

T-Rex looked down.

"I'm gonna fa—"

He let go.

My heart jumped into my throat.

He hit the ground, landing on both feet, stumbled once, then caught himself.

For a second...

Nobody said a word.

Then he turned and pointed straight at Diesel.

"See! I told you, fucker! I told you putting me on your shoulders to hang that damn banner was a bad idea!"

Diesel still didn't move.

"But did you listen?"

T-Rex answered his own question.

"Hell no!"

He threw both hands in the air.

"I don't know why I let you talk me into doing this dumb ass s**t. Yet I keep doing it!"

That's when Diesel finally lost it.

A snort escaped him.

Then another.

Within seconds he was laughing so hard tears were rolling down his face.

That only made Stone and me laugh harder.

Even Michael had to grab the table to keep from falling over.

After a few minutes of T-Rex cussing, I finally walked over to Diesel and held out my hand.

He grabbed it, and I pulled him to his feet.

He dusted off his jeans, rolled his shoulders, and stretched like he'd just finished taking a nap instead of crashing to the ground.

"T-Rex," Diesel said with a grin, "if you hadn't moved so damn much, it would've worked."

"Yeah, right," T-Rex shot back, shaking his head as he walked away. "Next time you can hang your own damn banners."

I looked up at the banner still hanging over the beer tent.

It leaned a little to the left.

"At least the banner's up," I said. "It's a little crooked, but it'll work. Once people start drinking, they won't notice... or care."

A few of the brothers laughed.

I looked over at Diesel.

"I don't know why you keep talking T-Rex into these stupid stunts. One of these days somebody's gonna get seriously hurt."

Diesel looked offended.

"Bro, I'm telling you... it was a flawless plan."

Stone snorted.

"Sure it was," he said. "Just like the time you thought it'd be a good idea to put T-Rex on the handlebars of the Harley we were working on."

A grin spread across Diesel's face.

Stone shook his head.

"You took him for a joyride doing seventy, and he damn near fell off."

T-Rex pointed at Stone.

"See! Finally somebody remembers!"

"So no," Stone continued. "Your ideas don't work."

I laughed so hard my stomach hurt.

After a minute I finally caught my breath.

"All right," I said, clapping my hands together. "The banner's up, nobody died, and we've still got work to do."

Everyone looked my way.

"Let's finish setting everything up, then head over to the Iron Horse."

I rubbed my stomach.

"I'm starving, and I need a drink."

A chorus of agreements filled the tent.

The brothers scattered, each heading back to whatever they'd been working on before Diesel's latest brilliant idea.

As I turned to grab another box, Diesel walked over and patted me on the back.

"See?" he said with a grin. "Everything worked out."

I just shook my head.

"One of these days," I muttered, "you're gonna be the death of that poor prospect."

From across the tent, T-Rex didn't even look up. "I heard that!"

That sent the whole tent into another round of laughter