Page 57 of Carver
Slash shook his head and tapped his foot twice. “The way I see it, you can keep moping around here or you can get some shit done. Use all this free time you have to focus on the Angels. Get things in line. Make sure those probies get initiated properly. Allthe shit that will take time later can be done now so that when your boy comes back around, you got time for him.”
Carver stopped moving, his head whipping up to look at his second. "What do you know?" he demanded.
Slash raised his hands and shook his head. "I don't know anything other than paying attention and the little bit Gideon has told me. That boy is crazy about you. But he wants to do right about the situation. Make sure his head is on straight. All of us have encouraged him that you're a great guy and the two of you together would be perfect. He just has to believe it himself. He has to trust the situation. He has to trust himself."
Carver thought over Slash's words.Trust himself.What does that mean?
As far as Carver knew, Gideon was the one who had been harmed, the one who had been held captive, the one that Mordecai hurt and tormented. It didn't make any sense for Gideon to be the one to inflict pain.
Slash continued when Carver didn't say anything. “All I'm saying, Boss, is that Gideon is going to come around. He's got a big heart from all that I've seen so far. And he really likes it here with the Angels. You don't have to worry about losing him. Just be patient. We've all got your back. Use this frustration you've got and put it to work. I'm your second. You've trained me to be ready for whatever comes. It would be nice, though, if my job was a bit easier whenever you and him locked yourselves away for a while.”
Carver smirked and shook his head. “Now you're just making up stuff. There's no way I could be locked in my bedroom for days and days at a time, even if that was what Gideon wanted. These assholes would be banging on the door all the time.”
Slash shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. You know, if you had a house all your own, no one would bother you. You could lock that bitch down tight and do as you wish.”
His second slapped his legs before announcing his departure. Carver watched him leave as he thought about that notion.
A house of his own for him and his sweet boy.
It would be an interesting setup.
While the club was on a big piece of land, they had only cultivated a small part of it. The rest was trees and some industrial buildings that they leased out years ago, off in the distance.
But still, it was owned by the Angels. By Carver in particular. He could pick a plot and make it his own if he wanted to.
Was that what he wanted though? Or was he trying to do this for Gideon? Is this what Slash meant about his focus being off?
One suggestion of a home, and he was ready to go pull up schematics for it. While he didn't completely push the option away, he did put it aside to focus on what the Angels needed.
Bookie and Knight needed to be inducted, like Slash said. The two of them had been excellent probies. They would make perfect Angels.
Carver nearly snorted at the phrasing. Neither were angels in the traditional sense, but they were Angels the way he needed them to be. They'd proven their loyalty. It was time he showed what that got them.
He also needed to get things moving on the next long trip they were going to take. The men always went out on rides before the weather got too cold. It wouldn't be long before they needed to prepare for the winter ahead.
There was also the fact that a lot of the Angels had been taking this downtime to work on their legitimate businesses. There wasn't anything in particular in the pipeline that needed their attention, but Carver could feel it in his bones that something was coming.
Something that was going to shake things up again.
He'd always been right when he got this notion. His father had called it his sixth sense. While he didn't necessarily believe in the supernatural or God and all that, he couldn't deny facts. Knowing something was on its way and that he did have to be prepared, like Slash told him, got his brain moving.
He wrapped up his project with his bike for a later time and moving to his office. Pulling out a notepad and a pen, he went about writing down everything he could think of: initiating probies and ordering supplies, getting everything in order for the cold weather, looking into the costs of what it would take to build a house in the woods behind the club, having security measures put in place for said house because he did have enemies all over, and he wouldn't leave him and his sweet boy to chance like that.
He even added things for Gideon like schooling options and career choices. He wanted to make sure his boy got a say if he did decide to build a life with Caver.
There was also something that tickled at the back of Carter's brain. A thought he'd had that he wasn't quite sure what to do with because the fact that Gideon feared women would be an issue long-term. He didn't want his boy to be faced with a situation where he continued to feel distress with women around.
And while Fury had his ways of handling things, Carver also had methods. One of them was not a traditional way. Exposure therapy was something that Fury had used with Carver years ago.
During his sessions, Carver had been presented with stuff from his past. Names and photographs and video clips. Each time it was a struggle, but he was able to learn tools to help him navigate should those things ever arise in his life again.
And while he didn't want to stick his boy in a room full of women and watch him panic, he did want to show his boy thatgender was merely a construct. It was something that society gave lots of power to. Mordecai was a woman, and she was a grade A bitch to the fullest. But she was not a representative of every woman.
Carver wanted to show Gideon that there were people who bent the construct of what he knew. It wasn't just that the Angels were big burly guys, and their old ladies were curvy and teasing. There was range to people. To their emotions.
And if there was ever a person who would be a grand example for that, it was Royce Bellport. They were the epitome of mysterious with their long brown hair and tattoos and dresses. They blended the line between male and female, giving an androgynous appearance to the world that worked for them.
The Bellports were basically royalty in their small town. Everyone knew who they were, both in the town and at a national level, given all the philanthropic adventures. Not to mention the eldest was a queer sports icon, while the youngest was dating two ice hockey legends.