Page 1 of Colton (Raging Barons MC #17)

-:- COLTON -:-

Years…that’s how long I, and the others meaning Web, Cork, Roadrunner and Mensa have been here with the Raging Barons MC. We couldn’t have been luckier if we’d tried, being taken in when we were on a road to either drug use or prison.

None of our families gave a shit, and all of us have cut off any contact with them. The MC is our family, and no other will take their place.

Over the years, I have been hit on the head and knocked out cold while on gate duty, stripped at TJ’s bar, showing the world my Jacob’s ladder. I’ve learned to fire a sniper rifle, fight with my fists, and become a solid doorman for both the club and bar.

I also have great relationships with the women of the club, and often go rock climbing, running and riding with them.

I’m a close brother with Knuckles, Chaos, Wings, Target, and Meat.

All lunatics in their own way. Well Target isn’t so bad, but Winter is his calm in a storm.

Jo and Knuckles…well, nobody wants to talk about those two, and what they get up to, and where.

Meat has Star, who I have to say, suits him perfectly.

She’s as batshit crazy as he is, so it works well.

I love getting involved in all the shit that happens.

I don’t care if it’s killing someone that needs taking out, or going with the girl gang on their jaunts.

I’ve been watching Mia for a while. She’s lost some of her sparkle.

She is going to therapy for depression, and I often go with her as her support man.

I had to push Meat for this position, ‘cause man, he is possessive of what, and who he sees as under his protection.

His seeing Mia as his sister is not helping when anyone wants to get close to help her with anything.

The girl gang were not all onboard with having a bike of their own, but shit they are all well into having one now.

I know it caused a little upset at the time, but what they all didn’t realize was Mia was trying to bond the sisterhood.

She just went about it the wrong way, but with the right heart.

They have had some fun on their hogs, and their trikes.

They have gone down well and the customization to accommodate the kids was well thought out and works great.

Looking at the time, I cringe when I realize I need to get moving. I told Knuckles I’d help him organize a fight night. Not sure why he wants to keep organizing these, but I’m up for it. I’ll take on anyone. It helps me get rid of the temper I build now and again.

Walking into the kitchen at the clubhouse I sigh, and roll my eyes, which is a habit I’ve gotten from Mia and Star when I see Knuckles all loved up with Jo. Not again! Don’t they ever stop sexing?

“Will you two give it a break? Jo, off you go and write some shit. Knuckles, come on man we have stuff to be doing. I have to get to TJs later, so if you want me to help organize, then you need to get to it now.”

Knuckles kisses Jo before walking over to me and slapping me on the back. “Come on, miserable, let’s get to work. One of these days you’re gonna find your woman and then you’ll understand.”

Arriving at the warehouse where the fights are held, we both walk into the office, and Grit looks up from where he’s sitting behind a shabby desk.

“Hi, Knuckles, Colton. How are you both?” Grit asks.

“We’ re good. You?” I ask, mainly because I know Knuckles won’t.

“I’m okay, but I need you to know I’m thinking of moving away from here. You’ll have to find another organizer.”

“Why’s that?” Knuckles asks.

Grit rubs the back of his neck. “Well, I’m sick of the cops from other states coming around sniffing.

My missus wants to move to Texas where her family all live.

I’m okay with it to be honest. I’ve made enough money to not work if I don’t want, or to find something I’d like to do instead of all this shit. ”

“I would stop if Jo asked me to, so I’m not going to backchat you about any decision you make on this.

To be honest, it’s maybe time for the underground fighting to be gone, anyway.

We are thinking of opening an MMA fight club where we can teach the kids to fight properly.

Have an actual career instead of risking their lives with all this bullshit. ”

Now, I look at Knuckles because I don’t know if I’ve heard him say that much in one go. Usually, it’s small sentences at a time. Knuckles gives me a filthy look, and Grit laughs at the pair of us.

The list of fighters is organized, and I think we’ve done a great job of matching up the fighters.

We try our best to match fighters with the same level of abilities.

None of the fighting to the death shit anymore.

Yeah, they get beat to hell, but they recover and that is the best part about it.

I was sickened by the scene at one time, and refused to kill anyone in my fights, although I put a few in the emergency room.

Walking back into the clubhouse I say, “You know, we could open our own business, under the club’s name of course,” turning to look at Knuckles .

“Doing what?”

“Well, we could open it as an MMA fight club, as you mentioned. We all have training, and you’ve made sure of that for those of us that fight, meaning you, me and Mav.”

Knuckles rubs his chin. “Well, we’d need licenses and permits for a start.

Which means we’d have to speak to TwoCents and PT about it, for a business plan to put to everyone in church.

But we’d have to have a business license, health permits and we’d have to be certified as instructors, which we are not at this point in time. ”

“Why don’t we look at what’s needed to become instructors first, then we can think about the next step?” I ask, hopefully I might add, because this is really appealing to me.

“Jo’s brother is coming back next week. He’s been traveling around some of the states with two brothers from his team.

All three of them were ready to get the hell out.

Jo can’t wait for him to come here. I hope he’ll stay because if he leaves again, it’s going to crush her.

” Knuckles rubs the back of his neck, showing this could be an actual issue.

“If they are needing an outlet, why don’t we have them pound it out in some fights. You know, let the steam out!” I suggest.

“It’s worth seeing where their heads are at when they arrive.

But many here are prior military, so can help in some way I’m sure.

You know Axel has PTSD, but he went through all the therapy and seems to be good these days.

Having Mia and the kids has softened him up on a day-to-day basis.

” Knuckles and I turn quickly from where we are standing outside the kitchen door of the clubhouse when we hear Axel speak.

“Don’t think for a minute I’ve softened up, Knuckles.

I am only soft with what’s mine. I’ll still kill with my bare hands if needed and think nothing of it.

I’m just thankful that these days we don’t have issues with other clubs, cartel, or anything else.

” Axel turns and steps back into the kitchen before either myself or Knuckles can reply.

I cringe a little as I look at Knuckles. “Where the fuck did he come from?”

“He still has that ability to be somewhere without being seen or heard. It’s one of the things Meat, Chaos and Target are good at. Wings not so much, but he’s good with them-there gadgets of his.”

“Shit, did you see what he did to Heather last week?”

“No, what did he do?”

I chuckle a little. “He strung a sack of all-purpose flour on a string over the door of the laundry room. When she went in and the door opened it pulled the string, opened the bag and down it came right on top of her head. Heather looked like a ghost.” Knuckles joins in with my laughter, I know he can’t wait for what she’ll do in response either.

“Well, at least he’s not been running around with sparkles all over his dick, or some other such thing.” Knuckles rolls his eyes, which is fucking amusing with his size and all his tats.

“I thought I could get into trouble, but man, he can outdo me any day of the week. But you notice Meat is fairly quiet right now?”

Knuckles nods, “Yeah, I have, and I’ve been watching.

So far, I’ve seen nothing to worry about.

Star is good, she’s a perfect match for him, and they do lots of things together.

Last week they were wall climbing and competing to see who could do it the fastest. Since she’s not working, she does whatever she can, and she helps with the merchandise business. ”

“Yeah, she does more than Amelia now, but she’s damn good at organizing. She’s redone PT’s filing cabinets. Now he says he can find what he wants when he wants it. But TwoCents won’t let her into his office, or Stitch.”

“BS has had a lock put on his office door. What he’s trying to hide is anyone’s guess.

Maybe the stash of miniature pencils he has?

” Now we both crack up at that thought. I can just see a drawer with mini pencils thrown inside, all colors to choose from.

Like a kid's rainbow drawer for unicorn drawings.

“Are you on the twins' school run this week?”

Shaking my head negatively, “Nope, and I’m thankful because those two are terrors. It’s our own fault for spoiling them, and teaching them shit they shouldn’t know.” I give him a stern look, “Or see…”

“Aw, come on, how were we to know the fuckers were in the storeroom? But Jo’s face was so red I thought she was going to explode when she saw them both standing watching with their arms folded across their chests, heads on one side.”

Now we both cackle at that thought. Jo wouldn’t look at the twins for nearly a month, just in case they blabbed about what they’d seen. It was funny watching her scamper every time they appeared. But what was funnier was the fact the pair of them would look at each other and smirk.

****

Lincoln walks into the common room and holds his arms open for Jo. Who runs right to him, throwing herself into his arms as she burst into sobs. Lincoln holds her tight to him, whispering into her ear, but rocking her gently from side-to-side as he does so .

I turn and look at Knuckles, who has a soft look on his face. I see his hands are fisted, but he’s holding it together. Placing my hand on his shoulder, I give it a squeeze. “She loves you as much or more than her brother, Knuckles, but she needs him in her life.”

Nodding in response, “I know, but I hate seeing her so upset. Although, it’s because she’s happy this time. We need to make sure he fuckin’ stays here now, no matter what it takes.”

I watch as Knuckles walks over to Jo and takes her gently from Lincoln as he holds his hand out to shake. Lincoln easily takes it before giving him a back slap.

The two men behind Lincoln are standing at ease. You can so easily tell they are prior military and not long out. They still have that aura about them, but it’ll ease given time.

“Welcome, Lincoln. Your sister has been patiently waiting for you to come home.” Axel steps up to Lincoln with a slight smile.

They gently bump each other’s shoulders in greeting, tapping each other on the back too.

Turning to do the same with the two teammates, “Welcome, brothers,” Axel murmurs, showing them how welcome they are.

After all the greetings are had, everyone congregates in the kitchen where Meat appears handing out smoked ribs and homemade bread, which is one of my favorite things he makes. The bread is to die for, and the aroma it gives the kitchen is amazing.

You can guess everyone dove into the meal, even sucking those bones dry. Meat is maybe an arsehole, as Star lovingly calls him, but he is the best damn cook I’ve ever come across.

Bones, one of the team with Lincoln is sitting next to me, and we’ve been talking about the underground fighting. Seems his name is Bones because he fights like a demon .

“Knuckles is going to be researching the requirements of becoming instructors for MMA fight clubs. In our state of course. We are thinking if we can become bona fide trainers we can open our own fight club, and train young fighters properly. Maybe close the underground place and make it legit.” I look at Bones and see he’s considering it.

“Maybe if you stay around you could be in on it?”

“I’d be interested and think Arrow would, too. He’s a good fighter; he likes judo and karate. Me, I like boxing, kickboxing, and taekwondo. Linc's good at them all. He’s a fucking powerhouse.” Bones looks over at Lincoln who has overheard our conversation and is smirking.

“If we find a place we can lease, then we’ll stick around.

Find out more on this fight club. I want to be around for my sister now.

She’s got her family here and as her only blood family, I want to be the one that supports her when she finally gets herself knocked up and gives me a nephew.

” Lincoln laughs when he sees the shocked look on Jo’s face.

“You up for doing some muscle on TJs and Club Whisky?” Axel asks. We could do with some more reliable staff. Garth works the doors, along with Knuckles, Colton and Mav, but we lose staff all the fucking time.”

“Yeah, it’s easy enough to do. Just tell us or show us what you need,” Lincoln says after giving his two teammates a look. It's uncanny to see the unspoken conversation, and I’ve seen that with Axel, Drag and Buzz. Not even mentioning Target and his close brothers.

“I’ll show them around, Pres. I’ve got duty at TJs tonight, anyway.

” I wait for Axel to respond and when he gives me a nod, I arrange the time to be ready and head out to my room.

Closing the door, I look around and remind myself it’s time to get my own place.

Ten years of living in this single room is enough.

I’m coming up on thirty and need my own space.