Page 115 of The Vows We Keep

“Listen. Since wrecking my leg, you guys have all really stepped up for me. You know, helping with shit at home, and bringing meals and stuff. I just want to propose a toast to all of you because I couldn’t have done it without you. Given I’ve been a dick to most of you at some point, I’m kinda surprised you bothered. But I’m grateful.”

I’m met with silence.

Catalina rubs a circle on my back.

And then everyone breaks out in applause and cheering.

“You’re welcome,” King says. “And you’re not really much of a dick anymore.”

Spark laughs. “I don’t know. He’s still about forty percent dick.”

Bates raises a beer bottle in my direction.

When everyone is immersed back in their conversations, I take Catalina’s hand and drag her to our room in the clubhouse. She’s made a couple of changes. Just before I officially stepped down as treasurer and handed the job to Martin, who we now call Ditch, she offered me a deepthroat blow job in return for a new mattress. Of course, I accepted and bought us a new bed frame as well, with storage underneath it, seeing as the two of us share the space now.

It takes two seconds to back her up against the door.

Five seconds to kiss her.

A whole minute to strip her.

And then I lose track of time because I’m spending it lost in the body of the woman who grounds me when I need it. The woman who makes me laugh when the world feels lonely.

“Fuck, I’m so grateful for you,” I mumble as I kiss her breast. When I suck her nipple into my mouth, she arches against me.

Her hands thread through my hair. “Good. Now you can show me just how much with that tongue of yours.”

I look up at her and burst out laughing. It feels good. “Yeah, cariño. My tongue can’t wait to show you how grateful I am. Neither can my dick.” My lips meet hers, and I kiss her, softer than she was likely expecting. “When you kidnapped me, did you think it would end here?”

She places her palms gently on my chest. “Never in a million years. I came here to honor my vow to Papá, to bring him home. I had no idea I’d stay here permanently.”

“I had an idea. To help you keep that vow.” I pull the surprise out of my cut. “Here.”

She looks down between us. “I’m naked.”

“Got nothing to do with opening an envelope.”

“I like it when you’re naked too,” she says.

“Fine.” I strip everything off and kiss her again. “You better open that envelope, or my cock is going to take control of the proceedings.”

Catalina chuckles. I’m only half serious.

She does as I say. “Plane tickets to Guadalajara?” Her eyes fill with tears.

“I thought we could cremate your dad’s cut. Take it as ashes to avoid any conversations about its condition and sprinkle them in a place that was important to him. That way, at least a small part of him returns home and you can keep your vow to him. Because if the club meant so much to him that he was killed trying to do the right thing by it, then his cut really was an important part of him. You know this.”

She cups my cheeks. “I didn’t think I could love you any more than I do. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” I manage to say before her lips meet mine, pressing my cock against her. “You feel like saying thank you to him too?”

Catalina starts to laugh. “Yes, I’ll say thank you to him too.”

I kiss her again. “Good. Because he loves you just as much as I do.”

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EPILOGUE TWO