With a low grunt, Gunner grabbed the beer passed towards him. The club was rowdy tonight, the bikers were getting sloshed in celebration of the newly renovated bar in the club house. But personally, Gunner wouldn't have been too upset if it had taken a few more weeks to be finished. At least before he had a valid excuse to go see Liliana.

"Ya look pathetic," a familiar gruff voice sounded beside him. Glancing sideways, Gunner recognized what he would like to think of as his best friend. The shorter, but not by much, stockier man grunted while sitting in the stool next to him. Butcher grumbled as the party began giving him a headache.

Gunner grumbled indignantly. "Well, what do ya know?"

"I know a pathetic bastard when I see one."

"You must hate lookin' in the mirror then, huh?"

Butcher scoffed, waving his hand at him dismissively. "Fuck you."

Silence permeated between the two for only a second before Butcher glanced sideways while taking a swig. "Ya get 'er done?"

"Got 'er done." Gunner nodded as a sly smile tugged at his mouth slowly, "Pickin' her up before the barbecue."

Butcher tilted his bottle towards the biker president, not even glancing his way but still Gunner tapped his own against it with an arrogant laugh.

"This one is makin' me nervous. I actually need these assholes to behave." Gunner tapped his blunt fingernails against the bar top. He was beginning to regret inviting Lily around these barbarians. But he couldn't think of anything casual enough that she would agree to.

"Oh, trust me, we all know that she makes you nervous. It usually takes at least a few minutes for ya to make a fool of 'yerself. You did that right off the bat with the girl. Maybe she's into fools." Butcher shrugged. he would never understand the appeal. But truthfully, Butcher was waiting for Gunner to lose interest and move onto the next girl. Like he always did.

"Speaking of," Gunner's eyes suddenly hardened. "We need these fuckin' pigs under control here. I'm at my wits end. I want them goddamn obliterated." Even thinking about Daminger at the moment made his blood boil.

Butcher frowned. "You know I want them gone as much as you do but they need to be on board." He threw his thumb back towards the rowdy club bikers. "They'll follow you anywhere but if their hearts aren't in it, we won't get what we need done."

Gunner turned on his stool, leaning back against the bar. "You think their hearts aren't in it?"

"Wait. No- Don't even-"

But Gunner was already standing up, slapping his hand against Butcher's shoulder while lifting his beer up into the air. "Bikers!" Gunner's smooth, deep voice boomed over the party.

They quieted down almost immediately, the noise quieting to a low murmur as they all looked at the tall blonde.

"Raise 'em up!" he barked as he kept his beer up in the air. Everyone else followed suit. Beside him, even Butcher held his cup up.

"We're celebrating our brother's swift recovery tonight." Gunner grinned as his voice echoed against the walls and his words hooked every man in the room. "We'll never be grateful enough for the family we've built for each other. Tonight, we'll drink for our brothers!"

Everyone cheered, chugging down whatever they were drinking eagerly. After doing so, they lulled into silence for only a minute.

"We can't forget that we're all we have. Nobody looks out for us but us! All the shit we've been through, how many times have we proven ourselves?"

Chatter got louder as Gunner let the question hang for a moment.

"And what have we gotten in return? Shot in the street like fuckin' dogs. The same guys getting paid to keep civilians safe are the ones we're protecting them from. Those are the guys making it harder to keep our people safe." Liliana's face flashed in his mind as his charismatic voice dropped into a hardened tone. His grip tightened on his beer.

Feeling the anger rolling off their president in waves, everyone shifted and stirred. The feeling was palpable and contagious, spreading through the men and riling them up. Once again, the bikers spoke amongst each other, Gunner's darkened eyes met Jude's gaze from across the room.

The Vice President of the club nodded before looking away from Gunner back to the crowd he'd gotten together.

"No more dirty fuckin' cops," Jude yelled out over the crowd. "Enough is enough!"

This was enough to set everything off. The tall blonde at the front of it all smirked into his beer, the crowd chanting amongst themselves now.

"Think their hearts are in it?" Gunner asked sardonically towards Butcher who watched the fresh chaos the president incited.

As the 'fuck cops' chant raised in volume, Gunner once again raised his hands.

"We're all on the same page, huh?" he asked. A resounding 'yes!' shook the windows of the club.

"Alright then... Y'all know me. Ya know I get done what needs to be done. Not only have they attacked us time and time again but they're harassing the innocent. We don't let that fly, do we?" Gunner held out his ear with a sly smile. Of course, the crowd confirmed what he thought.

No, they absolutely fucking did not.

"We'll get this sorted. First thing tomorrow we're creating a permanent fucking solution."

And, with renewed vigor, the party continued on. Laughing triumphantly, Gunner pushed his way through the crowd as the bikers slapped his back and shoved him lightly.

His eyes zeroed in on Jude who spoke quickly with a new prospect. Frowning, he made his way over to the two. The prospect was red in the face, Jude's eyes were narrowed but it seemed he was keeping his cool.

"He's being crazy! You have to know this is unrealistic-"

"Who's crazy?" Gunner grinned as he butted in. The prospect, Noah, paled almost immediately as his mouth clamped shut.

Jude pinched the bridge of his nose, wondering how he ended up being one of the only sane people in charge.

"Pres he's just-"

"No- No... I really wanna know who's fucking crazy. I wanna hear about it from Noah himself."

Gunner had stepped in front of Noah, blocking Jude out of the way and severing the Vice President as the kid's lifeline.

Now, he practically towered over the prospect.

"C'mon newbie, spit it out." Gunner's lighthearted tone had turned sinister as his face twisted into one of arrogance. He invaded Noah's personal space even as the prospect backed away. The noise in the background was quieting down as the attention fell back on them.

"I-I was wrong, Gunner. I'm sorry-"

"Don't be sorry. I'm just wondering what the hell you're doing in my club if you think defending yourself is crazy? If ya think righting a wrong done against this family is crazy? Or how 'bout when they harass our women here in town, huh? It sounds like yer okay with that Noah. I don't really like that shit."

Noah had bumped into the wall behind him but that didn't stop Gunner.

He rubbed his jaw as he shook his head down at the prospect. "I hate to say this, I really do... But I'm not sure how long you'd last around here with that attitude, kid. Might piss some people off... Might force their hand into doing something they really don't wanna do. That would be a goddamn shame."

"I-I was wrong Pres. It's not crazy, I swear."

Casually, he dragged his handgun from the back of his pants. His gaze glinted with cruel amusement as the tension reached a peak in the now stifling room.

"This may be just me, but I don't really believe ya man. What're ya even doin' here if a little job like this is making you piss your fucking panties, huh?"

Just as he was about to continue, a phone rang. It sliced through the thick atmosphere. Gunner's brows furrowed in annoyance before he realized it was his own phone.

"Ah." With the same hand that wielded his gun, he held up his finger with a sheepish smirk.

Once he saw the contact he stepped back, he answered it immediately.

"Hey, sweetness," he rasped smoothly. His shoulders slumped back as the tension fell away from his muscular back.

Quickly, he muted himself.

"Get outta my fuckin' face. Consider this yer' first and only warning. Get it together or get outta my club."

Then, he gave all his attention to the phone call. Lily's sweet voice filled his ears softly.

"I'm sorry I'm calling kinda late, Gun," Liliana apologized.

"I'd answer a call from you anytime of the day," he responded immediately. He could practically see the shy grin on her face.

"I-I was just thinking about the barbecue and whether I should bring some food. And whether you really wanted to pick me up. I can just meet you there. I'm assuming you'd be at the barbecue setting up... I don't want you to drive back and forth..."

It was cute, hearing her ramble and worry about him. Gunner brushed his hand through his blonde hair.

"Ya worrying about me, hm?"

He could hear her splutter a bit. "So what if I am? Maybe I'm just trying to be a good guest? Now, do you want potato salad or what?"

"My, my... Sounds like you're treating me right now?"

"Well, you'd have to share the potato salad, Gunner. I don't know how much it'd be treating you."

Gunner grunted, "I'm not one to share, princess."

He could hear her breath hitch on the other end and his stomach fluttered with nervous excitement. Oh... she likes that one. I'll keep that in mind.

"Gunner..." she murmured. "Behave. Focus on the potato salad."

"We both know I ain't good at that either, Lils. Will you still have me?" Gunner grinned at the ground as he heard her exhale a chuckle softly.

"We'll have to see after Friday." He could hear the smile in her voice. "And from what I hear your bar is back up and running. Does that mean you won't be visiting me?"

His brows momentarily fell, his eye twitching at the fact that someone blabbed about the renovations being done and spilling it to Lily. This put a wrench in his number one excuse to see Lily without seeming like a fucking creep now.

Now, the barbecue really did have to go perfect.

But on Lily's end, the silence from the blonde biker made her chest flush. Maybe he won't be visiting her now that it was inconvenient?

"Of course th-there's no pressure. The pub isn't anything special really. I heard your bar turned out really well-"

"Liliana how could the bar not be special if you're there?"

That made the pretty woman fumble over her words, nibbling on her bottom lip.

A glass shattering sounded behind Gunner. He glanced over his shoulder and knew Lily could hear the commotion as well.

Sighing roughly, he sucked on his teeth before continuing. "Listen, I'm comin' to pick ya up Friday, yeah? Bring your potato salad, although I'm just glad to hear you're comin' at all. And I'll see you before then too, cause I don't just go for the beer."

Twisting her bottom lip worriedly, Lily nodded as if he could see her.

"Got it?"

"I got it," she whispered.

"See you soon."

She gave a breathy goodbye and Gunner couldn't fight the shit eating grin on his face before turning to clean up whatever shit the bikers had destroyed now.