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The irony was not lost on Tanner when he realized that the major stages of what he liked to think of as his “problem” each started with a fight.
There was the first bar fight, behind some dive when he’d gotten a little too hot-headed and cocky and frankly brought it on himself. He didn’t even really notice the two guys that followed the crowd out into the alley until there was a blur of black hair and black leather and dark eyes that flattened the tattooed guy who was ready to rearrange his face. Instead a hard left hook knocked the guy to the wet pavement and left Tanner blinking into air, still trying to figure out what had happened as the crowd dispersed, chased off by a bearded guy with glasses and a rather ridiculous outfit that no one really had the courage to mock. Dark eyes turned on Tanner instead and warmed, asking him if he was okay. Tanner could only nod his thanks, still trying to catch up with what had happened.
That was how Tanner was introduced to Adam and Rutledge. And inadvertently joined their bike “gang”.
It didn’t take long for Tanner to decide that was a terrible idea. Adam rarely drove his bike it seemed, and Rut was…interesting. He appeared to be more in love with his fringed outfit than the actual driving itself. But even Tanner had to admit that they were never boring. Rutledge loved to drone on about bike stats and facts and was a veritable font of random knowledge. Adam was funny. He was quick witted and fluent in sarcasm. He had a nice smile and a better laugh, but Tanner would sooner chew his own arm off that admit that out loud.
And sometimes Tanner would catch Adam watching him. The older man would make a joke than watch as Tanner laughed with a pleased smile on his face and that was…interesting as well.
Their first fight as a gang was against the same guys who tried to take Tanner down to size when they’d first met. This time when Tanner got cocky and hot-headed, however, Adam was at his side in an instant, cracking his knuckles and dark eyes flashing. Rut tried to appease both sides, but then someone swung a bar stool at Tanner’s head. He didn’t see it coming, but Adam did, and grabbed his arm, yanking him out of the way. Tanner had just found his footing when the bar stool wielder fell to the floor, knocked out by Adam’s right fist to his nose. Both threw themselves into the fray, throwing and taking punches. Rutledge joined the fight at that point, carefully guarding his face as that was his only pair of glasses and they weren’t cheap, you know.
Afterwards Adam gently dabbed at a cut on Tanner’s temple while the blonde held ice to a decent shiner growing around one of Adam’s dark eyes. Adam made a joke, and smiled when Tanner laughed.
The fight that made Tanner think that maybe he was in trouble with this whole Adam situation was against a group that was bigger and tougher than them. And Rutledge was in the bathroom vomiting up some questionable nachos, so it was just the two of them. One moment Adam was at his side, grunting and swearing, and the next he wasn’t there. Tanner threw an elbow, knocking a biker back in a spray of nasal blood, and spun to see another man on top of Adam, banging his head against the floor. Adam’s grip was weak, his fight slow, and Tanner saw red. He barreled at the man, throwing all his weight at the wall of muscle and successfully breaking his attack on his friend. Tanner fought dirty, swinging fists and elbows and digging into soft spots with his fingers until someone pulled him off. He kept fighting, lost in a haze of rage, until that someone turned him around and he saw it was Adam, swaying on his feet. All the anger left Tanner in a wave, replaced with concern when he saw how heavy lidded Adam’s eyes were and felt the other man’s hands tremble. They were kicked out of the bar, as was a confused Rutledge.
That night Tanner dutifully woke Adam every hour, asking him questions to make sure there wasn’t any permanent damage. Between that he sat up and watched Adam sleep. As dawn rose he briefly considered leaving, it would be best, but then his phone informed him it was time to awaken Adam again.
Tanner tried not to think about how much he changed after that; how he was a little more cautious in strange bars, how he kept his head down and nursed his drink while keeping one eye on Adam to make sure the older man didn’t get in trouble. He definitely didn’t think about how he started watching as Adam would walk away, eyeing his swagger in a way that he used to turn on the swaying hips of female bar patrons. Or how he would position himself behind Adam when they rode and stared more at the other man’s back than the road. Or how he tried harder to make Adam laugh just so he could see his eyes light up and his mouth split into a grin and his head tilt back, exposing his throat in a way that made Tanner want to touch and lick and bite.
Yep. He was definitely not thinking about any of that.
But Tanner knew he was a goner when Adam got stabbed for him.
He wasn’t stabbed, exactly. Someone in a fight that Tanner had worked so hard to avoid pulled out a switchblade and swung it in a wide arc. Once again, Tanner didn’t see it, but Adam did. The older man threw out an arm, shoving Tanner back and swinging his own body into the path of the blade. Tanner grabbed his arm on reflex, yanking him back. Adam grunted and curled in on himself, his arm moving protectively to his abdomen. Tanner pulled Adam behind him and threw a hard punch, just like Adam had shown him. The man fell backwards, the knife flew from his hand, and Tanner whirled on Adam, grabbing his shoulders and asking him if he was alright, was he cut, is he okay, dammit, just talk. Tanner’s knees went weak with relief when Adam gave him a pain smile and showed the long but shallow slice across his ribs that barely bled.
Tanner carefully placed the bandage over Adam’s wound that night, his fingers lingering a little too longingly on the older man’s bare skin. He laid his palm flat over it, focusing on the steady movement of Adam’s breathing and heartbeat beneath his touch. His mind wandered a bit too long over to bad things, and to his horror he felt a lump lodge itself in his throat. Adam just took his hand gently and hesitantly touched his face. When Tanner leaned in Adam was there, lips wet and parted and pliant beneath his own.
When the sun came up and Adam slept quietly in Tanner’s arms, face pressed warm into the curve of his neck, Tanner decided this was a problem he was okay with having.