Page 9 of Single Mom for the Bikers

He draws his lips into a thin, straight line. Even then, they're eminently kissable, but he nods. “Fine. You know I'm not gonna force you, but you got my number. Anything happens, and I mean fucking anything, you call me, alright? And if I don't pick up, you call Sledge, or Phoenix. That fucking understood?”

I nod. His concern isn’t really necessary, but it's nice to know someone is looking out for me. “Promise. Now go get Phoenix checked out.”

Havoc takes one last look at me, and then one at Mia, before he nods.

I pick up an impatient Mia, swinging her onto my hip as we watch them climb into the truck. She waves as they drive off, and looks at me until I wave back. They stick their hands out the windows, waving to her until they pull off our street and disappear from sight.

“Are they coming back?” she asks innocently.

“No. I don’t think so,” I say, forcing lightheartedness into my voice. “But I bought some cupcake mix at the store. What do you say we go make them?”

“Yay!” Mia cheers. I don't put her down until we're back inside, and then I lock the front door and try to forget about the three sexy bikers who just crashed into my life.

5

HAVOC

“So what do you think?Is he going to live?” Sledge asks Emily, the club’s resident nurse, as she watches Phoenix’s eyes track the pencil she’s holding. We called her in as soon as we got back.

“Unfortunately,” she says with a nod, but her smile softens the jab. “Look, if you want a full exam you’ll have to go to the ER, but unless you’re holding back, I don’t see anything that makes me think you’re about to keel over. I saw your bike, though. It could have been a lot worse.” She looks at us, eyes narrowed. “He has a concussion. Letting him sleep before me or Doc could check him out was a stupid move. He could have closed his eyes and never woken up. I know you’re all big, tough men, but your brains are just as squishy as everyone else’s.”

I hold up my hands in acknowledgement. “Hey, that’s not our fault. He was the one who decided to take a nap.”

Phoenix flips me off. “Fuck off. I wasn’t exactly thinking straight.”

Emily stands up and fixes him with a glare that proves she’s no rookie when it comes to bossing bikers around. She’s got three of her own to deal with on top of two kids. “Listen up. I know better than to tell you to take it easy, but stay off your bike for the day and don’t go crazy at the Roost. And the rest of you? Keep an eye on Phoenix. If anything seems off, even if it’s just that he’s sleeping more than usual, give me or Doc a call. Got it?”

“Yes, Ma’am,” I say obediently, tipping my non-existent cowboy hat. As soon as she’s gone, I put my boots up on Phoenix’s beat-up coffee table and lean back.

“What are you doing?” he asks, scowling.

“Keeping an eye on you, dumbass.”

The three of us make an unlikely team, but blood is thicker than water, and that counts double when it’s shed side by side. We’re brothers by choice. Brought together by our vows to the club, and then forged into a unit in defense of the life we’ve all chosen. Sledge and Phoenix might be assholes, but there’s no one I’d rather have at my back.

“I don’t need you two to fucking babysit me. Even if I wanted to ride, my bike isn’t going anywhere until I get the backend fixed. If I find the fuckers who left me in that ditch, I’m gonna make them wish they finished the job,” he growls.

Sledge nods. “And we’ll help you. Don’t worry, when Eagle-eye hears what happened, he won’t give a shit that Park Glen is outside our territory. We’ll make sure everyone knows we’re watching, and we protect our own.”

“Damn straight we do,” I say in agreement. “An attack on you is an attack on all of us.”

Phoenix, looking uncomfortable with being the focus, runs his hand over his beard and looks at me. “Speaking of protecting our own, who the fuck is Shelby to you and why is this the first I’ve heard of her? You never struck me as the type to keep a civilian family right under our fucking noses.”

If I’d been standing, that accusation woulda rocked me. “What the fuck? Of course not! Why the hell would you think that?”

“It’d make sense,” Sledge says with a shrug. “You were the one that set up the rental. You let me believe there was a family living there. Turns out it’s just a sexy, young mom with her little girl. Is the kid yours?”

“No! Look, some of this isn’t mine to tell, but it’s not all secrets either. I met Shelby back when I was a prospect and she was a hot little thing working at Puss in Boots. Remember that place?”

Phoenix laughs. “Man, I haven’t thought about that bar in ages. It was a hole, but the beer was cheap and the women were hot. Shelby worked there? Wait, how old was she?”

“Sixteen, and don’t fucking look at me like that. I was barely old enough to order my own fucking drinks. I thought she was eighteen, nineteen, maybe. Doesn’t fucking matter, I wasn’t messing with her like that. She was already hooked up with a piece of shit that ended up in the Pit Vipers.”

Phoenix comes alert. “Who?”

“Guy named Dodger. You know him?”

“Nothing good comes from that guy,” Phoenix says with acid in his tone.

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