Page 31 of Single Mom for the Bikers

Alessa scowls at the men. “Shhh, argue upstairs.”

In the living room, Sledge crosses his arms in front of his chest. “Shelby can stay with me.”

“Why? I’ve got the biggest bed,” Phoenix says smugly.

Alessa puts her hand on my arm. “Come with me. Let them shake their tail feathers at each other. There’s no point in arguing.” She leads me upstairs and into a bedroom with the largest mattress I’ve ever seen.

“Where do you even buy sheets for that?” I ask, stunned.

She laughs. “It’s actually two mattresses pushed together with a spacer thingy in the middle to keep anyone from falling through the crack.”

Four men. One woman. I stare at the bed, doing all sorts of mental math about how that works. I really hope nobody snores. “How…? Never mind.” I have so many questions but asking any of them feels incredibly rude.

“Most of the time we’re in here, but there’s another bed in Matteo’s nursery for when we need space.” Alessa explains as she opens the top drawer of one of their dressers and pulls out a pair of baby monitors. She gives me a friendly but serious look. “I could be off base, but if I were you, I would want someone to say this, so here goes. If you don’t want to encourage those men downstairs, I’ll forget I found these and agree that you should sleep on the couch so Mia doesn’t get scared. But if you want the chance to relax for the night without being on Mom duty, I can tell you from experience that the range of these reach into the clubhouse. I’ll plug our end in down here and you can bring the other with you so you feel safer.”

I just convinced myself I didn’t want to get caught up in this world, but fate seems to have other ideas.

“What would you do?” I ask.

Alessa raises an eyebrow and gestures to the bed behind her. “What do you think? Seriously though, go to the clubhouse, relax, let them take care of you for the night. They’ll never admit it, but not being able to protect you scares men like these nearly as much as you worry about Mia.”

“Okay, but you’ll call if anything happens right? Anything.”

“Cross my heart, hope to die.” She says, drawing her finger over her chest. I like Alessa, she seems nice, and refreshingly normal compared to the few old ladies I met when I was with Dodger, but I’m starting to think that had more to do with his club than with bikers in general.

The guy who parked my car dropped our bags off at the gate, so we leave Mia's suitcase with Alessa, who gives me the other end of the baby monitor. “Enjoy your night,” she says with a wink.

Does she think… I am so not ready to sign up for the great continental mattress divide life.

Besides, I’m not sure how serious they really are about me. All three are huge flirts, but while I’m sure Phoenix and Sledge would be more than happy to show me a good time if I stayed in their rooms, I think Havoc still sees me as the scared little teenager he didn’t save fast enough. It doesn’t matter that I’m a grown woman with a child now, he’s still focused on playing the big brother and keeping me safe.

“We talked about it and you’re staying in my room,” Havoc says as they walk me over to the clubhouse.

Yep, I think Alessa might be a little off base. I don’t think I’ll be getting anything but a good night’s sleep tonight, not if Havoc has anything to say about it. Not that I’m sure I actually wantedanything else, but knowing there’s no chance of it happening is a little disappointing anyway.

The front gate is locked now, but there’s a table set up and a few guys playing cards nearby. Things are quiet, the music in the garage kept low and only a few men left working on their bikes. Havoc and Sledge walk on either side of me with Phoenix behind. Did I make the right decision? Should I go back to Alessa’s? I clutch the baby monitor, wanting Mia to have a peaceful night with her new friends, but also half hoping she’ll wake up and my decision will be made.

It’s slightly busier inside, with a scattering of men in a huge common room with a massive Screaming Eagles logo on the wall, flanked by American flags. A few bikers are standing around a pool table with beer in their hands. One raises his bottle in greeting when he sees us. In the back, a couple more are watching something on the big screen TV while hanging out on the couches and—oh. My head snaps forwards and away from checking out the room so fast my hair bounces.

I’m really not a prude, I swear. Puss in Boots, the bar where I met Havoc, was basically a strip club. I’m pretty sure the manager knew I’d lied about my age, because he was happy to have me run around skimpy clothes, but he hadn’t started pushing me to take them off yet. And I saw more than my share of nudity when Dodger brought me to parties with the Pit Vipers.

But it’s been a while. Seeing a topless woman in a short skirt casually grinding on top of one of the bikers was totally not what I expected.

“Go on, we’re going to hang out here,” Sledge says with a laugh. He tips my chin up and brushes a kiss across my lips, nothingheavy, but it feels like a statement. I just don’t know what that statement is.

Phoenix takes my hand and kisses my palm, nipping my finger before letting it go. “G’night, beautiful.”

“Don’t push it,” Havoc growls a little under his breath, which just makes them chuckle.

My face is still blushing hot when Havoc leads me through a hall to a door with a plaque with his name on it. I’m almost certain I hear a baby cry, but there’s nothing coming out of the monitor, so I might just be imagining things. He pops the door open for me to enter. I'm about to be all alone with Havoc, in his room, maybe even in his bed. I wet my lips as I step inside, not knowing what to expect.

His quarters are like a studio apartment. There's a living area with a beat-up couch, a coffee table and a couple chairs, a kitchenette at one end of it, a bed around the corner, and a door to what I assume is the bathroom. A half-full coffee maker stands on the counter and there's a guitar leaning against the couch.

I step inside and put the baby monitor on the table, turning the volume all the way up. “I didn't know you played guitar.”

Havoc puts down my bag with a shrug. “I don't. Not well, at least. But I like fucking around on it. You can take the bed. I’ll sleep on the couch.”

It doesn’t even look long enough for me to stretch out on. “No, that’s not fair. We’re both adults. We can share the bed, right?” I mean it, but I also want to see his reaction.

---