Page 20 of Hope's Heartlands

I take a step toward her and cover her hand that is holding the handlebars. The feel of her soft skin under mine seems familiar and I look between her face and her hand. Clearing my throat, I tell her the truth. “You’re family, even if it isn’t through blood, and I’ll always look out for you.”

I had hoped that would get her to open up about whatever’s been bothering her, but it doesn’t. Instead, it seems to do the opposite. Her face clams up and I can’t read her at all now. It’s like my words have pissed her off. She gives me a brief nod and I watch as she rides away.

As I walk back into the bar, I have to admit to myself that I’m glad I didn’t have to watch her walk out on the arm of one of the dipshits that sometimes drop in at the bar. Roxy’s too good for those fuck-ups.

Chapter2

Roxy

I’ve put it off for far too long now. I didn’t realize that I even missed a period until last week. For so long, I’ve put it off as stress. I mean, there’s been so much going on. Everything with the Outlaws and how they tried to destroy the Heartlands. The retaliation and revenge we took on them. It’s all added up and tensions were high for everyone, even me. So when I missed my period, I thought it was just that. Stress. The second month I missed it, I began to get nervous. Especially when I woke up this morning and my breasts were so sore I couldn’t even touch them, I knew something was up. I bought the test on the way home tonight. I’ve put it off for too long now and one way or another, I have to find out.

I read the instruction on the package and take the first one out. At the store, I couldn’t understand why they sell some of them in packs of three. But after the first one, I got it. I understood.

I set the third pregnancy stick next to the first two and blow out a long breath. Pregnant. All three have two solid blue lines. It can’t be a fluke. I’m pregnant.

I look at myself in the mirror waiting for it to sink in and be real. I’m ready and braced to feel freaked out and panic. I’ve never had anyone depend on me. It’s always just been me. Even growing up, I was on my own, moving from one foster home to another while each of the foster parents just collected their checks. I was never a part of any actual family and honestly, I didn’t know if I would ever want one of my own. I know what a fucked-up world this is and I’m scared to bring a baby into it. I’m ready for the grief, the confusion, the guilt. All of it.

Instead, I can’t deny it. I’m not upset. In fact, I’m feeling the exact opposite. It’s almost like there’s a peace that has surrounded me and has calmed my heart. I can’t remember the last time, or maybe ever, that I’ve felt so much joy. And the three sticks lined up in front of me confirm that I have permission to be as happy as I feel.

It’s really going to happen. I’m going to be a mom.

There’s no doubt who the dad is. Gage.

Just thinking about him causes my nipples to harden. I hadn’t been with another man before him since I was seventeen and lost my virginity to a boy that was in the same foster home as me. Yeah, the father is Gage and he doesn’t even know we had sex. What the hell am I gonna do now?

I lie back on my bed and almost immediately my mind drifts back to that night nine weeks ago.

“How many beers did you have?” I asked him as I got off my bike. I’d just given him a ride home, leaving his bike at the Heartlands Garage, next to the Ride or Die bar. It was a long night. The club was still recouping from all the fighting with the Outlaws and people were drinking and unwinding. When Gage came to me at the end of my shift and asked me for a ride home, I agreed. I knew he, more than anyone, needed to let loose after the last few days we’d had, and honestly, I was happy to do it.

Gage, of all the Heartlands brothers, is the one that always goes out of his way to treat me right. He’s looked out for me since the day I showed up to apply for the bartender job at the Ride or Die bar three years ago. He’s never asked me about my family or where I came from. He sort of just accepted me for who I am. He’s twenty-six years older than me and is old enough to be my father. But even though I shouldn’t, none of the thoughts I have of him are fatherly. No, any time I think about Gage, my whole body hums and a pressure starts to build low in my belly. I used to be able to ignore it, but not lately. Not now. No, now I can’t even look him in the face because I know he’ll see the attraction I feel for him there.

He put his hand under my chin and pulled my face up to look at him. He gave me a goofy smile. “Two.”

So he’d had two drinks. Everything about him was throwing me off. First of all, he’s not goofy. Second of all, I’ve known him for almost two years and he’s never ever shown me any kind of interest at all. If anything, he’s treated more like a kid sister than anything. So on the ride over here, when his hands circled my body and brushed along the underside of my breast, I knew I was going to ask him how many drinks he’d had. He was acting nothing like the Gage I know.

He grabbed on to my hand and pulled me toward his house. “C’mon, come inside with me.”

Without giving me a chance to deny him, he pulled me up the walkway and into his house. “But..” I started to tell him, but stopped when he closed his front door and leaned me back against it. My back was wedged into the doorknob, but I didn’t even care. He slid his leg between the two of mine and even though he’s so much taller than me, we somehow fit together perfectly.

I looked at him with wide, surprised eyes. “Gage? Are you sure you only had two drinks?”

He was staring at my lips and it caused a jolt to go through my body. I could feel the moisture pooling between my thighs, and I closed my legs, trapping his leg between mine. He moved closer, lifting his leg up higher, right against my core, and a moan escaped as my head fell back against the door. It was a reflex, and I ground my pussy into his leg seeking a release that I knew only he could give me. Squeezing my eyes shut, I tried to get a handle of what was happening here, but I couldn’t think of anything except Gage being between my legs.

He wrapped his hand around the nape of my neck and tugged me toward him. “Uh, uh, I want you looking at me, baby girl.”

I opened my eyes and stared at him. His eyes were glassy and I knew that there was something going on with him. Never in the three years I’ve known Gage has he called me baby girl, and he’d definitely never touched me like he was doing now. “What are you doing?” I asked him softly.

One side of his lips tilted up in that smirk of his. “If you don’t know what I’m doing then I must not be doing it right.”

Shaking my head, I laughed. “I mean, I know what you’re doing, but why now?”

His hands slid down to my ass and pulled me up against him. I could feel the hard bulge between his legs against my belly and he groaned at the contact. I couldn’t stop the smile from forming on my face because it was nice to know that I had the same effect on him.

He bent down and got right in front of my face. I could feel his breath as he whispered, “Do you want to do this or do you want to talk about it?”

His hands squeezed on to my bigger than a handful ass cheeks and I grabbed on to his massive shoulders. “Do it,” I muttered right before his lips crashed into mine.

As soon as we made contact, I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I would never be the same after this. I’d wanted Gage for so long, there was no denying what he does to me just by looking at him. To have him in my arms and inside me was going to change me forever… I just knew it.

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