Page 6 of Big Red

“I swear nothing is a secret with my kids anymore,” I grumble.

As I walk out the door, I hear all three of them roaring with laughter.

I seriously need to talk with my kids. Must they tell everyone of my screwups?

Once I’m settled in my truck, I head for the kids' school. The drive is only eight minutes from the shop. When I park the truck, I walk over to the pickup line.

Crystal is already here to pick up the other children. When she spots me, she smiles with a wave. All the women around her turn around, and when their gaze locks on mine, I instantly feel naked.

I hate doing pickups. These single mothers are worse than vultures. I swear one of them damn near dry humped me when trying to arrange a play date between our kids.

I always try and brush them off as gently as I can, but these women are persistent as hell.

Once I’m in front of Crystal, I wrap an arm around her and kiss her cheek.

“How was work?” she asks.

“Same ol, same ol. How was your day?”

“Any day I get to spend surrounded by my grandbabies is a good day, so I can’t complain.”

I’ve never met anyone who would voluntarily watch a group of kids every day, but Crystal loves it. She has all the kids over at least twice a month for sleepovers. Her house is designed purely for the kids.

They have a game room and a nursery. There are three bedrooms with bunk beds. She also has a movie theater with nice recliner seats and a popcorn machine. She and her husband are filthy rich, and they spoil the children every chance they get.

Before I can continue my conversation with Crystal, one of the moms interrupts us.

“What? No hug and kiss for the rest of us, Red?” Lydia purrs.

Lydia is the head vulture of the group. Every time I’m around her, she throws herself at me, despite the fact that she’s married.

Crystal coughs to cover the laugh that slipped out. I narrow my eyes at her. That makes her smile harder.

“I don’t think your husband would appreciate that.”

Just as I suspected, she doesn’t waiver. Stepping closer to me, she drags her finger down my chest. “I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.”

I know these thirst buckets think that just because I’m a biker, I don’t have any standards, and I’ll do anything, but boning a married woman is a strict no-go for me.

“But I would,” I tell her as I remove her hand.

Her mouth falls open, but the bell rings before she can say anything. “Ladies.” I give them all a slight nod and step around the group.

Crystal says goodbye to the group and follows me to the other side of the line. I cross my arms and frown at her.

Throwing her head back, she laughs. “What did I do?”

“Nothing. You did nothing. You could have helped me out back there.”

“I could have, but it was just so much fun watching you sweat.”

I laugh right as the doors burst open, and kids come running out. I’m not waiting long before Cindy and Colt come out, followed by Hannah and Marco. The kids say their goodbyes, and Cindy and Colt follow me to the truck.

“How was school today?” I ask as I pull out of the school parking lot.

“Good,” Colt says.

Cindy doesn’t say anything, so I angle my rearview mirror to look at her. Our gazes lock and she looks out the window. “It was good, Dad.”

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