Page 48 of Single Mom's Bikers

“Maybe we’ll see each other around?” Draven suggests. “Coffee or…”

“I’d like that.”

After he leaves, I raise an eyebrow at Rose. “Coffee, huh?”

“Just focus on your art.” But her cheeks flush slightly. “This isn’t going to hurt too much, right?”

I get to work. As I outline the stars on her shoulder, she tells me how she and Evie met and also how she helped Evie start fresh in Wolf Pike.

“She needed a friend,” Rose says simply. “Sometimes that’s enough—plus, I like to travel and experience new things. It only made sense that I came with her. Evie and her girls have been through so much. I couldn’t stand not being close to them.”

I think about Tank saying similar things about helping lost people.

“Tank would have liked you,” I tell her. “He had a way of knowing which people belonged in our world.”

She’s quiet for a long moment. “I wish I’d met him. Looks like he made this town better.”

“Best president the Black Wolves ever had.” I wipe excess ink from her skin. “Teller’s doing right by his memory, though.”

My phone buzzes. Evie is probably checking in. But when I glance at it, it’s Draven with repair estimates.

I finish the last star. “Want to see?”

Rose examines her shoulder in the mirror. Constellation points perfectly against her skin. “It’s beautiful. Thank you.”

As she’s leaving, Draven comes back, presumably to handle more flood issues. Their eyes meet briefly, something unspoken passing between them.

I send the repair estimates to Rick without reading them.

The rest of the morning passes in a haze of regular clients and gallery business. But I keep thinking about connections—how Tank brought Draven to us, how Evie brought Rose into our world, how some people just fit without explanation.

Makes me wonder what other changes are coming to Wolf Pike.

And whether we’re ready for them.

18

EVIE

Thursdays are usuallyquiet in our house. The brothers have their weekly club meeting, the girls are winding down from school, and I get to catch up on all the little things that slip through the cracks when you’re juggling a job, two kids, and three men.

But tonight, something’s different. Rose shows up with enough Chinese takeout to feed an army and an expression I’ve never seen on her face before. She’s practically floating as she sets out containers on the kitchen table.

“Okay, what’s going on?” I study her while distributing plates. “You’re…glowing.”

That’s when I hear it—a sound so unexpected I almost drop the chopsticks. Rose, my fierce friend and perpetual skeptic, actually giggles.

“You did not just giggle.” I stare at Rose in disbelief, the Chinese takeout forgotten between us. “You. The woman who once threatened to castrate a man for calling yousweetheartin a meeting.”

“I don’t giggle.” But her cheeks flush as she picks at her lo mein. “Draven just…said something funny over the phone when we were talking.”

“Draven said something funny?” I can’t help teasing. In the months I’ve known him, Draven’s been many things—competent, protective, awesome father—but never particularly humorous.

“He can be…” She struggles for words, which is another first. “Charming. When he wants to be.”

Upstairs, I hear Violet’s theatrical storytelling voice mixing with Daisy’s giggles.

“So.” I lean forward. “Tell me everything. When is the long-awaited coffee date going to happen?”

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