Page 44 of Arrow: Riding Rebels MC

Snoopy confirmed that it would be a long weekend because we’d gotten in thirty orders overnight.

I was grateful, but my team would be down in the trenches for a little minute because thirty on top of the twenty-six we were currently working on was a lot. However, I would never complain on God’s blessings. The woman, the kid, and the orders were all a sign that favor had fallen over me. I chopped it up with Snoopy for a little bit before hanging up to get ready.

When I got out of bed and headed toward the bathroom, Hendrix threw a fit, so I had to double back and take him with me.

“He is getting too spoiled for his own good.” Cecilia pouted. “Let me get his chair, but I can already tell he isn’t going to want anything but to be in your arms. How do you expect to get ready if you’re holding him?”

“Jealousy don’t look good on you, baby. I’m a resourceful man, so I’ll figure it out.” I smirked, and she stormed from the room to grab his bouncer.

“Whatever.” She huffed.

Laughing, I looked down at Hendrix, and he was looking at himself in the mirror, fully enamored.

I couldn’t use the bathroom with him in my arms, so I went about brushing my teeth. The task was harder than expected because he kept grabbing the end of my toothbrush, then the tongue scraper. When his mother reappeared, I couldn’t have been happier. Cecilia set the seat up, then grabbed him from me, and I went to relieve myself. My bathroom had the toilet separate from the rest of the items, so I was able to close myself in.

Hendrix had started to cry, but some woman with a high-pitched voice came through the speakers in the bathroom, and he settled right on down.

“Not he traded me for some white woman.” I cut the shower on and looked at him and shook my head.

Cecilia laughed and stuck out her tongue.

“Now you know how abandoned I feel. Plus, not too much on her because she’s the world’s best co-parent a woman could have.”

“I hear you talking.” I pecked her lips and stepped into the shower.

I loved the noise that had become my life.

There had never been a problem with the silence I often found myself in, but having Cecilia and Hendrix here brightened my days. While I showered, I thought about what would happenonce Gideon was no longer a factor. I didn’t want to believe that once I eliminated this problem for her, Cecilia would be on the first thing smoking out the door, but I had to admit, a little piece of me couldn’t help but wonder.

If anyone asked, I’d pretend not to care too much, but deep down, that woman had a hold on me.

“I was thinking we could go to the mall.”

Although the shower glass had fogged up, I looked up, trying to see her face. Going to the mall meant leaving Rushin Mills. The Rebels had set up this compound to keep outsiders from having access to what was important to us.

“We can do whatever you want, baby, but remember the rules that apply in the Mills don’t apply out there. I’ll protect y’all always, but I can’t control who will be around us.” I stuck my head out so she could see the seriousness on my face.

“I know, but I’m tired of being hidden. You have given me so much peace and freedom, but I want to feel it beyond Rushin Mills. Gideon no longer has a hold on me, and leaving Rushin Mills to go one town over will prove that to me.”

I heard everything she was saying, and although every part of me wanted to say no, I didn’t deny her.

We would spend our time in Rushin Mills, but we would end our day in Waldorf. It wasn’t ideal, but I understood it was something she needed to experience to truly feel like Gideon wasn’t somewhere hiding in the shadows. I finished my shower, and soon after, we were leaving the house. I said a quick prayer that things would go smoothly, and we could be in and out. Hendrix was all smiles, so that gave me hope that today would be a great day.

As expected, the Mommy and Me class was nothing but a bunch of club women that got a kick out of making me look crazy in the name of making a six-month-old little boy happy.

“You know you’re going to pay for this, right?” I said as I helped her into the car after the class.

Cecilia grinned and said, “I have no idea what you’re talking about, sir.”

I thumbed my nose and nodded.

“Mhm. Make sure you keep that same energy for later.”

Cecilia tossed her head back and laughed as I shut the door. I wasn’t embarrassed by anything I’d done, but if any part of that session had been taped, I was burning the building to the ground. We were headed to the mall, so I hoped the smile Cecilia wore remained there until I had her safely in Rushin Mills by the end of the night.

Sometimes,I truly believed that I enjoyed biting off more than I could chew.

Being two hours away from home gave me the false sense of security that venturing out of Rushin Mills for a couple of hours was a bright idea. However, the woman that I just spotted let me know that it, in fact, was not a bright idea. So far, she hadn’t noticed me, but the fear in my heart had cemented my feet in place.

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