Page 35 of Falling for Her

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

“Levi wants to know when you’re coming around for dinner,” Bullet says, ignoring Adam between us. I swallow as Adam looks at him and then at me.

“I only watched him last night, the boy missing me already?” I ask and quickly take a drink.

I swear he better not call me my old road name.

“Actually, he wants someone called Essy?” he asks in confusion, and Adam laughs while I just smile, unable to keep it in.

“Why doesn’t that surprise me the little traitor,” I mumble, making Adam laugh harder.

“You’ve been replaced,” he chuckles, and I hum, unable to wipe my smile off until Bullet asks, “Who is Essy?” and my smile disappears.

I swallow hard and look at my beer while Adam answers for me and states, “Essy is my daughter,” and I finish, “And my girl.” I am not able to look my friend in the eye, but I do side-eye him and wince. His mouth is parted, his eyes wide, but I try to ignore his shocked state and say, “I’m shocked she didn’t take Levi with her and Aiden.”

“She did,” Adam returns. I look at him with a raised brow, and he shrugs, “She dropped him off with his mom at the park on her way home. Apparently, he also has a matching sea lion t-shirt.”

“Wait, your new girl has met my wife and kids but not me?” Bullet accuses. I wince while Adam looks between us with a raised brow, and I sigh, knowing I won’t get away with not telling him some truths, especially considering Bullet is wearing his cut.

“Bullet here is my best friend, we grew up together within the Black Angels MC,” I admit, and Adam furrows his brows. I take a deep breath and continue, “I handed in my cut the day I met your daughter, so they won’t be involved with her or Aiden, I promise.”

Bullet looks away but I don’t miss the betrayal he portraying, and Adam questions, “Is that why she doesn’t know? Because you handed your cut in and don’t want her around the club?”

I nod and confirm, “Yeah, and she won’t know because I don’t want my old life touching my new one. Scarlett, I made an exception because of Levi and Hannah, but otherwise, no one else, which is also why Bullet didn’t know about her.”

He nods, looks at Bullet, and asks, “And how does that make you feel?” which makes me snort.

The man needs to find a woman. He psychoanalyzes fucking everything.

Bullet frowns and murmurs, “Shitty even if I understand. Are you some kind of therapist or something?”

I chuckle and answer, “He’s a family attorney and has been through a lot and decided trying to fix relationships was a good distraction.” I look at Adam, “I love my family, but some things can’t be changed, including forcing me to date the president's daughter for two years to keep her under control, threatening my cut, my place within the club, and my way of living.”

Adam shakes his head and takes a drink, scoffing, “And here I thought the club was supposed to be family-based,” making Bullet wince.

I shrug, “So did I until that moment, and what broke the camel's back was when they tried to force me to give an old lady's cut to her, making her mine in the eyes of the club. I couldn’t take it anymore. I handed in my cut and left, adamant to live my life my way.”

“Only to bump into my sweet, kind, and very sassy daughter,” Adam finishes. I grin wide while Bullet looks at me with a frown.

I get it. He’s never seen me act this way with a woman, but he should recognize what I’m feeling, considering he went through this with Scar.

Shaking my head, I say, “You forgot caring, loving and nephew affection stealing,” and he laughs, not surprised I’d add that because she is caring and loving, and she did take Levi’s attention but I’m fucking lucky to call her mine.

Shaking his head, Adam looks at Bullet and asks, "So what kinds of stuff did this man get up to growing up?" I wince. He continues, "I need to figure out who I'm letting into my daughter's life."

Bullet grins, and I groan, dropping my head making Adam laugh.

Here we go...

We spend an hour shooting the shit, Bullet telling Adam some of the stuff we got up to growing up, stuff I really don’t want my girl’s dad knowing. Like letting five pigs loose in school and then setting a small fire in the bathrooms only for it to spread and burn down a quarter of the gym before Adam taps the bar and says, “Right, I’m off home to my kids.” I nod, and he looks at me and says, “Whenever you are ready, you don’t need my blessing because you had it the moment you looked at my daughter like she was your world. I’ll tell her to call you later.”

I nod, gratitude filling me along with relief as to why I asked him for a drink. He pats my back, then shakes Bullet’s hand and says, “It was good to meet you. And as for the idiot beside me, if you keep showing him he’s your family, he’ll return to the club because family is family, but he needs to know you’ll stand by him, not force him into something,” before he leaves and I sigh, feeling my best friend’s eyes on me as I look down at my beer.

I do miss the club, but I love living for myself and falling in love with Essy without the club breathing down my neck.

“Slick and Acid are going to lose it when they realize you have a girl and didn’t tell them,” he says and I look his way. He shakes his head, running a frustrated hand through his dark brown hair, and snaps, “They’re already pissed that you won’t answer their calls or allow them in the shop, and now this.”

I admit, “I do miss them, but all they will try and do is convince me to return, not knowing the reason why I left to begin with. You know I can’t say shit without most likely starting a coup against your father,” I shake my head and look at my bottle, “Mama let slip that our fathers have promised the club that your sister will settle down because I’m apparently due to return to the club,” I look at my best friend, “They’re still trying to get me to figure their shit out, and I don’t want that pressure on my back anymore and don’t get me fucking started on the five times, fucking five a day Bethany shows up at the shop and causes arguments with Hammer just to try and get me out of my room.”

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