Page 19 of Daddy Issues

I couldn’t help but tease him, regardless. “What, not going to check for me?”

“That what you want?” He brought his gaze to mine and held it.

There was heat there, oh boy was there. But something else, too. He was tired. The sort of tired that came from an extreme lack of sleep. There were circles forming under his gray eyes and his face was tight.

“You okay?” I stepped toward the table like I might go to him but thought better of it. So I hovered awkwardly between Puck and the counter.

“Yeah, beat the fuck down, but fine. Worked last night late, took the kid to school, then rode halfway to Mexico today. No sleep.” He smiled a little. “Why, you gonna take care of me?”

“You flirt a lot for a guy who looks like he couldn’t handle half a round with me.”

“If I could, Kenna, I’d handle whatever you gave and more.”

There was an inflection in his voice that hung weirdly in the air. “What do you mean,if?” But before he could answer, my phone rang with a familiar southern rock tune assigned to my stepdad. No doubt David and Nadine had probably found her fucked up laundry.

I cringed, held up one finger, and ducked into Puck’s laundry room that separated the kitchen from the back door. David’s voice was tired as he lit into me. I closed my eyes, letting the fatherly tirade go in one ear and out the other.

“Why do you keep making this so hard for me, McKenna Leigh?” He sounded as tired as Puck looked.

“I’m sorry, D—” It was in those moments, when my heart hurt, I’d almost slip up and call him the one thing I didn’t have. Instead, I pressed my head to the door frame. “I’ll leave money on the counter to replace her shit.” That meant another month or so of working to replace that cash.

Fuck, I needed out of there.

Puck was watching the doorway when I came in. I’d been quiet, but he’d probably heard enough to know who I was talking to.

“It’s not just everything that happened, that makes it hard to hang out around the clubhouse.” I offered, fixing him a plate of the spaghetti I’d made and shoving it in the microwave. “I can’t fucking stand her. And I know she holds court there like the washed-up patch bunny she is.”

To battle back the bitter sting of tears, I blinked rapidly and held my breath, blowing it out fast before the urge to breathegrew too urgent. “I’ve got to go, before she makes my life harder than it is.”

I went to him and dropped a kiss on his cheek, like I usually did. His position on the chair kept me from having to stretch or bend. He caught my hand before I could pull all the way away. “Cam and Riley come home at the end of the month. There’s going to be a party. You should come.”

There was a sincerity in his expression that made my cowardice churn in my gut burn at the back of my eyes. “Maybe.” I hated myself for lying as I jerked my hand away and skittered out of his kitchen.

Puck Kelly made me feel things in ways I shouldn’t, in ways I couldn’t afford.

Kenna

Pulling into the Desert King’s clubhouse parking lot used to make me instantly happy. As I pulled the emergency brake and shut the little truck off I tried to find that place again. For what seemed like half my life this place had been like a second home.

I could distinctly remember begging David to let me stay late after events, trotting around behind the younger guys, wanting to party with them, because they were so exciting. And yeah, some still were.

Others, not so much.

And of course, Ghost was here. He’d done nothing but lick boots since Preacher left. I could draw my own assumptions as to why and what went down.

Puck had said things were better. Dylan had called and said things were more like before Archer died. Emphasized I should come by, since Cam and Riley were home. I missed her. Riley, too. Hanging out with the two of them were some of the happiest memories of my life.

Was I really letting shame keep me from that?

I hadn’t been back. Not since that night. Hadn’t seen Cam at all and had avoided Riley save for the occasional text message I’d be a bitch to ignore.

Snatching the new gauges from my purse, I hopped out of the truck and slammed the door behind me. There was a time I belonged here. Nadine was trying her best to make sure I didn’t. Another layer added to the mess.

My stomach tightened and I swallowed back the sick feeling. I’d been invited, not to mention I needed Puck’s help. The barbells were loose now, snagging on shit, and it hurt. But my fingers trembled too much if I tried to change them.

Plus…a part of mewantedto see him. It had been almost a month.

The music was weekend loud, pumping out from the large speakers, and thundering through the parking lot.

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