Page 19 of Legacy

“Hi.” He waves, dipping his gaze.

It’s so cute and awkward that I can’t help but smile at the innocence of being that age.

“Want to come play?” Bea asks him. “I found the super raptors we were looking for.”

“Yes!” He pumps a fist in the air, and without asking, they both run up the stairs.

“I see I’ve been traded in for someone else.” I laugh, turning back to Luna and Tempe.

Tempe shakes her head, circling around me to let herself in. “That’s how it goes with those two. They’re tied at the hip.”

Luna follows Tempe into the house, and I close the door behind them. When we reach the kitchen, they get to work making themselves at home. Pulling up stools and unpacking a bag of limes. Luna finds the silverware drawer and grabs a cutting board to start slicing.

It’s domestic and the opposite of how it was being at the clubhouse last night.

“So…” I circle the island, searching cabinets for the right glasses, and finally finding them in the last one. “Steel is in the same club as Ghost and Jesse—I mean, Legacy?”

His biker name feels weird to say when I’ve always thought of him as Jesse from my conversations with Margaret. But I realize that Luna referred to her boyfriend as Ghost when I met him, and she called Tempe’s man Steel, so it might be some unspoken thing with bikers to call them by those names.

“Steel’s the president.” Luna nudges Tempe’s arm, and Tempe smiles, shaking her head.

“The president?”

“It sounds scarier than it is, but it’s just a title. Jameson’s happy to have you here to help Legacy out.”

Hearing Tempe call Steel by his real name is a hint of normalcy that makes them feel a little more human. Besides, if Steel sent Tempe and Luna here to welcome me, it’s thoughtful considering how resistant Jesse has been to the matter. It’s something you’d do for family, which makes me wonder if that’s how they see it.

I set the glasses on the counter, and Luna starts pouring. She’s light on the tequila, which I appreciate since I don’t need Jesse to have any more reasons to think I won’t be responsible with his daughter. There’s barely a splash. Just enough for flavor.

“So you two are the welcoming committee?” I ask, taking a sip.

“I guess we are.” Tempe shrugs. “Hopefully we’re better than the greeting you got at the clubhouse last night. I heard Legacy was a bit of a…”

“Jerk,” I finish her sentence when she doesn’t.

Tempe laughs. “Yeah… Jerk. I didn’t know he had that in him, to be honest. He’s usually one of the less grumpy ones.”

“Reagan riled him up.” Luna shoots me a grin, and heat floods my cheeks.

“Jesse is just stressed.” I set my glass down. “That’s it.”

“I’m sure that’s it.” Luna rolls her eyes while Tempe laughs, clearly, neither of them believing me. “But come to think of it, he has been grumpier since—”

She cuts herself off, glancingat Tempe.

“Since what?”

Luna bites her lip, hesitating, before she says, “There was an incident a few months back. Legacy got hurt—shot actually. But he’s fine now.”

I swallow hard, thinking about how he rubbed his leg this morning. How Bea talked about when he wassickin the hospital. Maybe this is what she was talking about. It would make sense that she’d be told a more palatable story for a five-year-old.

“That’s probably it.” I go along with it, even if I sense there’s more. “So, Tempe, Bea’s close with your son?”

“Technically, Austin is my younger brother…” Her expression softens. “But Jameson and I are all he has now, so we’re our own little family.”

Her statement tells me everything I need to know about her. Tempe looks out for the people she cares about, regardless of titles and roles. And apparently, Steel does the same. Maybe that’s why Luna fits in so well here.

I thought I had the club figured out with one step inside the clubhouse.

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