Page 14 of The MC's Surprise
“Don’t,” she murmured, eyes locked on the numbers as they went down. “I know I’m not in a place to argue with you. Not while I’m out of a job and living with my parents.”
She said that, but she looked like she wanted to argue anyway. When I raised an eyebrow at her, she sighed heavily.
“It just irks, you know? I’ve been trying to do things on my own since I was a teen. I hate relying on other people. I’ve been looking for a job, but I know the possibilities are slim while I’m like this.” She gestured to her belly with a frown. “I’m reliant on other people right now and it kills me. Especially after–”
When she cut herself off, I could see the pain that flashed across her face. I moved past it, since I knew she wasn’t ready to talk about it yet, shuffling closer so I could put my hand on her arm.
“I get that. I’d probably feel the same way. But think of it this way. If we paid you by the hour for the work you’re doing literally creating a kid, then I’m way behind payments. You gotta give me a chance to catch up.”
A flicker of a smile flashed across her face. It felt like a win to me, so I kept pushing. “My crew’s got this thing about spoiling the crew kids too. If I don’t get a head start, I’ll lose the favorite spot for my own kid before its even born.”
That made her laugh, shaking her head like she thought I was ridiculous. But she was smiling again, and when she finally looked at me, she didn’t look close to angry tears like she had before.
“Okay. I wasn’t sure how I was going to pull it off, so… Thank you.”
8
Sierra
Once he got over the shock, Vegas was a much more supportive partner in all this. He held my hand during the blood tests after I admitted how much I hated needles. He paid for everything. And while that still bugged me on some level, I knew I couldn’t refuse. But I made a mental note to keep baby related expenses to a minimum. If the baby was a girl, I would bet good money my mom had some of my old baby clothes. There was nothing wrong with reusing them.
It wasn’t surprising that I was starving after the afternoon of appointments. I was considering fast food, wondering if it was worth the dirty looks my mom would give me if she found out, when Vegas knocked on my window. We were stopped at a notoriously long red light, and he’d walked his bike straight up to my window so we could talk.
“What are you doing next?” he asked over the sound of his bike.
I lifted a shoulder. “Food. I don’t know if you know this, but pregnant women eat a lot.”
There wasn’t a hint of judgment in his smirk. I’d gotten a lot of comments before I left California about putting on a lot of weight. Even Mama told me to watch it because it would be harder to lose once I had the baby. Vegas didn’t seem to care. Then again, we weren’t in a relationship. I needed to remember that. No matter how sweet he was holding my hand or opening doors for me, this wasn’t a relationship. Hopefully, my hormones would get that in their heads.
“We’re having a cook-out at the clubhouse to introduce the new prospects. Want to meet my crew?”
I hesitated. “Wouldn’t that be weird?”
He made a face half hidden by his helmet. “You’re carrying my kid, Sierra. They’re going to know about you eventually.”
He said it with such confidence even though we hadn’t gotten the paternity test results yet. Like he just accepted that what I told him was the truth, even without the test. It meant a lot, honestly. I didn’t expect him to just take me at my word. It wasn’t like we’d been in a committed relationship at the time. It was just supposed to be fun. Something to take my mind off of another failure before I made enough money to start fresh. But he saw me as a trustworthy person and was willing to introduce me to his friends without waiting for the test. It felt wrong to turn him down.
“Uh, okay. Sure. Lead the way?”
He nodded and flipped his visor down, moving in front of me right as the light turned green. I followed him across town to where I knew the clubhouse was tucked away. Everyone in town knew where it was. They actively avoided the area because the rumors were so negative about the crew that they were afraid to get close. I never held much stock in those rumors, though. I preferred to hold back judgment until I could meet them myself.
The clubhouse wasn’t really what I was expecting. A nondescript brick building with a fence to keep out trespassersand a good amount of motorcycles parked out front. I thought it’d at least be painted black or there would be remnants of parties, like beer bottles or broken glass outside. It was nothing like that. Without the motorcycles, it would look like the rest of the buildings in town. And when we went inside, it was a lot nicer. A large staircase split the room, with a game room on the right and the living room on the left. Vegas led me in that direction, lifting his chin in greeting to the bikers who were already there.
“Hey, Prez. Wanted you to meet someone,” he said in greeting to a tall man with ice blue eyes who stood off to the side talking to one of few men in the group without the club logo somewhere on their person. Prez turned to face us, eyes taking me in for a moment. I was prepared for him to say something rude, like the bikers I’d seen on tv, but something soft flashed across his face and when he joined us, his smile was warm.
“Prez, this is Sierra. Sierra, this is the president of the Dirty Devils, Wyatt Lawson. We call him Prez.”
Prez offered his hand, his handshake firm, but polite. “Nice to meet you, Sierra. You’ve come on a good day. The whole crew will be here. They’ll be excited to learn about the newest crew member.”
I raised an eyebrow at Vegas, who shrugged, an unrepentant grin on his face. “On Ellie’s first birthday, she got her own club jacket. Now it's just accepted that the kids are as much a part of the crew as the rest of us.”
Twisting my lips to hide my smile, I glanced at Prez. “So you’re just a bunch of big softies, huh?”
Prez didn’t look offended by my statement. He just smiled at me. “I’ve got a good crew. They’d take a bullet for those kids. And any one of them would be happy to volunteer to babysit if you ever need a break.”
Well, that was kind of nice. If I could find a job in town, that is. I hadn’t looked yet, but I remembered how hard it was to find the job working with Vegas last summer. It was slim pickings in a town this small.
“Come on, I’ll introduce you to my first lady.”
