Page 78 of The MC's Surprise
Drawing in a breath, I let it out slowly, taking a second to get my thoughts in order. It was important to both of us to communicate in this relationship. I’d been honest with him from the start. I wasn’t going to start hiding things now.
“I guess I’m just worried. I knew you liked her. I saw the way you looked at her. You would drop everything to go to her before we started seeing each other. And even after we started dating, you still ditched me to go to her while we were looking at the house.”
“That was–” He started to argue, but I cut him off, putting my hand up to stop him.
“It’s okay. You’ve never once made me think you’d cheat or anything. I’m just telling you how I felt at the time. And a part of me is worried you’ll regret not giving her a shot. You were in love with her. What if a few years from now you realize she was a better match for you and you made a mistake?”
Tears welled in my eyes at the thought. I could see it happening. Even before having a baby, I wasn’t as thin or flawless as Charlotte was. I had imperfections. And I still had a lifetime of failure at my back. As far as I could tell, Charlotte’s life was stable and I couldn’t find a flaw on her no matter how hard I tried. She was better than me–
“Stop. I can see you justifying it in your head, and it won’t ever happen. I don’t want her, Sierra. You saw the way she acted just now. I dodged a damn bullet when you showed up.”
I huffed a small laugh, but I couldn’t put my heart into it. She’d attacked my insecurities and my emotions were still out of wack sometimes.
“Hey… Look at me,” he pleaded, cupping my cheek in his hand. I did, leaning into his palm when a tear slipped free and he wiped it with his thumb. He was still so sweet.
“I realized how much of an idiot I was to pine for Charlotte a while ago. After being with you, how could I ever want someone else? You accept me the way I am. You don’t make faces when I talk about my crew, and you don’t complain when I wear my cut. Hell, you dropped everything and put in the work to save our reputation. And it’s working! Did you see how many people wereat that rally? You did that.” He leaned in, pressing his forehead against mine. “When I asked you to be my old lady, that wasn’t just because you were having my kid. I asked because when I look at you, I see my perfect match. You’re brave and strong and sassy, and you love my crew. We belong together, sweetheart. And if it came down to a choice between you or anyone else in the world, I’d choose you hands down every damn time.”
The longer he spoke, the more tears spilled down my cheeks. When we first started seeing each other, I thought he was settling because he couldn’t have the woman he wanted. I was having his baby. He would take us both in just because he was a good man. I never thought for even a second that he would choose me. Even after he told me he loved me, I was terrified that one day Charlotte would show up and take him from me. But when faced with that reality, he still chose me. And it wasn’t just because of Melanie. For the first time ever, my impulsive decision didn’t lead to my life falling apart. I accepted a date with him, and I got my happily ever after because of it. I wasn’t going to be stuck with another failure on my record.
Finally.
Justin gaveme some time to calm down, telling me all about the chaos at the clubhouse that morning. Apparently, Rooster got one of the prospects to join him in pranking Buzz. Except, the person who walked through the door after they’d set up the prank wasn’t Buzz. It was Axel, Buzz’s older brother, who just happened to be that prospect’s mentor. The fallout was epic, according to Justin. When I asked Mel later about it, she rolledher eyes and said the only reason Justin was enjoying it so much was because it was usually him and Rooster pulling pranks together and getting in trouble for it. It was more fun when he wasn’t sharing the consequences with the rest of them.
When we rejoined the crew, I got plenty of hugs and words of reassurance. Even the guys joined in.
“Seriously, you’re way hotter than that chick,” Circus assured me.
“Damn right, you are!” Rooster crowed. “Did you see her stomping her foot? Who acts like that? Not even the kids do that shit.”
“Anyone else think she looked like a barbie?” Buzz asked curiously. “Like plastic.”
There were nods and hums of agreement before the compliments started back up again. Justin had to step in to get them to stop, tucking me under his arm with a glare.
“Alright, knock it off, idiots. She’s my old lady. Go hit on someone else.”
I snickered, shaking my head at him. They were just being nice, but I loved the protectiveness so I wasn’t going to discourage him.
“It’s so hard to take you seriously when you’re wearing a baby on your chest,” Mel pointed out with a grin. “You two look so cute!”
Justin didn't get embarrassed by the fact that he was carrying around our daughter on his chest. He just lifted his chin, his smile full of pride. “Damn right we are.”
Someone delicately cleared their throat, and when I looked down, Skylar’s little girl was staring up at us, her glasses shoved high onto her nose. When Justin noticed, he gave the little girl his full attention, squatting to get on her eye level.
“What can I do for you, princess?”
She handed him a slip of paper without a word. Looking over his shoulder to read it, I had to twist my mouth not to burst out laughing.
“Uh… What is this?” Justin asked, confused.
“It’s a demand letter,” Circus grouched. “She gave one to everyone who was swearing while we faced off with that b–” He hesitated, noticing Gracie’s eagle eyed glare. “Blonde before. She tallied how many times we cussed each and wrote a note saying she’ll collect the debt later.”
Justin’s jaw fell open. Thankfully, he only had three tallies on that piece of paper, but still.
The look on his face killed me and I couldn’t help laughing. It was almost like I set everyone else off because the whole crew joined in. Gracie beamed from where she stood in the middle, soaking up the attention. When Prez scooped her up, giving her a high five, I knew exactly where that idea came from.
“Planning to bleed them dry?” I asked around snickers.
His grin was entirely shark-like. “Soon there will be more kids than crew in this group. They need to learn to watch their language. Maybe a debt collector will get them to act right.”
