Page 67 of The Fates We Tame
“Not from where I’m standing.” I place my knuckle beneath her chin and kiss her softly.
“We need to talk,” she says. “You dismissed me in the kitchen and then left me after the call with your mom.”
“I know.”
“That’s not how we do things. I’ve just learned I don’t know anything about my own family. I can’t be in a relationship, even one mostly for appearances, with someone who won’t tell me who they really are. I want you to talk to me. Include me.”
“I know. I’m sorry. We will talk. But humor me, Sparrow. I just sat on my bike for the first time in what feels like forever. I pulled up, and you’re standing here looking like a snack I want to eat in those leathers. And we’re about to go for a ride with my friend. Can we just enjoy this, and then talk later? I can’t do serious right now.”
I tug her to me and kiss her with more feeling. Perhaps too much, given the way Clutch whistles when he sees us across the lot. I put a finger up behind Sophia’s back in his general direction.
“Okay. But only because you kissed me like that. And that I have your word we can talk later because I don’t like being dismissed, Theo.”
I pull her lower lip down with my thumb and kiss her again. “I know, Sparrow. And I promise. We can talk all you need later.”
“Sophia, I’m coming with you,” a little voice cries, and then Avery barrels from around the back of the clubhouse. She’s wearing a full set of little leathers and carrying a sparkly pink helmet.
Bates walks behind her. “I said don’t run in the lot, Ave.”
“Look what mine says. Look. Look.” She spins around.
It saysProperty of Daddy, and beneath it, a second patch saysAnd Uncle Colton.
“I love it,” Sophia says. “You are very lucky that your daddy and Uncle Colton have your back.”
“I bet Uncle Switch has yours. He had Auntie Ari and Lola’s.”
I glance at Bates, who shakes his head subtly. “What do you know about that, pumpkin?”
“I heard Auntie Gwen tell Mommy that Auntie Ari and Lola are alive because Uncle Switch was so brave.”
Bates rolls his eyes. “Love our old ladies to death, but they’re freaking gossips.” He picks Avery up, and I have the spark of a memory: Vi telling him to put Avery down, and him saying he was making up for lost time. That’s it. They were apart for a while.
“You only found you had a daughter this year,” I say.
“Yeah. So?” Bates says. Then his eyes widen. “You just remembered that?”
“Memories are flickering like a fucking candle. Can’t remember everything. But some things are coming back to me.”
Bates puts Avery to the ground and pulls me into a hug. It’s unexpected and really fucking hard. Bates is a rock-solid guy. “We missed you, brother. Not just you being around, but your presence. It’s good for the club to have you as the voice of reason.”
I hug him back because I guess this is something we do, but also, because it feels good.
The roar of a bike causes us to pull apart.
Niro arrives on a bright pink three-wheel Harley.
“What the fuck?” I say.
Bates laughs. “Got it for Avery. She said she wanted a Cinderella carriage. So, he bought a pink Harley, just for when the two of them are doing shit together.”
“You trust him with your kid on his bike?”
“You only remember the old Niro.” Bates smiles. “He’s the best fucking friend I ever had. I’d trust him with my life.”
“Permission to come aboard?” Avery yells up at him.
“Permission granted,” Niro says and offers her his arm like they’ve done this a million times. He hoists her up behind him into the pillion seat and straps her in. “You two ready?” he asks us.
