Page 49 of Biker Daddies

I hear footsteps coming down the hall and I take a step away so we aren’t seen. Hurt flashes across her face from the rejection.

It’s instinct to move away from her. She is the one person, the one thing in the entire club, the Prez has asked us not to touch or hurt. I’m conditioned to not be near her.

And now I want to break those conditions so she knows just how much we want her. This connection can’t be ignored.

I open the cabinet to grab a mug, noticing Harlow rubbing her wrists where we touched.

She wants us.

“Coffee?” I ask her, and all I get is a slow nod.

I hand her a cup and our fingers brush together, a singe of electricity shooting down my arm. She gasps when the slight shock takes her by surprise.

Harlow hurries to the fridge to grab the creamer she uses and Grizzly walks into the kitchen with Alto and Bane.

Grizzly smiles when he sees me, then inhales. “Fuck, I love it when you make coffee, Colt. It’s the best in town. Better than Dan’s Diner.”

I prop my hip against the counter near the coffee pot, hoping Grizzly doesn’t catch on to the sexual tension building between his best friends and his daughter.

He’s oblivious, because he begins to whistle while digging through the cabinet for his favorite cup. I give Harlow the side-eye, seeing Bane and Alto caging her in without her even knowing. One is on either side of her, but keeping a good distance so she doesn’t get scared.

I grab the coffee pot before it’s done and fill my cup, then Grizzly takes it away from me.

He groans when he takes the first sip, then holds out his hand. “Sugarplum. Let me get your cup. Did you put your creamer in it?”

“I can pour my own coffee,” she mumbles, handing her mug to her dad.

He grins. “I know you can, but while you’re here, you shouldn’t have to. You can do that back at your apartment.” Grizzly becomes serious, grunting in discontent as he pours her coffee.

She sighs. “Daddy, don’t—”

“I think it would be best if you lived at home still. You would be taken care of. And whoever made you cry earlier wouldn’t have happened.”

I cough when I swallow my coffee. It burns the back of my throat and some of it goes up my nose. “Sorry,” I choke out, giving everyone my back as I continue my coughing fit.

“You okay?” Grizzly asks, slapping a hand onto my shoulder.

“I’m fine.” I wave my hand. “Went down the wrong way.”

“Well, the guy who made me cry won’t be an issue anymore, right?” Harlow asks, but the question is directed at us.

I grip the counter, grinding my teeth together from her response. Now she’s just being stubborn. She’s wanting to get a reaction out of us.

“Hey, Prez?” Match pokes his head in the kitchen.

“Yeah, Match?”

“I think the guy from the other club is here. He just rolled up.”

I spin around, clenching my jaw, and I share a look with the guys. It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell him Harlow is taken, but nothing comes out.

This is what she’s mad about. She knew we wouldn’t be able to tell the truth. Grizzly isn’t the type of guy you piss off. He has always been a mountain of a man and one solid lick of his fist against my cheek would knock me out. The man is abnormally large.

We’ve been friends nearly our entire lives and we met because I was the runt in school. I hit puberty late in life, so while growing up I got picked on. A lot. It wasn’t until senior year of high school that I finally grew, but getting to the last year of high school was not easy and I wouldn’t have made it without Grizzly.

When I was in the third grade, I was getting the shit beat out of me by a few boys a year older than me on the playground. I didn’t bother fighting back. Even though I was so young, I was tired of living. I was tired of the hard shit life threw my way and I was ready for them to kill me. So I took it.

I took every punch. Every name they called me. Every kick. I didn’t fight back. I was done fighting.