by Harley Stone
Twenty-four sets of wide eyes watched him, still huddled under the tables.
“Get up and sit in your seats,” Havoc snapped. “You’re soldiers while we’re here, and soldiers don’t act out against their commanding officer.”
As the kids found their seats, the teacher lowered her hands and let out an audible sigh of relief. “Thank you. I’m so glad you’re here. I’m Ms. Theresa. I’m substituting for Ms. Amber. I usually work with the toddler group and I wasn’t expecting these kids to be so…” She glanced around. The kids were all sitting quietly, watching us. “Well, they seem to be under control now.”
“You can’t show any fear,” Sage said, giving her an encouraging smile. “They can smell it.”
She smiled back. “Thanks again. What do you need me to do while you’re here?”
“Sit down and relax,” Tap said, stepping forward to shake Ms. Theresa’s hand. “We’ll take it from here.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice,” she replied, heading to her desk.
“Now, y’all need to apologize to your teacher,” Havoc said.
The kids hesitated, and he widened his stance, crossing his arms as he stared them down.
“Sorry, Ms. Theresa,” they all said.
“Good. Thank you. Now who started this riot?”
I had to bite back another laugh. Riot? Sure, shit was out of control, but they were preschoolers. I’d done far worse to babysitters back in my day.
A sassy little girl with blonde pigtails stood and pointed to a dark-haired little boy named Trent. “He started it. He threw his project on the floor and started screaming.”
Trent was known to be a bit of a trouble maker, but he had a good sense of humor, and I felt like we’d bonded last week when he gave me a hug goodbye and told me he wanted to be a soldier someday, too.
“Trent?” I asked, frowning at him. “That true?”
Brow furrowed, he glared at the little blonde nark before slowly nodding at me.
“I’ll have the front desk call his mom,” Ms. Theresa said, picking up the phone on her desk.
“Come here, Trent. Let’s talk.” I gestured him to me.
He reluctantly stood and walked over. I pulled him aside to the corner of the classroom, so we could have a little chat while Havoc asked the rest of the class why they’d followed Trent’s example. Then Sage stepped in to talk about why soldiers needed to follow orders instead of going AWOL.
Squatting so I was eye-to-eye with Trent, I asked, “What’s going on, buddy?”
His frown only deepened. He crossed his arms and stared at the floor.
Like the four brothers with me, I’d gone through the training, so for the most part, I knew how to get kids to talk. I’d been working with Trent, and last week he’d started opening up to me. Planning to use what he’d told me to bring him around, I asked, “How are you gonna become a soldier and protect your mom if you’re not even man enough to come clean with me?”
Keeping his arms crossed, he glanced around the classroom, his eyes widening at the mess. “We have to clean everything?”
Realizing he’d taken ‘come clean’ literally, I chuckled. “Probably, but that’s not what I meant. Talk to me. Tell me what happened. Why did you freak out about this project?”
Hurt flashed in his eyes as he looked down again. “Ms. Theresa says we have to make Father’s Day cards.”
When he didn’t say more, I asked, “You don’t want to make one?”
He dropped his hands to his sides and kept his attention on the floor, hurt plainly written across his features. “My dad’s dead. He’s in a box in the ground, and Mom says he’s not coming back. We can’t even go see him. Why would I make him a card?”
Good question. And now the kid had me thinking about my own dad. He and I rarely saw eye-to-eye on anything, but I couldn’t imagine growing up without him. While Gramps had been my teacher, Dad had been my anchor. My moral compass. Hard telling how I would have turned out without his heavy-handed guidance.
“Do you have a grandpa or an uncle you could give it to?” I asked.
He shook his head. “No. It’s just me and mom.”
“I have a buddy who grew up with just his mom. Since his mom pulled double duty, he used to give her a Father’s Day card every year.”
“I don’t want to make mom a Father’s Day card. She’s not even a boy.” He looked up at me, and a hesitant smile ghosted his lips. “But you’re a boy. Can I make the card for you?”
What the fuck was I supposed to say to that? I didn’t want a Father’s Day card—fatherhood was nowhere on my radar, and the idea scared the shit out of me—but Trent was one cool kid, and he looked so goddamn hopeful I couldn’t possibly say no. “Yeah, buddy, you can make me one.”
His entire face lit up as he hurried back to his table. While I joined my brothers, speaking and answering questions, Trent cut, glued, and drew, barely paying attention to us. By the time we finished our lesson, he had a sparkling glue-covered mess of a card in his little hands and a big smile stretched across his face. I went right over to check out his work, but before I made it to him, the classroom door opened and Carly, the hot little bartender from the Copper Penny, marched in looking like she was about to spit fire.
Her hair was up in a messy bun, and she wore a sleeveless white summer dress that showed off her sexy curves and stopped just above her knees. Paired with her signature red cowboy boots, she had that whole girl next door inviting you in for a cool glass of lemonade and a hot fuck look down to a goddamn science. I hadn’t even known that look existed before I met Carly, but now it was my favorite.
Carly scowled as she took in the messy room before homing in on Trent and making a beeline for the kid. “Seriously, Trent?” she asked as she approached. “What were you thinking? I had to take off work to come and deal with this. Now I’m in trouble with my boss. This is the third time this month. You promised you’d be good today.”
Trent dropped his gaze, fiddling with the card in his hands. “I tried, Mom. But Ms. Theresa wouldn’t listen.”
“You’re the kid and she’s the teacher. You’re supposed to listen. Now, hand me your stuff and get this mess cleaned up so we can go.”
He looked at the card then glanced at me. “But it’s not for you. It’s for Wasp.”
Carly had been so focused on her child, she hadn’t even seen me until that moment. Or maybe she didn’t recognize me since I was wearing cammies and not my usual T-shirt, cut, and jeans. Her gaze landed on my boots and roamed up my body, eyes widening with recognition when she reached my face.
“Wasp?” she asked, looking from me to Trent. “Why is my kid giving you a card?” She intercepted it and scanned the front, her eyes hardening as her brows crept up her forehead. “A Father’s Day card? How do you even…? Why…? Is this…?” She was so shocked she couldn’t seem to get out a sentence.
“Hey Carly,” Spade said, joining us. “Good to see you. What are you doing here?”
Her shocked gaze took him in. “Spade? My son goes to school here. What are you guys…” She glanced back at me, then at Tap, Havoc, and Sage. Understanding flooded her eyes. “Wait. You’re the soldiers he’s been talking about?”
Trent was talking about us? That was kind of cool. I nodded.
“I didn’t see that one coming,” Carly said on a breath.
“What?” I asked, feeling a little offended. “Bikers can’t volunteer to help kids?”
Ignoring me, she turned back to Trent. “Start cleaning up this mess so we can go.”
“But Mom, I—”
“Don’t ‘but Mom’ me. You broke your promise, and now I’m missing work.”
He started to argue again, but she leveled that no-bullshit look at him until his shoulders dropped and he got down on the floor and started doing what he was told.
Carly turned back to me. “Can I talk to you? In the hall?”
“Sure.”
I followed her out of the classroom. With her ha
ir up like that, I had a great view of the sexy lines of her neck and was trying to decide which spot I’d kiss first if she ever gave me the chance. Her shoulders tensed, making her look like a rubber band stretched too tight and about to snap. Knowing I had to diffuse the situation, I stopped fantasizing about licking her neck and asked, “Is this where you ask for my number?”
She gave me a tight, forced smile. “No, Romeo. This is where I ask you to leave my kid alone. He’s been through enough and doesn’t need the confusion of…” She pointed at the card. “Whatever this is. I mean it’s great of you guys to come in and hang out with the kids, but a Father’s Day card? That’s a little over-the-top, don’t you think?”
Surprised and stung by her tone, I defended myself. “He asked if he could make it for me. What was I supposed to say? No?”
She stared at me, some of the fire going out of her eyes only to be replaced with worry and exhaustion. Looking at the door to the classroom, she shook her head. “I can’t believe he started a riot over making a card. A Father’s Day card that he then gave to a stranger he expects to protect him.”
“To protect him?” My ears perked up at that. “Last week he said he wanted to protect you. Are the two of you in trouble, Carly?”
Her head whipped around, and she stared at me like she’d forgotten I was even there. “No. Sorry. Here.” She gave me the card. “He apparently wants you to have that. I... I’m gonna go help him so we can get out of here.”
She was lying. Before I could call her on it, she hurried back into the classroom and got busy helping Trent clean up.
“You ready to head out?” Havoc asked, intercepting me as I tried to follow her. Our time was over, and I needed to get back to the shop. Besides, I had a feeling Carly wouldn’t tell me shit until she was good and ready to. First, I’d have to prove to her that I was worth talking to.
“Yeah. Let’s get out of here. Thanks for the card, Trent,” I said, waving at him.
He beamed me a smile and his mom frowned, looking concerned.
On the way out to my bike, curiosity ate away at me. Something was going on with those two, and I needed to figure out what, because I was now officially interested in far more than Carly’s number.
Carly
“WHAT ARE YOU and Trent doing tomorrow?” Jessica asked, stepping into my room.
Tomorrow was Father’s Day, and the reminder made me groan with disgust and trepidation. Growing up, I hated every commercial, every craft, every mushy comment, everything that reminded me of that giant, gaping hole in my life where a dad should be. And now, my kid knew the same exact pain. I wished like hell I could take that pain away from him—that I could delete the day from the calendar and make everyone shut up about it—but I couldn’t. He would have to survive this shitty day every year, just like I did.
“I don’t know. Maybe I’ll take him to the Aquarium or the Children’s Museum.” We didn’t really have the money for either option, but there was still a little room on my credit card and I’d be willing to bury myself under the poor house if it made the day easier on my kid. “You?”
“Going to Mom and Dad’s. My brother and his wife and kids will be there, and Dad said you and Trent are welcome to join us if you want.”
Jessica’s parents lived in Renton. They were super sweet and always had homemade bread and fresh fruit waiting whenever we visited, but I worried that being around happy people as they celebrated Jessica’s dad would only make the day more difficult for Trent. It was our first year without Robbie, and although he’d never been the kind of dad mushy Father’s Day cards were written about, he was all Trent had known.
“Thanks, but I think we’ll pass.”
Questions flickered across Jessica’s face. I never talked about my past, and she had to be curious. Holding my breath, I silently prayed that she wouldn’t ask. I needed Jessica. She was my only friend, and I didn’t want to drive a wedge between us by refusing to answer her. I could tell her the answers would put her life in danger, but that sounded like some lame cop out. Regardless of how true it was.
“Okay,” she conceded, looking disappointed. “But if you change your mind, the offer stands.”
She went to check on Trent, and I released my breath and thanked my lucky stars that she hadn’t pried. I finished getting ready and headed to work early, before she changed her mind and let her curiosity get the best of us both.
***
Spade was back on the door tonight. Since I had Thursday night off, and he had last night off, I hadn’t seen him since he was with the guys at Helping Hands. He waved me past the crowd, but stopped me before I could go in.
“How’s your boy?” he asked.
The question felt like an invasion of privacy. Spade seemed like a good guy and all, but the fewer people who knew about Trent, the safer we’d be. I gave him a tight smile. “Fine, thanks. I gotta get to work.”
He frowned but let me pass.
Since I was early, I hung out in the break room, taking advantage of the free Wi-Fi to check social media. I’d deleted my real accounts long ago, but had figured out the password to my old friend Becca’s account: Robbie25, my baby-daddy’s name and his high school football jersey number.
Becca had been obsessed with Robbie. I wished I would have figured that shit out sooner. Like before I’d had Robbie’s kid. But then I wouldn’t have Trent, and there was no way I could even entertain a “what if” that didn’t include him.
I logged onto Becca’s account and was bombarded with several ‘Happy birthday in Heaven’ posts. Checking the date, I realized her birthday had been last week and I’d missed it. Pain lanced my chest and an involuntary sob escaped before I could clamp my mouth closed. I took a deep breath through my nose and blinked back tears as memories of Becca’s last birthday assaulted me.
Robbie, Becca, Trent, and I were camping at Scout Park. After an exhausting day of hiking and fishing, we’d pitched our tents and were sitting around the fire drinking and roasting marshmallows while Trent slept in my arms. Robbie was going off about some monster of a fish that somehow none of us had seen before it got away, and Becca and I—knowing he was full of shit—were laughing our asses off. Robbie got all butt-hurt and went to take a leak, and I couldn’t help but notice the way Becca watched him walk away. The way Becca had always watched him.
“You like him,” I said. “He likes you too, Bec. Why haven’t the two of you ever gotten together?”
She glanced at Trent and pain flared in her eyes. “You’re my best friend, Carly. It would be weird.”
Robbie, Becca, and I had grown up together. We’d been like the Three Amigos—no, like the three rejects—for as long as I could remember. I used to bounce between their houses, crashing on whichever couch was free. One night, while I was staying at Robbie’s house, his drunk-ass parents got into a knock-down-drag-out fight, said all kinds of messed-up shit, and left. Robbie had heard their whole exchange, some of which was about him, and he was hurt and angry. I wanted to comfort him, so I grabbed a bottle of whiskey from his parents’ cabinet and we started doing shots, trying to dull the pain.
Robbie was a wreck that night, and friendly hugs turned into more. Embracing. Touching. Kissing. We were both lonely. Hurting. Drunk. One thing led to another, and I ended up pregnant with Trent my senior year of high school. Robbie and I got a place together and tried to build a relationship for Trent’s sake, but it was too damn weird. We were never meant to be more than friends, and we couldn’t fake it. So, we lived together as roommates instead, raising Trent the best two fucked up friends could.
“You’re my best friend, too, and I want you to be happy. I want you both to be happy,” I replied.
“What about Trent?” she asked.
“He knows Robbie and I aren’t together.”
“Yeah, but I’d be like his step-mom figure and that’s so… bizarre. And what if things don’t work out with me and Robbie? I don’t want to confuse the little man.”
Becca loved
Trent almost as much as I did, and I understood her point. It would be weird for him to go from calling her Aunt Becca to calling her Mom. Would he call her Mom? I couldn’t decide how I felt about that.
“Maybe try out a relationship, but keep things on the down-low until you figure out if it’s gonna work out. Think about it, Bec. You’re good people. You two deserve happiness.”
Before she could reply, Robbie returned.
The memory no longer brought tears to my eyes. Instead, it left behind a hollow, lonely yearning. They were the closest thing I had to family, and now they were gone. I had to focus on protecting the one person I had left.
Scrolling through Becca’s friends, I found the name I was looking for and stalked his page. People had tagged him in pictures from a party last night. Good. He was still in Silver City, which meant Trent and I were safe.
For now.
***
Saturday nights were usually the bar’s busiest, and today was no exception. Preoccupied with orders, I managed to survive almost my entire shift without feeling, thinking, or worrying about tomorrow. My streak came to a screeching halt when I walked into the break room on my last break and found Wasp sitting at the table.
I hadn’t seen Wasp in the two days since Trent had given him that damn card, and seeing him now stirred up all sorts of emotions I wasn’t prepared to deal with. The realization that I’d been looking for him, and was genuinely relieved to see that he was alive and okay. Confusion at my relief. Why did I care? A strange sort of camaraderie that he’d seen my kid’s meltdown and knew what I was dealing with. Fear because I wanted to keep Trent away from the world and now the guys who frequented my workplace knew about him.
“You look like you’re about to bolt,” Wasp said as our gazes locked. He was back to his T-shirt, biker vest, jeans, and boots, looking far sexier than any man had a right to. “You scared of something?”
There weren’t enough words to cover everything I was afraid of, but I shook my head. “I’m fine. Just surprised. I don’t think you’re supposed to be in here.”