by Debra Kayn
"Do you like him?" she asked, flipping the burgers.
"Derrick?" Jess shrugged. "I don't know him very well. We have one class together."
"Is he nice?"
"Yeah."
"Cute?"
Jess frowned. After several seconds, she said, "I guess."
She dropped the subject, letting Jess have her secrets. As a teenager, she had her share of crushes. Even as an adult, those crushes were always better in her mind than in reality.
Except for the one she'd had on Wyatt.
Meeting him was better than any fantasy.
The front door opened. She turned, almost dropping the flipper.
Travis stormed into the apartment and darted down the hallway. His bedroom door slammed.
"Oh, no, he is not going to bounce on me." Jess hustled around the counter and marched after her brother.
Wyatt came inside and shut the door. His hair hung wild around his shoulders, and his tired eyes settled on her. Not even seeing her standing in the kitchen of his apartment sparked any surprise from him.
He approached her, taking in the meat on the stove, the bread on the plates. Wrapping his arm around her neck, he pulled her against him.
"Are you taking care of my girl?" He kissed the side of her head and sighed heavily.
"I heard the bikers arriving and came out to see what was going on. I was worried and had to check on her." She stayed close to him when he seemed to hang in place, not moving. "Is Travis okay?"
"Yeah, he will be." His chest expanded. "I don't know what's going on with him. Dean told him to get in the car at school, and he got in, even though he knows not to. He got dropped off at the apartment, and since the bus hadn't dropped Jess off yet, he went for a walk."
"A walk?" she said.
"Yeah." He kissed her forehead. "That's what he's saying."
With no experience with children, only having been a child a long time ago, she said, "Keep loving him. That's all a parent can do."
"Right," he mumbled, dropping his arm.
The meat on the stove sizzled. She moved away from him and put the burgers on a plate. She'd used the whole package of meat in case Travis and Wyatt wanted to eat more than one.
An incessant knock came. Wyatt walked out of the kitchen.
Joey hunted around in the fridge, looking for what she could put on the burgers. There was only cheese, ketchup, and mayonnaise. Making sure everything was out for them to grab, she took the hot skillet and put water in it to let it soak.
"Where is he?" A woman's voice grew louder.
Joey looked over her shoulder and found an older woman putting her purse on the table. Wyatt put his hands on the woman's shoulders. "He's in his room. Just give him a few minutes, Mom."
That was Wyatt's mom? Joey wiped her hands off on the dishtowel. When she'd tried to picture his mom in her head, she imagined a tall, slender, almost stern woman. In reality, she was average height, weight, and pretty in a soft way with flowing black hair and bright red lipstick on.
His mom noticed her and lifted her arched brows. Feeling like she had stepped in where she wasn't needed, she walked over to Wyatt.
"There's food when you feel like eating. I'm going to leave now that you're home." She squeezed his arm.
He caught her hand and held it. "Mom, this is Joey. She manages the apartments. Joey, this is my mom, Lucy Carr."
"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Carr," she said softly.
Wyatt's mom's eyes widened in pleasure. "It's nice to meet you, too. Please call me Lucy."
"Stay." Wyatt kissed her temple. "Mom just came over to check on Travis."
She smiled and let the two of them talk. As an outsider, she could see the love between mother and son, and their mutual worry over Travis.
"I'll go see if I can talk to him." Lucy inhaled deeply and shook her head. "The poor baby. He's had enough to worry about in his life. I wish he'd realize how much we all love him and stop making us worry all the time."
Joey's eyes welled with tears, and she swallowed hard. As someone who was raised by a single mother and a grandpa that lived in a different state, she felt guilty for putting her family through hell growing up. Looking back, it was her choice to rebel and find her footing in a big world. She never meant to hurt her mom and grandpa.
Children never realized how easy it was to scare the adults in their life.
"Are you doing okay?" Wyatt turned her toward him and tipped her chin. "Have you eaten?"
She warmed at his concern, but she was the last person he should worry about. "I'm fine. You guys should eat though."
"Will you stay?" He looked over his shoulder. "Are there enough burgers to go around?"
She nodded. "As long as you need me, I'll stay."
Fifteen minutes later, Travis came out of the room, followed by Jess and his grandma. He sat down at the table without saying a word and scarfed down his dinner. Wyatt's mom left, and as the Carr family settled in for the night, Wyatt pulled her onto his lap.
"The kids have school tomorrow, and you have to work," she whispered. "I'm going to go home."
"Give me ten more minutes." He rubbed her hip.
During that time, she pretended to watch Magnum P.I. with everyone. She'd quickly come to care about Wyatt's kids, and she tried to figure out a way to help without intruding. Wyatt, from her time with him, was doing everything he could raising them on his own. She understood he worried about the kids' stepdad trying to gain visitation rights with them, and hearing that Travis went off with his former stepdad was something Wyatt hadn't wanted.
By the time Wyatt walked her back to her apartment, she'd come up with a possible solution on how she could help.
She could watch his kids in the summer, even though they were teenagers. At least she'd always be around the apartments if they needed her. Though she wasn't sure how Wyatt would take the suggestion. She could be overstepping his boundaries, so she wanted to sleep on the idea and wait to talk it over with him when his nerves hadn't been rattled.
He kissed her deeply and pulled back, pressing his forehead against hers. "Get some rest."
"You, too." She kissed him again. "Call if you need anything. I have an answering machine in case I'm out."
He nodded and let go of her. She kissed his lips and opened the door. Turning her head, she smiled as he continued to stand outside.
Before she closed the door, he said, "Joey?"
She stopped. "Yes?"
He stepped forward, cupped her face, and kissed her one more time before turning away and walking off.
Watching him leave, she wondered if there was more going on with him than he was saying.
Chapter 14
Wyatt
THE POOL GAME ENDED. Joey shook Charlie's hand. Wyatt pushed off the wall and met her at the table as she unscrewed her pool stick. She'd lost by one shot.
He slid his hand underneath her hair and rubbed her back. "It was close."
She snapped her case shut. "I can't afford to lose."
He pulled her back against his chest, wrapping his arms around her. "If you're having money problems, I can—"
She turned in his arms. "Not that kind of problem. I wanted to enter the Blackfoot Tournament at the end of the year. I was using my winnings to try and earn the entrance fee that needs to be turned in by November."
He whistled softly. "Don't the players usually get sponsored for that tourney?"
"Yeah, but I haven't been in Missoula long enough for any of the local businesses to have faith that I can win, so I'm trying to pay the fee myself."
"Tiger, I own Carr Construction." He brushed her hair off her cheek. "I sponsor a Little League baseball team."
"That's a little different. I wouldn't ask you or take your money." She kissed him. "Besides, it's ten grand. It's probably foolish to play anyway. It would be throwing away all that money if I lose, and I need to save up to have the apartments in Unit C repaired."
"What's wrong with them?"
"
The apartments?" She yawned. "There was a kitchen fire years ago before I started managing the apartments. Grandpa never had the damage repaired, just kept the doors locked. I'm losing income with them sitting empty. In my head, if I won the Blackfoot Tournament, I was already planning to spend part of the winnings on updating the apartments and building a nice nest egg for myself." She sighed. "Saying it out loud seems silly now."
"It's not silly. I've seen you play." He knew the tournament paid out a quarter of a million, which would go a long fucking way for anyone. "Do you want me to take a look at the apartments and give you an estimate?"
"Will you?"
He nodded. "We can go over there tomorrow before I have to pick the kids up at my mom's house. No obligation to use Carr Construction. I can at least give you a number, and that way you can shop around and see what others will charge you."
"How's Travis doing?" she asked.
He led her over to the table and sat down with her. "He was excited to go to my mom's. She has bowling tonight, and he was going to hang out at the alley with her. A few of his old friends from his last school will be there."
"Oh, that's good. I bet he'll enjoy seeing them."
He was reluctant to have Travis away from him after the last time he ran off after breaking the rules and going with Dean. But he could tell his son was looking forward to hanging out with his friends. He hoped it was exactly what Travis needed. If his son could see that living with him wasn't going to separate him from his old life, maybe he'd stop running off.
"I went to the junior high and the high school yesterday and talked to the principals, updating the list of people who are allowed to pick the kids up. But once the last bell rings and they walk off school property, there's nothing they can do if they get into someone's car that's not on the approved list." His lip curled. "He's old enough, this shouldn't be happening. Roddy was telling me I should just let him be. He'll come home when he's hungry or needs to crash, but I've lived that life. I was that kid that answered to no one, and it's a rough life. I want better for my kid."
She drew circles on his thigh. "You are giving him better. Travis just can't see that right now, but he will."
He sat back in the chair. "Let's get out of here and go home."
"Are you going to turn my bad night into something good." She popped out her lower lip. "Please?"
A growl rumbled in his throat. "All night long, tiger."
Pushing up from the table, he caught her when she bounded to her feet. Her heels made her four inches taller, and she rolled against him, kissing his neck. He looped his arm around her shoulders, moving chairs out of their way.
In the center of the room, Roddy shoved away from the table where the Tarkio members gathered and motioned him over. He owed Tarkio Motorcycle Club for dropping everything and helping him comb the streets looking for Travis. While he'd found his son, the outcome could've ended differently.
He clasped Roddy's hand, keeping Joey by his side. "How's it going?"
"Do you have a second?" asked Roddy over the music blaring in the bar.
He wanted to get home, but he nodded. "Yeah."
"Let me grab Curley, and we'll meet you outside."
Taking Joey out the front door, he led her to the Harley. She handed him her case, and he tied it on his bike. It was the first time she'd ridden and he enjoyed all two blocks of having her plastered against his back.
"I can walk back to the apartment if you need to stay and talk to the bikers," she said.
"It's not safe for you to be walking the street in the middle of the night alone." He slid the helmet down on her head. "Roddy works for me at Carr Construction. He had all day to say something to me if it was private."
"Why don't you wear a helmet?"
"Free country." He knocked his knuckles against the shell. "I carry a helmet in case I have to take one of the kids somewhere."
"What happens when you have to take them both?"
"It hasn't happened yet." He straightened his beard. "I need to get a car. Jess is starting driver's training at school soon. She can use it once she has her license, and I can take it if both kids are with me."
"You can always borrow my Toyota if something comes up," she said.
"Appreciate it." He kissed her. "Are you warm enough?"
She slid her hands along his ribs and around his back. "You can keep me warm."
"Gonna make you hot tonight." He patted her ass.
She stiffened. He looked down at her. She focused her gaze behind him.
"What's wrong?"
"Your friends are coming," she said.
He turned around. Roddy had worked for him for four years, and through him, he'd met Curley several times, shared a beer or two, but until the other day, he hadn't needed their offer of help.
"How's your son?" Curley stopped and shook Wyatt's hand.
"Sticking around." He widened his stance and waited to hear why they sought him out when he was ready to go home.
Curley glanced at Joey, dipped his chin, and then met Wyatt's gaze. "We should talk sometime."
"Now is good." He pulled Joey closer. "You can talk in front of her."
Curley shook his head. Joey leaned into him and whispered, "I'll go stand by the door of the bar and wait."
He watched her walk off. As soon as she was out of earshot, he said, "I don't appreciate you chasing off my woman. This better be important."
"It's about Dean Miller."
His jaw tightened. "Talk."
There was no space in his life for his kids' former stepdad. Now that Claudia was dead, Dean could disappear from Missoula, and he'd be happy.
"Tarkio received some news that Miller is dealing crack." Curley put his boot on the curb. "Dirty shit, that has caused three overdoses."
"Around here?" he asked, having not heard of anyone dying from an overdose.
"Federal Prison. We have some members behind bars. Words going around that Miller is running scared because he's got a target on his back. You should know that, considering you were concerned that he still makes contact with your kids."
"If he's got guys coming after him for selling dirty...good. No loss to me, no loss to my kids," he said.
His only concern was that Dean would try and contact his kids when he wasn't around. If he had to escort them to and from school and hire someone to watch them when school was out in two weeks, he would.
"Word is his wife had used from the same batch that caused the deaths, and her car didn't go off the road on its own. There were people around when she went into cardiac arrest. Miller panicked and set the car up on that blind corner by the dam and sent it into the water." Curley paused. "Was there an autopsy?"
He shook his head. "Not that I know. I was told she missed the corner and crashed. Nobody found her for hours until people in a passing car noticed some metal sticking above the surface of the water and stopped to investigate. By the time I heard, she'd already been sent over to the funeral home."
Curley smacked Wyatt on the shoulder. "You can use the information however you want, to keep your kids safe."
"Appreciate it." He watched Roddy and Curley walk back to the bar.
Joey strolled across the parking lot to him. He tried to process what they'd told him, but for his kids' sakes, they were better off believing their mom had died in a car accident. They'd suffered off and on through their mom's drug addictions in the past, there was no use bringing it up again. The fact was she was dead and they'd lost their mom. The truth would only kill anything positive they had stored in their memories.
He'd always suspected Dean was the one who fed Claudia's habit. Hearing he might also have killed her with dirty crack and got rid of the body after she'd died hadn't surprised him.
He looked at Joey. "Are you ready to go?"
She flapped her hand. "It didn't dawn on me until I was in front of the bar that I was standing there in a mini skirt with a motorcycle helmet on. I'm such a dork. I'm glad nobody came out while I was there."
"You're my dork." He patted her hip. "Let's get out of here."
As soon as he pulled out of the parking lot, it hit him that Curley kept some of the information from him. There was no reason to give him the details on Claudia. She was dead. He was already fighting to keep Dean away from his kids.
The only thing that made sense on why Tarkio would clue him in was because they were the ones going after Dean.
Fuck.
Chapter 15
Joey
WYATT SOAPED JOEY'S body, lingering on her breasts. She rubbed her hands together, gathering suds, and reached down and wrapped her fingers around his cock.
He hardened instantly and groaned.
"Like?" She moved closer.
He tweaked her nipples. "I don't want you to date anyone else."
Her hand stilled on him. "I don't know about that."
"What's there to think about?"
"Well, you don't want me to see anyone, but what about you?" She gazed up at him. "I don't want you with other women."
He sank his hands into her hair, pulling her up to capture her lips. The heat from his mouth made its demands. He possessed her, owned her, and ruined her for any other man. He was much more than she'd expected and had every quality she wanted in a lover.
She teased him with her tongue.
He stroked her mouth, nibbled on her lip, and peppered her with kisses. She rubbed her body against him. The warm water beating at her back almost too much stimulation with what he was doing to the front of her.
Wyatt pulled back and let the water wash all the soap from her body. Then, he changed places with her. She rubbed her hand over the slope of his butt. He had the cutest butt. Not too big and definitely not flat.
He slid open the shower door and wrapped her in a towel. She followed him into the bedroom, drying the drips from her hair.
The kids were due home in two hours. It would be the last time she had sex with Wyatt until they could figure out another time to sneak off together.