Page 42 of Goose's Wren

Blade nods.“She is.Mid-thirties, I think.Her husband served overseas.Army.Died about five years back.She’s been raising their little boy on her own since.Kid’s about Hawk and Luna’s age.”

Hawk and Luna, Timber and Mina’s kids, are running through the grass nearby and laughing like the world has no monsters in it.

I think about a woman raising a kid on her own.About what it costs to hold everything together after losing someone.

Then I look back at her.And it’s like she feels it.My gaze.Her head lifts slightly, the corners of her mouth still turned up in that half smile she’s giving Pyro.But then her eyes shift and land right on me.

And just like that, the world tilts a little.

It’s not like in the movies.No slow motion, no music swelling but it hits.Something electric.Some current that buzzes under my skin and makes the noise of the barbecue fade into the background.

She doesn’t look away.Not for a solid few seconds.Not until the edges of her smile pull tight like maybe she doesn’t know what to do with whatever’s passing between us either.

Then she turns, says something to Pyro and walks back the way she came.

I watch her go, jaw tight, trying to make sense of the strange knot in my chest.

It’s been a long damn time since a woman turned my head.Hell, I’d convinced myself that part of me was just burned out, used up on one-night stands and old regrets.

I’ve lived most of my life in this club, watched brothers fall in love, settle down, have kids.Always figured I just wasn’t built for that kind of thing.

But now?

Now I’m wondering what it might feel like to let someone in.To want to.

I don’t say anything to Blade, just finish my beer and glance once more at the spot where she disappeared around the clubhouse.

I’ve got no idea what just happened.

But I’ve got a feeling I’ll be seeing her again.

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The End...For Now...