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It pained me to think Hattie never found someone to give her that happiness she’d longed for.

“I didn’t say you couldn’t flirt,” I replied. “Just not with a member of my club. Especially given how vocal you were about your disdain for the Blackjacks.”

Hattie chewed the inside of her cheek, looking like she wanted to argue further, but she knew I had her cornered.

Big G edged out the door.

“I’ll leave you two to catch up. Sounds like you have a lot to talk about.”

He ducked into the hall and disappeared. The coward.

Hattie and I stared at each other in the ensuing silence. I hated this—the chasm between us, virtually strangers when I had fully expected to live the rest of our lives together. She’d changed so much since I last saw her, thicker thighs, softer in the stomach, with gray at her temples.

But there were other things that hadn’t changed, despite the passage of a decade. Like her dark brown hair pinned back with the same blue barrette she always wore. And her favorite little red apple stud earrings that her sister had given to her when she officially became a teacher.

“So,” Hattie ventured, gesturing at me. “Who did you piss off this time to end up in the hospital looking like freshly ground hamburger meat?”

I huffed a laugh and broke off with a groan at my aching ribs, gritting my teeth.

“I didn’t piss off anybody. Some prick ran a red light. Clipped my bike. The next thing I know, I’m wearing this flimsy fucking hospital gown instead of my leathers.”

Hattie fully stepped into the room now, setting her purse on Big G’s vacated chair. I noticed she didn’t sit though, choosingto slide her hands in the back pockets of her jeans instead. She clearly had no intention of staying longer than she had to.

“Well, I spoke to the head nurse at the front desk. She said you’re very lucky you didn’t become Mr. Potato Head with parts scattered everywhere. Just two cracked ribs, a concussion, some road rash, and a couple bruises. I could have sworn you ran out of your nine lives ages ago, but it seems you still have one or two spares tucked up your sleeve.”

“I told you before, baby,” I replied. “I’m too stubborn to die.”

She swallowed and a shadow crossed her face. It took a split second before I realized what I just said.

“Don’t call me that, Neil,” she countered. “I’m not your baby. And I hate that damn motorcycle. It’s a death trap. A car would be safer. At least it has airbags.”

Now this felt like the well-worn rut we always fell into—fighting about my club, my bike. The danger I put myself in on a regular basis. Hattie’s fear that she would become a widow before she had a chance to become a mother.

Nearly every damn day, we fought like cats and dogs over one thing or another. And it always resulted in the nastiest, filthiest sex.

Until the divorce. That was the one fight where we didn’t end up in bed together when it was over.

“I’ll tell you what,” I said. “In my will, I’ll leave the bike in your name. You can sell it for cash. Or you can drop it off at the wrecking yard. Your choice.”

Hattie scowled and crossed her arms.

“Stop being morbid. The nurse said you’re fine. I hopped a flight from Washington, thinking you’d been…”

She trailed off and shook her head, pressing her lips together.

Killed. Hattie thought I’d been killed. And she came anyway. Fuck, I hated putting her through this. The turmoil she musthave felt when she got the call, revisiting the hell she’d endured with me for years.

“You’re like a bad penny that keeps coming back, you know that?” Hattie said with her familiar stern tone.

“Careful, Hattie. That almost sounded like a compliment. I’m surprised you didn’t call me a cockroach.”

“Don’t tempt me.” She waved a hand in my direction. “Are you warm enough? Do you need an extra pillow?”

A small smile tugged at the corner of my mouth, listening to her cluck over me like a mother hen.

“Big G was right,” I said. “You do look good.”

The tips of Hattie’s ears turned the slightest shade of pink. It wasn’t easy to fluster her, let alone make her blush, so when I did manage to pull it off, I savored every second.