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He sighed. “I don’t know. We’re telling everyone on Saturday that we’re engaged, but Bella and her mom are already diving into the bridal stuff, so I’m guessing one of them will tell me the date.”
I shook my head, laughing. “You act annoyed, but you love this shit.”
He grinned down at his boots before lifting his head and facing us once again. “I love that she said yes and that I can give her this, but man, I’d marry her any day, any time; none of the other stuff matters to me.”
“She wants the other shit?” Pike nodded, and I continued, “Then let her have it.”
He smirked. “When will I be coming to your wedding?”
I lifted my hands in surrender, letting him know he could tease me, and I didn’t care. “As soon as fucking possible.”
“That’s what I figured.”
Bear tipped his chin in my direction and I nodded. “We’re headin’ out.”
“I better see you on Saturday.”
“You will, brother.” I promised with Bear nodding his head in agreement.
As I followed Bear outside and straddled my bike, I realized Saturday would be the first time I’d get to take Maggie somewhere and feel safe doing it. Our biggest threats were gone. Snap and the others would be busy rebuilding. Hopefully, they would look at the Diablos as the possible cause of the fire, at least initially to keep the heat off us. We weren’t completely free yet. I wouldn’t feel like Maggie was able to be out in the open until I saw what the Widow’s next move was, but at least I felt like she and I could take a deep breath and maybe find a little peace.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
MAGGIE
Sitting in the front seat of the car Gunner had fixed up for me, I wrung my hands together and stared out the side window. I felt him take my hand in his and squeeze gently, but I kept my eyes averted. I was nervous, more nervous than I’d ever been, and I still had no idea why I agreed to this.
“It’s just a party.”
“I know.” I wrung my hands together in my lap. “Thanks for bringing the car.”
He snorted. “There was no way I could haul that gift on my bike.”
I dropped my head and smiled at my lap. “I thought it was cute.”
And I did. When Becs said we were all invited to the Dimarco’s house to celebrate Brody and Gia’s newest edition, I didn’t think it included me. But it did. And I decided we needed to bring something. I scanned over several websites online and researched what babies like because I had no experience in this, but I wanted something special. Something heartfelt from me to the family that took me under their wing and showed an interest in me. It wasn’t something I was used to, but because of Gunner and the Sinners, I was getting a lot better at feeling comfortable with people and holding conversations that would have intimidated me before. I’d talked to Sydney and Kate on the phone this week, promising I’d come and that I was excited to see them. I hadn’t lied, I was excited, which was another new feeling for me and one I wanted to hold on to.
Sitting side by side on the bed with Gunner, I’d showed him the things I’d found, and he nodded, telling me to get whatever I wanted and not worry about the price because he’d take care of it. I knew then that I wanted to start working for Kat as soon as the guys thought it was a good idea because I wanted to take care of myself. It wasn’t that I didn’t appreciate Gunner and what he wanted to do, but I wanted to feel like I was contributing. I wanted the control to make my choices, knowing I was completely responsible for them. I told Gunner what I was feeling, and he ran his finger down my cheek, telling me he’d talk to Bear and give me the green light when the club thought it was safe.
After what probably felt like an eternity to Gunner, he finally gave up and just listened to me ramble on about each of the things I liked that I was having a hard time choosing between. I hadn’t expected to buy the large activity center, but I kept coming back to it and comparing it to everything else. He finally reached over and closed the lid on the laptop I’d borrowed from Becs, grabbed my hand to pull me from the bed, and took me to the store to buy it.
“I know, baby.” He dropped my hand and put his hand on my leg, sliding it up under my skirt, and my head snapped his way.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m making good use of our time.”
Giggling, I slapped his hand but to no avail, considering he only moved it farther up my thigh. I waited for the butterflies and wasn’t disappointed when the farther his hand traveled, the faster they fluttered in my belly.
He pulled up alongside a curb and put the car in park but didn’t move his hand. I turned to face him only to find him staring at me. He lifted his eyebrows. “You good?”
I glanced over at the large farmhouse with the huge wraparound front porch and smiled before looking back at Gunner. “I think so.”
“They’re good people.”
“I know.” I swallowed hard. “There are just so many of them. I can handle them one on one, but this time, they’ll all be here in a group. It’s a little overwhelming.”
Gunner chuckled and lifted his hand to wrap around the side of my neck. “That’s true. But you underestimate yourself, Maggie. You’ve already charmed all of them; all they want is to be your friend. No, strike that, they want to be your family if you’ll let them.”