Page 21

King

If it’s possible to be excited and worried at the same time, that’s me.

I meant every word I said to Gabby. Every single word.

That doesn’t mean I’m not worried about how it will go.

I was sure of Shelby in the beginning, too.

Although, if I’m honest with myself, my feelings for Gabby feel more powerful.

There’s potential behind them that I never felt with Shelby.

With Shelby, I was settled. I could see the life I wanted, and I thought we could work together to build that.

With Gabby, I don’t see a future we can build.

It’s not like that. With her, I’m enjoying the fuck out of the here and now and I’m doing it in a way that I want to live it every day.

If we continue, and this feeling doesn’t fade, I want to live it until the day I die.

“What’s going on?” she whispers as we pull into her drive.

“Looks like the club is here to see your new place,” I explain, as I park and turn the truck off. Gabby comes around and she looks so panicked, I reach out and grab her hand. “Relax, Sunshine. It’s all okay.”

“Easy for you to say,” she breathes.

“Gabby!” Dani comes running out, enveloping her in a hug and, unfortunately, dislodging her hand from mine.

“What is all this?” Gabby asks, returning her hug.

“The club wanted to surprise you. We thought you might need a few things, then, since we were here, we thought we’d have dinner.”

“You did all this for me?” I hear Gabby say, and I smile as I hear the happiness in her voice.

“What all do we need to unload?” Dragon asks, coming to slap me on the back.

I lose track of Gabby as she moves further away from me. So, I turn to look at him. “Probably the grill if you’re making steaks. I’m starved. Shopping is damn hard.”

“Man, I could have told you that. I refuse to take Nicole shopping. I send her out with Kayden and a couple of prospects to guard them. It’s better that way and it keeps me sane.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I laugh.

“Yo, boys! Get over here and get this grill out of the truck. We got food to fix,” Dragon calls out after letting out a long whistle. Some of the club’s prospects come over to do the heavy lifting. “Nice call getting one already put together,” he adds, watching me a little too closely.

“Told you I was hungry. I wasn’t going to wait until we got the thing together. I’d pass out from hunger. Takes a lot of food to keep a body like mine going.”

“Someone over here blowing up an onion sack?” Crusher asks, joining us and slapping me on the back as a hello.

“What the hell does that even mean?” I ask, laughing.

“You ever try to blow up an onion sack? The damn thing is full of holes.”

“That still doesn’t explain what that saying means.”

“Fuck if I know. I’ve just heard it all my life.”

I shake my head, but it’s Dragon that says what I’m thinking. “I swear, Crusher, you just ain’t right in the head.”

“That happened from spending years following you around and cleaning up your messes,” Crusher laughs.

“In your dreams, asshole.”

“You all quit your bullshit and help me get the rest of the truck unloaded. There’s some in the backseat and some against the cab of the truck.”

“Damn man, did you buy out the store?”

“Gabby bought a lot of it. Damn woman is stubborn as the day is long,” I answer. I want to make it clear to Dragon and whoever the hell else that doubts her that she’s standing on her own two feet. I’m proud of the progress she’s made, and they should be too. If they aren’t? Fuck them.

“Trust me. Me and Diesel know all about that. We’ve had to go behind her back and pitch in so she doesn’t find out. Never seen a woman so hard to help before.”

“Dani told me you are paying some of her rent that she doesn’t know about. I’ll be taking that over.”

“She told me. We’ll talk about it later,” he murmurs.

“I’m not changing my mind,” I warn him.

“I hear you. Let’s get this shit unloaded. The last thing we need is for her to overhear us talking about this crap. I’m pretty sure that wouldn’t be good for any of us, but especially you.”

“Once it’s done, I’ll tell her. I’m not hiding shit from her.

” I notice Dragon is quiet. I can feel his gaze on me.

I don’t know what he’s thinking, but I don’t really care.

I wasn’t lying to Gabby. They can choose to be in my life or not.

I’m past the age where I’m going to live my life to suit other people.

They either accept me and my choices, or they don’t. I owe them nothing.

“Fucking hell, that’s a lot of paint,” Dragon mutters.

“Ten gallons of gray, three different gallons for the baby’s room, and two for Gabby’s room,” I tell him.

“Who’s going to be painting all of this?”

“Gabby is insistent that she’s going to do the baby’s room. So, we got the paint that is supposedly safe for her and the baby.”

“Smart,” Dragon says, lugging out the buckets and handing them to us.

“Yeah, but if the club has some prospects that need work, I wouldn’t turn down some help,” I tell Crusher.

“I’ll send you a couple over. It’s a good way for you to get to know the men, too. I’m assuming you’ve decided to hang with us for a while.”

“Yeah, thinking I’m going to like it here. Besides, I got called a biker today and realized I was still wearing the cut that Ford gave me when I washed my hands of the SOMC. He wanted me to wear it while I decided on my next move.”

“We’ll be glad to have you. I think you’ll fit in great here,” Crusher says, as we make it to the door.

The first sight I see is Gabby laughing with Dani and Nicole, staring at the sofa like she won the lottery. The smile on her face lights up the room, just like it always does.

“Yeah, it’s starting to feel like this is definitely where I belong,” I respond, my gaze never leaving Gabby’s face—despite feeling the weight of Dragon’s stare.