Page 37 of Desert Sky (RB MC #4)

SKYE

T he music drifted over the lake, soft strumming of a guitar echoing through pine trees.

Laughter bubbled around me—real, full-bodied, bone-deep laughter.

JD’s brothers were tossing a football near the bonfire.

Jackson ran between their legs, arms flailing with joy, face lit like the fireworks that would come later.

And I felt like a ghost in the middle of it.

Malik and Tyler showed up just after sundown.

I saw them walking in from the dirt road, shoulders tense, scanning the crowd.

Tyler’s eyes found mine first. I gave him a tiny nod, grateful and guilty all at once.

Malik followed, tall and steady like always, his eyes softening as he scanned for Jackson.

Until JD broke it.

He walked up to both men, extending his hand first to Malik. “Thank you,” he said, voice rough but real. “For getting her out. For watching over my son.”

Malik nodded once, a gruff, silent gesture.

Then JD turned to Tyler. “And you... for being there when I couldn’t. ”

Tyler’s jaw twitched. “I didn’t do it for you.”

JD half-smiled. “I know. That’s why it mattered.”

And just like that, the air shifted. Grudging respect passed between them. But me? I felt... small. Like the villain in their story. The girl who lied. Who ran. Who broke hearts and left destruction in her wake, even if it was done with trembling hands and good intentions.

I slipped away before anyone noticed. Or maybe they did and just let me go.

Jackson was surrounded—by men who looked like him, by brothers he didn’t know he had, by family he didn’t ask for but was born into. He lit up like the sun, beaming in every picture, every hug, every high-five.

I walked to the edge of the property, where the dock stretched into the lake. Sat on the cool wood and let my toes skim the surface. The sky was streaked with purple and flame-orange. The kind of sunset that begged for peace... but I had none.

Shaniqua sat beside me, her warm arm pressing against mine. Gram followed a moment later, her cane tapping the wood.

“You okay, baby girl?” Gram asked, eyes knowing.

I shook my head, barely able to breathe. “What if he never loves me again? What if... he moves on? Brings some beautiful woman into Jackson’s life and she’s everything I’m not?”

“You gave him life,” Shaniqua whispered. “You kept him safe.”

“But I also left JD,” I said, voice cracking. “I broke his heart. I ran.”

They were quiet for a beat.

Then a voice cut in behind us, sharp and dripping with sass. “Oh, for fuck’s sake, you’re not allowed to spiral. ”

Regan.

I turned, sniffling. “What are you doing here?”

She popped her gum, wearing a leather vest and ripped jeans, not a hair out of place. “Overhearing your pity party. And about to slap some sense into you.”

“Regan—”

“No,” she said, pointing. “Listen. That man has been half a monster since you left. Drinking, brooding, snapping at everyone. You think he would’ve tracked you halfway across the damn country, raised hell, and brought the entire MC here if he didn’t still love you?”

“But he’s... different now.”

“So are you,” she said gently. “You’re stronger. You’re a mama now. You faced down one of the most powerful women in Santa Fe and survived. Don’t you dare back down now.”

I wiped my eyes. “He kissed me like he still hated me.”

Regan smirked. “That’s passion, baby. We can work with passion.”

“I don’t know?—”

“I do,” she said, rising to her feet. “And trust me, when I’m done with you, he’ll be crawling back on his knees.”

I stared after her as she sauntered off toward the firelight, already scheming.

Because if anyone could rewrite an ending, it was Regan.

And maybe... maybe this time, she’d help me write a happily ever after.