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“How’d you get this number?” I asked, my voice more of a growl.

“You’re invited to dinner, asshole. Get your ass here in the next fifteen minutes.”

The line went dead, and I stared at the phone.

Flicker was inviting me to dinner? Or had someone told Laken I was here and she’d invited me?

Either way, I wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to see her.

I pulled on some clothes, put my boots back on, and rushed outside to my bike.

He’d said fifteen minutes, and I sure as fuck wasn’t going to be late. Not when Laken was waiting for me.

I got to the end of my driveway before I realized I had no fucking clue which house was theirs. I pulled my phone back out and called Flicker.

“What?” he said in a biting tone.

“I don’t know where your house is, dickhead.”

He snarled at me, then told me how to get there before ending the call.

I had no doubt that had he been using a landline with an older phone, he’d have slammed the fucker down.

Pushing “End Call” just didn’t pack the same punch.

I smirked as I pulled onto the road that wound through the compound and went in search of his house.

It wasn’t as hard to find as I’d thought it would be.

I could see little touches here and there that screamed a female lived here.

The flowers along the front were likely not Flicker’s doing, nor were the little gnomes.

I shut off my bike and went up to the door. Before I could knock, it was flung open, and Flicker glared at me. He didn’t say anything, just stepped back and let me cross the threshold, but before I got farther than the front entry he stopped me.

“You hurt her again, and I will fucking end you. I don’t give a shit who you are or who you’re connected to,” Flicker said. “She’s all I got, and I’m tired of hearing her cry herself to sleep every fucking night.”

That made my heart ache, knowing that I’d done that to Laken.

I nodded and moved farther into the house.

He shut the door and motioned for me to follow him into the kitchen.

A square table was in the center of the room with three place settings, and a ton of food in the center.

The kitchen was a lot larger than the one in my new home.

Their entire house was bigger for that matter, but I had what I needed.

The question was whether or not Laken would be content moving into someplace smaller.

“Flicker, dinner’s done,” Laken said, her back to us. When she turned, she dropped the spatula she had in her hand and turned deathly pale. “Ryker.”

“Hi, Laken.”

“You’re here,” she said softly.

“Yeah. Thought I’d join you for dinner, if that’s okay?” I asked. If she didn’t want me here, I wouldn’t stay. As much as it would kill me to walk away, that’s what I’d do.

Her gaze shot over to Flicker, then back to me. “You can stay.”

I smiled a little and took a seat. Flicker took the spot across from me, leaving Laken between us.

She finished what she was doing, then joined us.

She cast nervous glances my way as she fixed our plates, loading mine with meatloaf, mashed potatoes, carrots, and rolls.

There was a pitcher of lemonade in the middle of the table, and she filled all our glasses.

I didn’t like her waiting on me, but she seemed to be doing it out of habit so I left her alone.

If she ever came home with me, that shit would stop, though.

I was quite capable of fixing my own plate and getting my own drink.

She’d cooked the damn meal, so I didn’t understand why she had to serve everyone too.

Had Flicker asked her to do that shit or was it something she’d just always done on her own?

If she tried to wash the dishes when we were finished, I was going to put my foot down.

This wasn’t 1950, and I was a little pissed that Flicker just sat there while she did all this work.

When Flicker dug into his food, I took a bite. And damn near had my eyes roll into the back of my head. It. Was. Awesome. I couldn’t remember ever tasting anything so wonderful before. The flavors just burst on my tongue, and I’d eaten three bites before I even remembered to breathe.

“This is really good, Laken. Like beyond amazing,” I told her before shoveling more food into my mouth.

Her cheeks flushed, and she smiled at me. “Thank you.”

“You cook like this all the time?” I asked.

I’d never really been around a woman who cooked.

My mom, not that she’d been with us long, had never mastered anything beyond boxed meals, and this shit tasted like it was made from scratch.

Even some of the nicer restaurants I’d been to couldn’t compare.

If she moved in and cooked on a regular basis, I’d turn into a butterball if I didn’t work out every damn day.

She shrugged. “I know how to make a few things, but I bought a cookbook the other day. I figured now that I’m going to be a mom, I should learn to cook more things. I want my son or daughter to have nice dinners, at a table with the family. I never had that growing up.”

“Neither did I,” I said. “Mom tried for a while, and then she just didn’t care anymore. I think being with Dad kind of broke her.”

Flicker watched us but didn’t say anything.

I wished that I could talk to Laken alone, but it seemed her guard dog wasn’t going anywhere.

I couldn’t really blame him. I didn’t have a stellar record when it came to Laken.

First I took her virginity in a bathroom and knocked her up, then I yelled at her and she was hit by a car, then I abandoned her when she was in the hospital.

Yeah, I was a fuck-up, but I wanted to make things work with her. If that’s what she wanted.

I’d give her anything. All she had to was ask.

The woman already had my heart.