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Chapter Seven

S lice racked the balls and nodded at Bear to break. He was spending the evening at the clubhouse, which he normally loved, but he hadn’t heard from Faith at all today. He’d hoped she’d invite him over or at least text him.

Bear broke and sank one of the striped balls, then moved around the table to take another shot. Cannon was sitting at one of the tall tables, watching the game. The back of Slice’s neck itched as if he was under surveillance.

Finally, he turned toward Cannon. “What?” he growled.

“Just wondering why you’re so grumpy. Rumor has it you’re quite enamored with a certain woman,” Cannon said.

Slice sank his shot. He was thankful he could ignore the question for a minute until his shot was finished. He steadied the cue and then took his shot, completely missing the ball and scraping the felt. Shit. How did I miss such an easy shot?

Slice motioned to the table for Bear to take his turn. He shifted toward Cannon and noticed Dex had joined him.

“I admit. She has me tied in knots, but I didn’t hear a thing from her today.”

Slice friggin’ knew he sounded like a whiny teenager, but this dating stuff was new and, frankly, sucked.

“Well, as someone who has screwed up about as much as someone can and still got the woman of his dreams, tell me what happened. Maybe I can offer some advice.”

Slice started to tell him but was distracted as Willa and Cruise came into the room from the hallway. Willa had beard burn along her neck and was buttoning the bottom of her shirt. Cruise had a satisfied look on his face, and Slice wanted to punch Cruise. He was thrilled Cruise and Willa had found each other again after what had happened, but Slice was jealous. He wanted what they had with Faith. He had to laugh a little that Willa had liked the comradery of the guys, and after the danger had passed, asked that she and Cruise move back into the clubhouse. Slice had to wonder if it was because of his insomnia and Willa not wanting him to be without Cruise.

“Oh, advice on what?” Willa asked.

“Umm, on making sure after you get some nooky that your shirt is buttoned correctly,” Dex deadpanned.

Willa blushed but turned her back to the guys and rebuttoned her shirt correctly. She turned around.

“Thanks. Now advice on what?”

“Slice has not heard from the fair Faith and is missing her,” Cannon said.

Willa slipped her arm around Slice. “Tell me what happened. I’m not the girliest of girls, but I probably have a better insight into how they think than these guys do.”

“Hey, I know how women think. I knew exactly where you wanted me to put my mouth earlier without being told,” Cruise said, chuckling.

Slice laughed along with them. Willa shook her head and smiled at her man. That is what Slice wanted—the joking, the comradery, and the love with Faith that seemed to come so effortlessly to Willa and Cruise.

Willa led him over to the table. “How about I grab us all something to drink and we hash through how to help you?”

“I’ll take some type of caffeine. Jesse pumped before she went over to her sister’s, so I’ll need to be with it enough to wake up when they cry. Which makes me wonder, why aren’t you at girls’ night?” Cannon asked.

“Oh, they offered, but I told them I could do next time. Cruise promised me a night ride tonight since the moon is full,” Willa said.

War walked in, followed by Flick and Locks. He paused and grabbed a couple drinks Willa had made.

“Tonight is a gorgeous night for a ride,” War said, sitting down and kicking his legs out.

“True. And the highways are clear without any snow or precipitation. Now, back to Slice’s dilemma,” Bear said, motioning at Slice to continue.

Slice wasn’t sure where to start but maybe last night would be good.

“After I had to leave Faith’s and work at the diner, they all came for lunch, and I offered to bring supper to spend time with Faith and the boys. After supper, when the kids were in bed, I got ready to leave. I pulled her close and kissed her. Then I came home.”

Slice waited to hear their suggestions, but it was quiet with only the hum of the refrigerator behind the bar.

“I have a couple questions,” Willa said with a strange look on her face.

Slice nodded, waiting for her to continue.

“You said you pulled her close and kissed her. Did you say anything?” Willa asked.

“I think I told her I had a wonderful time and that she went to my head faster than whiskey,” Slice said.

Slice wasn’t sure if the silence was good or bad, but no one saying anything was starting to make him feel like he’d done something wrong.

War started to say something, but Locks held up his hand. “Son, did you tell her you liked her, wanted to take her out, or just wanted to take her to bed?”

Slice shook his head. He hadn’t. He’d kissed her. When the previous women chased him, kissing them let them know he reciprocated their interest.

“I’m going to hazard a guess that Faith might not know what you want. What exactly do you want? A date? A night in her bed?” Locks questioned.

Slice stared at Locks. He hadn’t considered that Faith might not know what he wanted.

“I want her. I want what Cruise and Willa have, and Cannon and Jesse, and what War and Remi have—a woman who is my best friend but also the love of my life. I want the kids, the house, and forever with her,” Slice said, looking around at his friends. He was baring his soul, but these men and Willa knew him. He felt safe opening himself up.

“Can I chime in here?” Willa asked.

“I would love for you to take over,” Locks said.

“Kissing her and saying she went to your head like whiskey told her you wanted her, but Faith has no idea if you want a one-night stand, a fling, or something long-term. I don’t know her experience with men, but I do know we, as women, like to hear what you’re thinking,” Willa said.

Slice nodded but wanted to make sure he was getting it. “So I need to tell her that I want her for more than a night?” he asked.

Locks chuckled. “That would be a start, and maybe you could also take her on a date. I’m sure we all could cover babysitting. Don’t be that dork that just expects everything to fall into place. Dating and love take work and communication. So much communication.”

“Yeah, I mean I have three kids, but rarely do I have only three kids at the house,” Bear said, chuckling. “And I echo communication. Never, ever, friggin’ ever assume your better half knows what you’re thinking or make the colossal mistake of dreaming you know what she’s thinking.”

Chuckles at Bear’s words had Slice guessing they’d all experienced that. He’d take any and all help he could.

“Okay. I’ll ask her out. I’d planned on asking her on a date and was going to try to find out who could watch the kids. I, umm, don’t have a lot of experience dating. You all know how it is when you’re in uniform. There’s always someone wanting to bag you. That’s what I have experience in, not dating,” Slice said.

“There’s no shame in not having experience dating. You’re asking, and see, we’ve already solved part of your problem,” Locks said, grinning.

“So, she goes back to school next week. Does she have childcare for LB?” War asked.

“I don’t know. I can find out tomorrow,” Slice said.

Willa was shaking her head no. “I wouldn’t wait. I mean, you can wait on daycare, but if I were you, I would either call or text her about a date. Just like you’re upset you haven’t heard from her today, she’s probably wondering why she hasn’t heard from you. If you’re concerned about going on a date by yourselves, Cruise and I will double date with you guys if you want. Cruise and I skipped a lot of steps, so we’ll be doing a lot of the getting-to-know-you type of dating: movie theater, rides, and some other fun things.”

Slice grinned at his best friend’s woman. He’d trusted Willa when they served together, and now, seeing her and Cruise together was great. And he got a woman he considered to be like a sister.

“We will?” Cruise asked. At Willa’s glare, he chuckled and pulled her close for a kiss. After they came up for air, Cruise whispered, “Kidding. Just kidding.”

He craved that and everything else with Faith.

“Okay,” he glanced at his phone to check the time. “I think I’ll give her a call in another hour because the boys will be in bed by then. So enough about me, why are you guys here without your women?”

War shook his head and rolled his eyes. “Because pregnancy hasn’t mellowed my woman at all. Even though Hennessy said he would take care of Ellie’s brother, who is threatening them, my wife thought they needed a girls’ night. She’s probably plotting something because Remi doesn’t like it when someone threatens someone she loves. I only hope her sisters or Regina and Meg can keep her from driving across the state to break into a prison.”

“You don’t sound too upset,” Cruise commented.

“Oh, I’m not. I married a fierce woman, and sometimes that means she plans and plots things to take care of business. It’s just a little different now that she’s pregnant. I worry about her a little more, even though she’s told me multiple times she’s pregnant, not sick.”

Slice listened as Locks gave War some suggestions for keeping Remi safe without her knowing he was doing it. Slice figured if anyone knew how to do that, it was her father.

He’d been so annoyed and upset about Faith, but his friends had helped him see that he’d created the problem by not being clear. He was going to fix that because he wanted Faith under him in bed, beside him in life, and with him through every up and down. He only hoped Faith would be okay with him not being able to have children. He knew some women considered it a deal breaker, but he believed with Faith’s big heart, she would be the perfect woman for him.

Faith tucked LB in bed and then checked on the boys. Their soft breaths let her know they were out. It had been a quiet day at home. Hope had dropped by with Benji. The boys had played video games. Hope had helped her bake her hot applesauce cake, which she actually made in loaf pans and muffin tins. She wanted some to have in the freezer for snacks, but she also wanted to do something nice for Slice for the meals.

But then, not hearing from him at all made her wonder what his intentions were exactly. She wasn’t in her twenties, and she had little ones to think of. If Slice just wanted a one-night stand, she wasn’t saying no, but she would probably make sure Slice didn’t spend a lot of time around the boys. They were too young to understand if Slice was done with her and then didn’t come to see them.

Her phone beeped with a text.

Slice: Hi. Are you available for me to call?

She was, but was this a good call or a bad call? Was that why he hadn’t contacted her all day? Well, she was a big girl, and she needed to deal with this despite being scared of what he would say.

Faith: Yes.

Her phone rang, and Faith picked up.

“Hello,” she said, then swallowed, hoping he couldn’t hear the fear in her voice.

“Hey, Faith, I wanted to call because it’s been pointed out to me that I’m a dork. So this is me clearing up any misconceptions. That kiss last night meant that I want you. But I want you more than just wanting you in my bed, though that’s pretty important too. I want to date you and get to know you. I want to see if you like me as much as I like you and see if what we have can be forever. I know you may think this is fast, but from the moment I saw you, something told me that you were the one for me.”

Slice’s voice trailed off. Faith wasn’t sure what to say. Did he really just offer her everything she had ever wanted?

“Faith, are you okay? I know that was a lot of word vomit. If you don’t feel that way about me, then I’ll survive. It’ll suck because I can’t imagine a future without you and the boys in it, but I can be a big boy.”

She needed to tell him, but she was so terrified. She’d never been the one that dreams came true for, but maybe it was time.

“I do,” she said.

“You do what?” Slice asked softly.

“I do like you.”

Slice’s sigh through the phone had her smiling.

“Oh thank goodness. I said I was going to be a big boy, but I was hoping I wouldn’t have to. Locks and Bear offered to babysit so I could take you out on a date with just us. Do you think you’d like that?”

She grinned even though he couldn’t see her face through the phone. “I do. I would love that. I also need to figure out where I can get childcare for LB.”

“Oh, during the help-the-dork-out conversation, War offered for LB to be at the bail bonds daycare. He said he’ll check with Sarah to see if they can accept another infant. If not, he said he and Remi can cover until they get another employee hired. He mentioned something about baby-to-adult ratio. I had no idea what he was talking about.”

Faith chuckled. “The state only allows a certain number of infants of a certain age per childcare worker. It’s to keep the kids safe. It’s really sweet that they are offering to help.”

“It’s one of the things I love about the MC is that they care. It’s a family. When do you think we could go on our first date?” Slice asked.

“How about next weekend? Maybe you could come to lunch or supper tomorrow if you’re not working. Hope and I made my homemade hot applesauce cake so I could thank all of you, but I made one just for my house.”

Faith waited to see what he’d say. They still had a list of things they’d need to discuss, including her infertility. But for once, she wasn’t automatically thinking of all the things that could go wrong. She was going to stay positive and see where this led.

“Next weekend sounds perfect. How about dinner and dancing at Nelson’s?” Slice asked.

“I’m not sure how good a dancer I am. It’s been years, but I’d love to,” Faith said.

“We won’t take my bike because it’s too far for a first ride for you, and the forecast is possible snow. I’d also love to see you tomorrow. Whichever works better for you.”

“Let’s do supper. I’m going to let the boys sleep in as late as they want. We only have a little bit longer before school starts, and we’ll have a routine we have to stick to.”

“Perfect. Just text me what time works. Faith, I wish I could kiss you good night, but since I can’t, I want you to know I’m thinking about you.”

“Me too, Slice,” Faith whispered. “Good night.”

“Sweet dreams,” Slice whispered, then hung up.

Faith was glad Slice had called and cleared stuff up for them. She wanted to go on a date with him, but knowing he wasn’t just wanting to get in her bed had her even more excited. She hadn’t danced since a school dance in high school. Well, with someone. She danced around and sang while she cleaned the house sometimes, but it had been years since she’d had a man’s arms around her on the dance floor.

Maybe this might work out.