Page 85 of The Souls We Claim

“I’m confused.”

“I can be a dick.” He pulls a roll of fives out of his pocket, unravels one, and gives it to Avery.

“You said the f-word a minute ago when the sausage sizzle juice hit your hand,” Avery says.

“Fine.” He unrolls another and hands it to Avery.

Avery looks up at me with a grin. “He has to pay me every time he says a bad word because I’m saving for a puppy because my mommy won’t buy me one because she’s allergic and I want a Cockapoo I’m gonna name Peanut.” The whole sentence comes out without punctuation on one long breath.

I can’t help but smile.

“I thought we agreed on Chewbarka,” Niro says.

“Daddy said it was a silly name. He suggested Harley and Mommy said not everything had to be about bikes.”

“Daddy’s right,” Niro says. “Harley would be an awesome name.”

Avery purses her lips and looks up to the sky for a moment. Then she turns to me. “I’m gonna call my puppy Harley.”

“Go get two plates and two buns,” Niro says, ruffling her hair.

My phone rings again, and I check it. Patrick. Again. I slide it back into my pocket as Niro watches Avery trot down to the table.

“You got kids of your own, Niro?” I ask.

He shakes his head. “Nah. Not yet. My old lady needs to run free a little while longer. You?”

“Just Lola.” I leave it there. Not everyone needs to know that I can’t have kids.

My phone rings again, and I pull it out of my pocket. My ex’s name glares at me accusingly.

“That the cunt who smacked up your face?”

I glance up at Niro. “That’s blunt.”

“Not sure there’s a way of fancying it up,” Niro says with a shrug.

A message appears on my screen.I’m outside the Iron Outlaws clubhouse and if you are inside, you need to come out quickly and quietly. It’s time to come home.

Niro reads over my shoulder before I can tug the phone to my chest. “You need to tell Halo,” he cautions.

I glance over to where Halo is laughing with King and Saint. He looks happy for the first time in a while.

“Trust me,” Niro says. “If Catalina’s ex was hanging around outside, I’d want to know. She doesn’t need my help to take care of him, but I’d want to be her backup regardless. You don’t want Halo to go with you, I can instead.”

“You’re right,” I say with a sigh. “He needs to know.”

My feet feel like they’re stuck in concrete as I walk over to him. His smile is going to disappear over a man I don’t care about. I go and stand by Jax, waiting for him to finish his sentence.

“You need something, kitten?” he asks finally.

I dig my nails into my palms. “Can I talk with you a minute?”

His smile is so reassuring. While it’s been ingrained in me to not trust men, I’m starting to trust this one. “Sure. What’s up?”

“I need you to promise you won’t get mad.”

Halo tugs on one of my pigtails. “A girl says that to you, she’s usually about to say something you’re gonna get mad at. Why don’t you just tell me?”