Page 30 of Wyatt (The Black Roses MC #5)

I press a kiss to her cheek then walk toward the door. “Hey, Maiz?”

She looks over at me with raised brows.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

She smiles. It’s one of her shy ones that says she’s not used to this kind of attention, but loves it just the same.

“Mooom, where are you?” Colby yells down the hall.

I dip my head and walk out, seeing Colby making his way to her room before I close the door behind me.

“What are you doing?” he asks. “Is Mommy in there? Pepper and me are ready to go.”

“I was just making sure everything was fixed still,” I say. “Your mom’s going to change, then we’ll hit the road, yeah?”

Colby nods and turns around, walking back to the front of the house.

“Hey, I could use your muscles to help me load the truck, what do you say?” I ask.

He holds up both of his arms and curves them, flexing his nonexistent biceps. “Let’s do it.”

I chuckle and run my hand through his sandy hair a few times, ruffling it before walking into the kitchen.

There’s a cooler sitting on the small wooden table, and I look in the freezer, finding a couple of ice packs.

I hand them to Colby, and he sets them in the bottom of the cooler. Then I gather the sandwiches.

“What should we bring for drinks?” I ask, opening the fridge.

“Soda!” he yells.

Of course he would say that.

I grab a few out of the fridge and several waters, putting them on top of the ice packs then laying the sandwiches over them.

“What about towels and stuff?”

We’re going to fish, but it’s not like we can’t jump in the lake when it gets too hot under the summer sun.

Colby runs down the hall and comes back less than a minute later with three beach towels.

“You’re a big help, buddy. I wouldn’t be able to do it without you,” I say, and he beams.

“That’s because I’m big now. I help Mommy with stuff all the time.”

“It’s important for men to help people they love, buddy. I bet she really appreciates it too.”

He nods enthusiastically. “Is that why you help her with stuff? Because you love her too?”

Holy fuck . The air is knocked from my lungs for a split second, but in the next breath, his words settle over me. And they feel right.

“Yup. I love both of you guys,” I say.

“And Pepper,” Colby says, bending to give the dog a kiss on the head as the mischievous fur ball sniffs at the cooler sitting on the table.

“And Pepper,” I agree.

“Here, like this,” I say to Colby, bending down on one knee to help him tie the worm to the hook on his fishing line.

“Ew,” he says, giggling as I stab the center of the worm with the hook.

“It’s not that gross. And the worm doesn’t feel anything,” I say, and the boy gives me a dubious look.

Shit, I don't know what worms feel, but I seem to remember hearing that somewhere.

“Look over here, guys,” Maizie calls. She holds her phone up and takes a picture. When she lowers it, I see her examine the photo with a wide smile on her face. “Perfect,” she says, and I return my attention to the worm and the hook.

“Now, you want to make sure you always know where your hook is. The last thing you want to happen is for you to hook your finger. We would definitely feel it and probably have to go to the ER so they could take it out. And what’s my number one rule?”

“Don’t do anything that means we have to make an ER trip,” Colby replies solemnly.

“That’s right.” I lean his pole against the fish cooler I brought in case we catch any big enough to eat. “You wanna do mine?”

He shakes his head. “No…I think I need to watch again.”

A light chuckle escapes me. I wasn’t a fan of hooking the worms at his age either.

My dad used to take me fishing when I was younger.

Before he lost his job and everything started going to shit.

He eventually found work, but it was less pay, and by that time he and my mom were on a slippery slope straight down.

Once I have my line ready, I hand Colby his pole. “Okay, what do you know about casting?”

“Knox showed me, but I don’t remember exactly,” he answers.

“That’s okay. Here.” I bend and show him what to do with the reel when he casts his line. “Okay. You go first,” I say. He launches his hook into the water at an almost perfect arch. “Wow, buddy, that was great,” I tell him and he looks up at me with a beaming smile.

I do the same, and we spend the next hour casting and reeling. Colby caught one tiny fish that he decided should go back to grow some more, and I agreed. When I reeled in a medium-sized fish, Colby thought it should go back as well. I think I’m picking up on a pattern with this kid.

“Have you ever eaten the fish that you catch?” I ask.

“No. I don’t really like fish,” he says, watching his line for a bite.

I let out a booming laugh and turn toward Maizie.

When we got here, she’d laid down a blanket and set up three camping chairs and an umbrella to keep the sun off of us.

She’s been sitting in a chair with a book in her hand, wearing the pink bikini and a pair of shorts.

I thought my tongue was going to fall out of my mouth when she took her T-shirt off and I saw the bright-pink material underneath. Fuck, my woman is stunning.

“You could have told me he didn’t like fish,” I call to her with laughter lacing my words.

She laughs. “He likes fishing, though,” she yells back.

“Do I have to eat it?” Colby asks, looking at me with a touch of worry creasing his brow.

“No, buddy. You don’t have to,” I say, smiling down at the boy.

“You guys getting hungry?” Maizie calls.

“What do you think?” I ask Colby.

“I want a soda,” he says.

“Do you have to eat lunch first?”

“I’m hungry for lunch,” he calls to his mom.

I’m sure he is.

We reel in our lines, and I set them aside before we make our way over to Maizie.

This was probably one of the best afternoons I’ve spent in a long time.

How could it not be? I get to spend time with my woman and her amazing kid.

The only thing that would make it better is if I could wrap her in my arms and kiss her like I’ve been tempted to do so many times.

But we haven’t had that conversation with Colby yet, and it wouldn’t be fair of me to spring it on him without Maizie and me talking and deciding how we’re going to discuss it first.

After lunch, Colby is done fishing and insists on playing in the water.

I grab the ball I brought with us and throw it in the lake over and over so the dog can swim out and grab it.

To Colby, this is the funniest thing he’s seen all day, and he even tries to race Pepper to get the ball while Maizie takes a ton of pictures.

When we’re done with swimming, Colby and Pepper lie out on the huge blanket and fall asleep, both tired from two hours of playing in the lake.

“Shit, I forgot my sunscreen,” Maizie says, rummaging through the bag. “I think I left it in the truck. Be right back.” She hops up, and I watch the way her ass sways in those denim cutoff shorts.

Never let it be said that I’m one to let opportunities go to waste.

I get up from my chair, and Pepper raises his head. “Lie down,” I tell him, and his head rests on his paws next to Colby, who is still sound asleep.

Jogging to the truck, I arrive just as Maizie closes the passenger door, her sunscreen in hand. She yelps when she turns and finds me behind her, but I cut it off by pressing my mouth to hers.

“Fuck, I’ve wanted to do that all day,” I tell her, trailing my mouth down her sun-warmed skin.

“Mmm, I know the feeling,” she says. “But we can’t. Not yet.”

“I know, baby. But I wasn’t about to let this chance pass me by.” I grab the lotion from her hand, and we start walking back toward our little setup. “You get my back and I’ll get yours?” I ask, waving the bottle with a salacious grin on my face.

“Deal.”

We get back to the house just before dinnertime, and I can tell Maizie is exhausted. I have to admit, I’m pretty beat too, but honestly, I’m not ready for the day to end.

“Pizza?” I ask after getting a very tired kid and all of our stuff in the house.

She lets out a relieved breath. “That sounds perfect,” she says.

“How about you go take a shower, and I’ll order it. Mushroom and sausage okay?”

Her adorable nose scrunches much in the same way Colby’s did when I suggested the same pizza a couple weeks ago. “Yes to the sausage, no to the mushrooms.”

I laugh and grab my phone from my pocket. “I’ll get you both to like mushrooms one of these days.”

It's such a nice night, we decide to eat dinner outside. Maizie and Colby have sun-kissed skin and smiles as we devour the pizza in front of us.

“That was the best day ever!” Colby exclaims with sauce all over his face. “Can we do it again next weekend?”

I smile at the little guy and nod. “If it’s okay with your mom, absolutely.”

He turns to Maizie and looks at her with pleading eyes, and I do the same.

Maizie laughs, taking a sip of her water. “Jeez, between the two of you, how could I say no?”

Later that night, as I’m lying in bed, that restless feeling I had last night comes back. Pepper is asleep in his bed on the floor and I feel bad about what I’m about to do, but…

I grab my phone to text Maizie.

Me: Colby asleep?

Maizie: Knocked out cold.

Me: I really don’t like this, baby.

Maizie: What?

Me: Being in a bed without you.

Maizie: I’m not a fan either.

Maizie: If you promise not to fall asleep, maybe you would want to come over?

Me: On my way.

I get up from my bed and throw my jeans, T-shirt and cut back on.

“Come on, Pepper,” I say, and he rises from his bed and follows me out of my room. When I walk into the main area of the clubhouse, the prospect is cleaning up behind the bar while a few brothers play darts.

“I’m going out for a while. You got Pepper?”

“Of course,” the prospect says.

“Go lie down,” I tell the dog, and he trudges over to the bed Knox bought him between the couches and the TV and lies down.

I walk outside and get on my bike. If I get my way, I won’t have to leave the clubhouse late at night much longer—Maizie and I will be sharing a bed under the same roof.