Chapter Two
Dasher sat at the back corner table of Maple’s Café, his fingers wrapped around a chipped white mug that had long since gone cold. He didn’t care. He wasn’t here for the coffee. He was here for Ellie.
The place was mostly empty. There were just a couple of retirees nursing sweet tea and a woman in scrubs hunched over a takeout menu.
Outside, the sun had already dipped below the rooftops, casting long shadows across Steelhaven’s sleepy streets.
The bell over the door jingled every time someone walked in, but none of them were her.
Dasher shifted in his seat and glanced at the screen of his phone. No messages. No missed calls. Just the photo he hadn’t meant to pull up again. It was a screenshot from a local news post about the school toy drive.
There she was, grinning beside a group of fourth graders, a Santa hat on her head and that spark in her eyes that could still knock the wind out of him. Ellie Winters.
He’d looked her up last night, lying awake in bed like some lovesick teenager. He’d told himself it was harmless curiosity. Wanted to see what she’d been up to these last five years. But the truth was, he needed to know if she was happy. Needed to know if the fire he used to know was still burning.
Turns out, it was.
God, she was still beautiful. Maybe more than ever. Time had only sharpened the edges, given her a kind of quiet strength. But when he stood across from her in that wrecked storage unit last night, all the years between them burned off like fog.
And it wrecked him.
No woman since had gotten under his skin the way she had. And he’d tried. More than once. But it was like every kiss, every night, every moment with someone else only reminded him what he’d thrown away.
The club had been in chaos back then. An unexpected betrayal. New threats. He hadn’t known how to balance both worlds. Dasher hadn’t even tried. He’d chosen the only thing that had ever felt like home. And lost the only woman who ever made him want more.
The bell jingled again, and Dasher looked up. He then froze.
There she was, standing just inside the door, scanning the room like she already regretted walking in.
Her cheeks were pink from the cold, and her dark hair was pulled into a messy ponytail, wisps escaping around her face.
She wasn’t dressed up. She wore a soft sweater and fitted jeans, but she still managed to knock the breath right out of him.
Ellie met his eyes, hesitated a beat too long, then walked over.
“I can’t stay long,” she said by way of hello, sliding into the seat across from him. “I’ve got to pick up my daughter from my mom’s in twenty.”
Dasher blinked. “Daughter.”
She nodded, bracing like she was expecting him to flinch.
But he didn’t. Instead, something in his chest shifted. She did mention a kid last night. The last five years rearranged themselves in his mind. This new life of hers clicking into place.
“How old is she?” he asked.
Ellie looked surprised. “Four. Her name’s Maddy.”
The corner of his mouth lifted. “Maddy. Cute.”
She narrowed her eyes. “You’re not going to make some kind of joke? Or run?”
“Should I?” Dasher asked.
She shrugged, defensive. “Most guys do.”
Dasher leaned back in his seat and gave her a long look. “I’m not most guys.”
She let out a small huff of breath. “Yeah. I remember.”
Their eyes met. The tension between them hummed low and steady, like the idle purr of a bike engine. It was always there with her, this magnetic pull that made it hard to breathe, and harder to stay away.
“I’m guessing you didn’t just want to talk about toys,” Ellie said, folding her arms across her chest.
“No,” he admitted. “I wanted to see you.”
She looked away, out the window. Her voice was quieter when she answered. “Why now?”
Because I’m a coward, he thought. Because I only realized what I lost when I saw you again. Because there hasn’t been a day I haven’t thought about you, even when I told myself I’d moved on.
“I screwed up,” he said simply. “Back then.”
Ellie looked back at him, her eyes softer now. “You chose the club.”
“I did,” he said. “And I still stand by it. But I never stopped thinking about you.”
She didn’t say anything right away, but her fingers tapped a slow rhythm on the table’s edge. “That wasn’t the only reason I left, Dasher.”
“I know.” He lowered his voice. “But it was the biggest one.”
Silence stretched between them, heavy with what wasn’t said.
He leaned forward, elbows on the table. “You think I don’t remember what we were? Ellie, I can still hear your laugh when I ride. I still think about that night we got caught in the rain coming back from the coast. You made me pull over just so we could kiss in the storm.”
A blush crept up her neck. “We were reckless.”
“We were in love.”
Her eyes flashed. “We were young.”
“Still feels the same to me,” he said, voice rougher now. “You walk into a room and I forget how to breathe.”
Ellie swallowed, looking torn. “You don’t get to say things like that.”
“Why not?” Dasher demanded.
“Because I spent years patching myself back together after you,” she said.
His chest tightened. “I’m sorry.”
She looked at him, really looked at him, and something cracked in her expression. “You know what the worst part was?” she said. “It wasn’t losing you. It was still loving you after.”
Dasher didn’t say anything. He couldn’t. His throat was thick and his fists clenched in his lap.
“I thought seeing you again would be easier,” Ellie said softly. “But it’s not. You still feel like danger and comfort all wrapped into one.”
“I’d never hurt you,” he said.
“You already did.”
He winced. “I know. But I want to be better.”
She scoffed, standing. “You don’t just get to come back and rewrite the ending, Dash.”
He stood too, fast. “I’m not asking for that.”
“Then what are you asking for?”
He hesitated. Then, “A beginning.”
Ellie stared at him, breath caught. Her phone buzzed, and she looked down at it. Her mother’s name on the screen.
“I have to go,” she said, voice tight.
He nodded. “Yeah. Of course.”
She stepped away, but stopped before reaching the door. Glanced back.
“You said it still feels the same,” she said, almost to herself. “I wish it didn’t.”
And then she was gone, the bell over the door jingling behind her. Dasher sat back down, heart hammering in his chest. Maybe he could’ve handled that better.
****
The streets of Steelhaven blurred past as Ellie drove toward her mother’s house. She clenched her fingers too tightly around the steering wheel. The radio played something soft, twinkly, probably a holiday track, but she wasn’t really listening.
Her mind was still back at the café, stuck in that corner booth where Dasher had looked at her like five years hadn’t passed. Like she still meant something. Damn him.
She pulled into her mom’s driveway and killed the engine. Warm light glowed through the front windows, casting golden rectangles onto the porch.
Her chest ached with a strange mix of anxiety and longing. Maddy would be waiting inside, probably with sticky hands and glitter somewhere in her hair, chattering about whatever craft project her grandmother had invented this time. And Ellie needed that energy. That anchor.
The front door creaked open before she even reached it.
“Mommy!” Maddy squealed, barreling out in a blur of pink leggings and snow boots, a half-eaten candy cane clutched in her hand.
Ellie dropped to her knees and caught her daughter in a tight hug, burying her face in her soft brown curls. “Hey, bug. You behave for Grandma?”
“I made a snowman ornament with marshmallows!” Maddy beamed, already launching into a chaotic story about googly eyes, glitter glue, and a small mishap involving the cat.
Ellie smiled, letting her daughter’s voice fill her up and push out everything else.
“Come on in, sweetheart,” her mom called from the doorway, arms crossed but smiling. “You look frozen.”
Ellie followed them inside, grateful for the familiar warmth of the little house where she’d spent so much of her twenties. Post-Dasher, post-everything.
Her mom had been her safety net more times than Ellie could count. She’d watched Maddy on short notice, cooked dinner when Ellie worked late, never once made her feel like a burden.
And yet, tonight, something hung between them.
Maybe it was the way Ellie couldn’t meet her mother’s eyes when she handed off Maddy’s backpack. Or the way her mom raised a brow as Ellie rubbed at her forehead like she was trying to erase a memory.
“You okay?” her mother asked quietly once Maddy scampered off to the living room.
Ellie hesitated. “Just a long day.”
Her mom poured her a cup of tea without asking and handed it over with a look that said try again.
Ellie sighed and leaned against the counter. “I saw him today.”
Her mom’s brows lifted. “Him him?”
Ellie nodded. “Dasher.”
There was a beat of silence.
Then. “Oh.”
“He asked me to coffee,” Ellie said, watching the steam rise from her mug. “I went. Just to hear what he had to say. He said he regrets letting me go. That he never stopped thinking about me.”
Her mother’s expression didn’t change. No judgment. No outrage. Just quiet curiosity.
“I told him I had to pick up Maddy. I thought, maybe, I don’t know. I thought it would scare him off,” Ellie admitted.
“Did it?”
“No,” Ellie said softly. “He asked how old she was. Said her name was cute. That was it.”
Her mother took a slow sip of her tea. “He always did have manners.”
Ellie blinked. “You’re not going to tell me to stay away?”
Her mom’s lips twitched. “Do you want me to?”
“I don’t know,” Ellie admitted. “Maybe? Part of me thought you’d remind me of all the reasons it didn’t work. That he chose the club. That he broke my heart.”
Her mom reached across the counter and covered her hand. “Honey, you’re not nineteen anymore. You’re a mother. A full-grown woman. I don’t need to tell you who to stay away from.”
Ellie stared at her, caught off guard.
“But I will say this,” her mom continued. “Whatever you decide, just remember Maddy. She’s your world now. You’re allowed to want love. You’re allowed to be scared. But don’t make decisions out of guilt or old wounds. Make them from where you are now.”
Ellie’s throat tightened. “I’d never do anything that put her at risk.”
“I know,” her mom said gently. “That’s why I trust you to figure this out.”
Ellie blinked back sudden tears and nodded, unable to speak. She gathered Maddy with a few promises about leftover pizza and a bedtime story, hugged her mom goodbye, and drove home with a too-full heart.
Home was a small two-bedroom rental on the east side of town. It was cozy and modest, but hers. Ellie clicked the door open with her hip while balancing Maddy on one arm and a backpack and grocery bag on the other.
Inside, the warmth hit her immediately. She set everything down, turned on the soft kitchen lights, and let out a breath.
“Go wash up, bug,” she called to Maddy. “Dinner in ten.”
Maddy ran off with her usual energy, singing something about reindeer and marshmallows as Ellie started pulling together a quick meal. Mac and cheese with broccoli and some chicken nuggets she tossed in the oven.
Her movements were automatic, but her mind wasn’t in the kitchen. It was still at Maple’s Café. Dasher’s voice, low and rough, echoed in her head.
“You walk into a room and I forget how to breathe.”
She bit her lip, dumping pasta into the pot, trying not to feel it. But it was there, the spark that hadn’t gone out, no matter how hard she’d tried to smother it. The way his eyes softened when he talked about the past. The way he hadn’t even blinked when she mentioned Maddy.
She stirred the pot with a little too much force.
What the hell was she doing?
She had a kid. A routine. A stable, quiet life. She didn’t have room for chaos, or danger, or whatever it meant to let Dasher back in, even for a minute.
And yet...
Her gaze drifted toward the small kitchen table which had just two chairs. One with a booster seat strapped to it. The other, always hers.
She pictured him there. Just for a second. Sitting with one arm thrown over the back of the chair, watching Maddy chatter about her day. His rough voice teasing, his laugh echoing through the tiny kitchen. For one foolish moment, the image didn’t feel dangerous. It felt warm.
She slammed the lid on the pasta and cursed under her breath.
No. She couldn’t do this again. Dasher was part of the MC.
That life came with risk. Guns, secrets, and danger.
She’d seen enough to know how it could bleed into everything.
Into family. She couldn’t let Maddy get caught in that crossfire.
Couldn’t risk letting a man back into her life who might choose the club over them all over again.
The oven beeped, snapping her out of the thought. She moved quickly, plating the food and calling Maddy to the table. Her daughter bounced in, hair still damp from washing her hands, eyes shining.
“Mmm, my favorite!” Maddy grinned.
Ellie smiled, softening. “Only because I put extra cheese.”
They ate together, Maddy’s nonstop chatter filling the silence. Ellie listened, nodded, laughed in the right places, but her mind was still torn in two.
Later, after a bath and two picture books, Maddy was finally asleep in her bed, curled up with a stuffed reindeer nearly as big as she was. Ellie stood in the doorway for a moment, watching her breathe.
She wasn’t sure what tomorrow would bring.
The toy drive was coming up. She’d have to work side by side with Dasher.
Pretend the past wasn’t crawling back up her spine every time he looked at her.
She could do it. She had to. Because falling for him again, letting him in, wasn’t an option.
No matter how warm his smile made her feel.
No matter how steady his presence felt in that café.
He was a biker. Her ex. Her biggest heartbreak. And she was a mother now.
Still, as she turned off the lights and padded into her empty bedroom, the cold side of the bed felt a little colder.