Chapter Three
Oliver
By nine o’clock, the clubhouse had gone from almost silent to loud enough to make me miss the quiet.
The common room was packed with people talking over each other, chairs scraping across the floor, coffee pouring, and somebody in the kitchen repeatedly opening and shutting cabinet doors like whatever they wanted might magically appear if they checked enough times.
The television played the morning news with the volume turned down, though no one was paying attention to it.
I stood near the end of the bar with a fresh mug of coffee in my hand, watching Ever make her case to Wrecker for what had to be the third time.
Jude stood beside her with his arms folded across his chest, looking like he already knew how the conversation was going to end but wasn’t about to interrupt.
Lark stood on Ever’s other side, wearing jeans, a bright green sweatshirt, and an expression that said she was prepared to argue until everyone in the room either agreed with her or died from exhaustion.
Alice sat at one of the nearby tables with Adley, both of them sipping coffee and watching the whole thing unfold. Mom leaned against Dad’s side near the TV, while Thorn and Fox had taken over one of the couches. Nobody was trying very hard to hide the fact that they were listening.
Wrecker stood in the middle of it all, looking like a man who was questioning every decision that had led him to becoming president of a motorcycle club filled with stubborn people.
“We’re not asking to open the place,” Ever insisted. “We’re asking to go look at it.”
Wrecker rubbed one hand over his beard. “I heard you the first two times.”
“Then why are we still talking about it?” Lark asked.
I took a slow drink of coffee and lowered my eyes before she caught me watching her.
I had managed to avoid being alone with her since she walked out of the hallway the night before. That didn’t mean I hadn’t noticed her. It was almost impossible not to notice Lark. She brought energy into a room like she carried it around in her pockets and scattered it everywhere she went.
She’d come down the hallway twenty minutes earlier, already talking before both feet hit the last step.
She’d questioned the strength of the coffee, stolen a piece of toast from Fox’s plate, and somehow convinced Thorn to make her a fresh pot that wasn’t strong enough to peel paint off the walls.
Since then, she’d planted herself beside Ever and made it clear she wasn’t going to let the Dairy Bar be forgotten.
I was doing a much better job of pretending the night before hadn’t happened than she was.
Every time our eyes met, she smiled. Not a normal smile, a knowing one. The kind that told me she remembered exactly how close she’d stood, exactly what she’d offered, and exactly how quickly I’d shut the door on the possibility.
I shifted my attention back to Wrecker.
“We need to get in there and clean up,” she continued.
“Do your parents know what happened?” Alice asked.
Ever turned toward her and nodded. “I called them this morning. I didn’t tell them everything last night because I knew they’d try driving down in the dark, and Dad, bless his soul, has no business driving the back roads at midnight.”
“They were still at the cabin?” Adley asked.
“Yeah. They were supposed to stay up north another week.” Ever sighed and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear.
“They’re packing now. Mom said they should be here by early afternoon, depending on how long it takes Dad to decide which fishing equipment needs to come home with him, though Mom said they only plan on staying a couple of days. ”
Alice smiled. “So five hours longer than it should.”
“At least.”
“That sounds about right,” Jude muttered.
Ever glanced up at him. “You know my dad.”
“I do.” Something in Jude’s voice made me look at him more closely.
He wasn’t exactly nervous. Jude didn’t usually show nerves the same way most people did. He got quieter. His shoulders tightened, his jaw clenched, and he stopped making smart-ass comments unless somebody dragged them out of him.
Ever studied him for a second before her eyes narrowed. “What’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing.”
“That was fast,” Lark said. “Definitely lying.”
Jude shot her a flat look. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
Ever turned fully toward him. “Are you worried about seeing my parents?”
“No.”
“Yes, you are,” Adley said from the table.
Jude looked toward her. “I’m not.”
Alice tilted her head. “Honey, you’ve known Ever’s parents since you were a child. Her father has probably seen you covered in mud, bleeding, and doing something you weren’t supposed to be doing more times than any of us could count.”
Fox laughed from the couch. “He caught us trying to jump bikes off the drainage ditch behind their house.”
Ever’s eyes widened. “You did what?”
“We were ten,” Jude said.
“Eleven,” Fox corrected.
“That doesn’t make it better.”
“It worked,” Fox insisted.
“Jude landed in a bush,” Thorn added.
Jude turned toward the couch. “Whose side are you on?”
“Mine.”
Adley smiled into her coffee. “So why are you nervous now?”
Jude looked down at Ever, and for the first time since the conversation started, his expression softened. “Because it’s different now.”
Ever’s teasing smile faded. “Different how?”
He hesitated just long enough for the room to quiet.
It was subtle, but I noticed it. Everyone did. The Fallen Lords weren’t usually a quiet group, but they knew when to shut up.
Jude reached down and took Ever’s hand, threading his fingers through hers. “Last time I saw them, I was just Jude.”
Ever squeezed his hand. “You’re still Jude.”
“Yeah, but now I’m the guy dating their daughter.”
Lark pressed one hand dramatically to her chest. “Oh, that is disgustingly cute.”
Jude ignored her.
Ever’s mouth curved into a soft smile. “My parents love you.”
“They loved me when I wasn’t sleeping with you.”
A beat of silence passed, then Mom choked on her coffee.
Alice covered her mouth, but it didn’t hide her laugh. Adley leaned forward with her forehead against her hand, and Fox made a sound like he was trying not to lose it.
Ever stared up at Jude. “I think you should say you’re dating me, not sleeping with me when my parents are around, yeah?”
“We’re doing both.”
“Stick with ‘we’re dating.’ You don’t need to clarify.”
“I’m nervous.”
“That doesn’t mean you get to tell the entire clubhouse about our sex life.”
Lark leaned toward me, even though she was standing at least six feet away, and stage-whispered, “I think we all knew.”
I stared at her. She smiled sweetly, and I looked away before anyone noticed the corner of my mouth trying to lift.
Jude wrapped his arm around Ever’s waist and pulled her against his side. “I’m not worried about your mom.”
“Of course not. Mom has always liked you more than she likes me,” Ever reasoned.
“Your dad’s the problem.”
Ever frowned. “My dad loves you, too.”
“He did.”
“He still does.”
Jude lowered his voice, but the room was quiet enough that everyone heard him anyway. “He might feel differently when I walk in as your boyfriend.”
Ever studied him, then reached up and laid her hand against his cheek. “He won’t.”
“You sure?”
“I’m positive.” Her smile widened. “And if he does, Mom will beat him with a wooden spoon until he changes his mind.”
Jude’s shoulders finally relaxed.
“There,” Lark announced. “Crisis solved. We can go now.”
Wrecker held up one hand. “Nobody is going anywhere yet.”
Lark sighed. “We were making progress.”
“You were making noise.”
“Noise is how progress starts.”
Dad coughed into his fist, but I caught the grin he was trying to hide. Mom elbowed him lightly.
Ever released Jude’s hand and turned back to Wrecker. “The Dairy Bar is my responsibility. Mom and Dad own it, but I run it every day. I know what equipment is there, what inventory we had, what needs to be replaced, and what can probably be saved.”
“And I work there,” Lark added. “It’s my job, too.”
Wrecker looked from Ever to Lark. “The Northbound Reapers are still out there.”
“We know,” Ever said.
“Do you?” His voice hardened. “Because yesterday should’ve made it real clear that they don’t care where they make a move or who gets caught in the middle.”
The room lost the last of its humor.
Nobody needed Wrecker to explain what had happened. The image of the Dairy Bar filled my head anyway. Broken glass. Overturned tables. Blood on the floor.
The Dairy Bar had always been one of those places that felt safe because it had been around forever.
Kids celebrated birthdays there. Families crowded into booths after baseball games.
Club members stopped in for burgers, fries, and shakes so often that Ever had stopped asking what half of us wanted.
Now it was another place the Northbound Reapers had touched—another reminder that nowhere was completely safe while they were still breathing.
Ever’s expression tightened. “That’s exactly why we can’t pretend the Dairy Bar doesn’t exist. My parents are coming home.
Are you going to tell them everything that is going on with the club?
Because you know they aren’t going to just go along with you shutting down the Dairy Bar with no reason given. ”
“We really can’t bring more people into this,” Jude said.
Wrecker turned toward him. “Yeah, I got that, Jude.” He sighed. “Go, but you think you can manage to not have more shit hit the fan? Pacify Ever’s parents, but get them out of town as fast as you can.”
Lark saluted Wrecker. “We will keep the fans off, and the shit will not hit them.”
“Jesus Christ,” Wrecker groaned and nodded once before looking toward me.
I knew what was coming before he said my name.
“Oliver.”
I set my coffee mug on the bar. “Yeah.”
“You’ll go, too.”
Lark’s head swung toward me so fast her hair brushed across her shoulder.
I kept my attention on Wrecker.
“With Lark?” I asked, even though the answer was obvious.
“With Lark.”
Her smile started slowly.
I ignored it.
Dad straightened beside Mom. “I can go.”