29. Finn
Finn
On the last day of the weekend, Reaper pulled me aside.
“Lucy and I are heading back,” he said. “You want back on duty?”
“Yeah.” I kept my voice even. “I do.”
“You kept your head down. Did what I asked.” A pause. “Didn’t make me regret it.”
“Yes, Pres.”
His eyes narrowed slightly.
“Kate says she feels better with you here.”
Something settled low in my chest at that, but I kept my face neutral. “Good.”
Reaper stepped closer. “Don’t make me rethink it.”
“I won’t.”
He held my gaze another second before giving a short nod.
“Get back to work.”
The cabin was supposed to be temporary. Just somewhere hidden until Reaper and the others figured out what was happening with Kate’s parents and dealt with the fallout.
But the longer we stayed, the harder it got to pretend I didn’t like it there.
I liked the quiet. Liked watching the tension slowly leave Kate’s shoulders now that she wasn’t surrounded by noise and people all the time.
And I liked Noah. A lot more than I’d expected to.
“You’re a natural,” Kate teased one evening, watching from the bed while I rocked Noah in the old wooden chair beside the fire.
“Don’t tell the clubhouse that,” I muttered.
She laughed, tired but real, and I found myself rocking Noah a little longer than necessary.
Days blurred together after that.
Kate showed me how to change diapers, laughing when I put one on backwards the first time.
I showed her how to steady her hands when shooting, standing behind her with my arms around hers while she tried to ignore how close we were.
Neither of us mentioned it afterwards.
We didn’t mention a lot of things.
Then, Friday came, and Reaper and Lucy showed up loaded down with supplies and enough food to feed half the damn club.
Noah squealed the second he saw them. Lucy immediately stole him from Kate’s arms while Reaper dumped bags onto the kitchen counter.
“Riot and Keno got eyes on the club,” Reaper said. “Your parents are still keeping their distance for now.”
“For now?” Kate repeated.
Reaper nodded. “Means they’re thinking.”
None of us liked that answer much.
The rest of the morning passed easier.
Lucy and Reaper took over Noah completely, spoiling him rotten while Kate relaxed for the first time in days. Reaper even tossed him into the air a couple times, catching him against his chest while Noah shrieked with laughter. I’d never seen Reaper smile that much.
Later that afternoon, Lucy exchanged a look with Reaper before grabbing a blanket from the couch and shoving it at Kate.
“Go,” she ordered. “Take a walk. The baby’s staying with us.”
Kate blinked. “Lucy?—”
“That wasn’t a suggestion.”
Reaper smirked slightly from the armchair. “Don’t argue with her. I learned that years ago.”
Kate laughed under her breath before looking at me.
“You want to come?”
I grabbed the picnic basket Reaper had brought without answering out loud.
The cabin disappeared behind us after about half an hour of walking.
We ended up beneath a huge tree beside a shallow brook, eating sandwiches Lucy had packed while Noah-free silence settled around us.
No diapers. No clubhouse noise. No fear hanging over every conversation.
Just us.
At one point, Kate wandered barefoot into the brook before immediately jerking back with a gasp.
“Oh my God, that’s freezing.”
I laughed and stepped in after her anyway.
“You’re an idiot,” she said, laughing harder as I swore under my breath at the cold.
“Couldn’t let you suffer alone.”
“Such a gentleman.”
We scrambled back onto the grass, dripping water everywhere.
The breeze picked up enough to make her shiver, and I reached for the blanket automatically, tugging it around her shoulders. She hesitated briefly before sitting beside me, close enough that our legs brushed beneath the blanket.
Neither of us mentioned it.
The brook babbled nearby. Birds shifted overhead somewhere in the trees.
“You’re good with him,” she said eventually.
“With Noah?”
She nodded. “He likes you.”
I huffed. “Kid likes anybody who feeds him.”
“That’s not true.” I glanced sideways at her. “Babies know who feels safe.”
For a second, neither of us said anything.
“And you?” she asked after a moment. “Do you like him?”
The question caught me off-guard enough that I looked at her properly.
She wasn’t teasing. Wasn’t fishing. She genuinely wanted to know.
“Yeah,” I said simply. “I do.”
Something in her expression eased after that.
“Good.”
Silence settled again, softer this time.
Her knee rested against mine beneath the blanket. I could smell her shampoo every time the breeze shifted, and I forced myself to look away before my brain headed somewhere dangerous.
“We should probably head back soon,” I said.
“Probably.”
Neither of us moved.
After a minute, she turned towards me. “You ever just want everything to stop for a while?” she asked.
“Yeah.” Her eyes held mine. “Right now,” I replied.