3. Maizie
Chapter three
Maizie
I t’s been three days since I saw Nolan at the park.
Three of the longest days and nights of my life.
I’ve been sleeping on the couch with my gun close—if you can even call what I’ve been doing sleeping.
It’s mostly been me dozing off for an hour at most, then being jolted awake by any noise I hear outside.
Then I check through all the windows and settle back on the couch, only to do the whole thing all over again with the next noise.
I will say, I didn’t realize we had so many fucking raccoons around my house.
Nolan hasn’t tried to contact me, thank God, but the look he gave me when he walked away said that it was a distinct possibility that he has some assumptions and I should probably expect to hear from him.
Or maybe I’m imagining it. His sudden appearance caught me off guard.
I’ve known they were on the outs ever since Mia came back to town.
Any time he had been brought up, she sounded determined to keep it that way.
But what if he slides back into Elaine’s good graces?
What if he decides that he misses Shine so much, he wants to put down roots here?
What if I have to tell one of my best friends and the rest of the club that I’ve been keeping a secret from everyone for years?
It’s not as though I intended to keep it a secret that Colby’s father is a member of a rival club.
I didn’t even know the Black Roses had any issues with the Bone Breakers when I came back to Shine until everything happened with Lucy.
But when I found out, I was more determined than ever to never tell anyone about Colby’s parentage.
Never in a million years did I think Nolan would come around Shine, or see Colby and me at the park.
I don’t know how many more nights I’m going to be able to give my friends the flimsy reason for having them watch Colby rather than having Cece come over to the house to watch him like she usually does.
Colby loves Cece, and I trust her implicitly with him, but I’ve been terrified that Nolan will show up at my house when I’m at work and try to see Colby, which would scare the shit out of Cece and my son.
Not that he knows where we live, but it’s also not like Shine is a big town, either.
He could easily track us down if he wanted to.
Jesus. There’s really no reason to think he’d want to in the first place.
He never called to check on me. He probably assumed I’d “take care of it” as he so callously put it, when I called him six years ago, scared out of my mind.
I doubt Nolan has any desire to suddenly be strapped with the responsibility of a five-year-old kid, especially if he’s been living the life his sister told us about.
It’s not as though I’ve called him asking for money, and I never would.
I take care of my son. No one else. My grandmother left me a small inheritance and her house, much to the ire of my parents.
But it’s a blessing that allows me to not have to work two or three jobs in order to keep a roof over our heads.
Throughout the years, my mom has come around a bit, but my dad is still staunchly in the I’m a Jezebel of the highest order camp.
Mom contacts me and sees Colby a few times a year.
He thinks my parents live far away. It was a conclusion he came to on his own, and I’ve never had the heart to tell him any different.
How do you explain to a five-year-old that their grandmother has to sneak away to spend time with him?
At least, that’s what I’m assuming she does, since we don’t discuss my father.
It was my grandmother who sat with me during the hours of labor and my grandmother who babysat for me when I started working at Thorn and Thistle when Colby was a few months old.
She insisted that I didn't need to work, but kids are expensive, and I didn’t want her shouldering my financial responsibilities.
When my grandmother got sick, it was Ozzy who came up with some ridiculous “fund” they have for all their employees that allowed them to still get a paycheck if they were taking care of a sick family member.
At first, I tried to argue with him about it, but it was like talking to a brick wall, so I accepted the club’s generosity with a grateful—yet not at all fooled—smile.
The club has done more for me and my family than I could ever repay. Well, that’s not entirely true. I’ve been repaying their kindness by lying to them, haven’t I?
I always told myself the end justifies the means.
That by not telling anyone who the father of my child is, no one would pass judgment on our situation—not that they didn’t judge me anyway—and I would have full control over how I raised my son.
That I wouldn’t be forced to share weekends with someone who was nowhere near capable of being a parent.
Maybe it sounds selfish, but I was doing it to protect my child.
After knowing what I know now about Nolan, I’m convinced I made the right call.
The bar has been quiet tonight, which isn’t necessarily uncommon for a weeknight.
And I can’t say I’m upset about it. I’m paid well above minimum wage, which certainly helps when the tips aren’t rolling in on nights like these.
Tonight though, I simply don’t have the energy to deal with people.
I can barely keep my eyes open as I grab a couple beers for the two lone patrons sitting on the other end of the bar when the front door opens.
Wyatt, Barrett, and Braxton come sauntering in.
Seeing Braxton isn’t a surprise. He’s been hanging out here a lot more since Mia told Knox, who told the rest of the club, that Nolan is in town.
It has nothing to do with my fear, but he is a member of the Bone Breakers, and the clubs aren’t exactly what you would call friendly.
“Hey, Maizie,” Wyatt says, leaning against the bar. “Can I get three beers?”
I nod, and Wyatt shoots me a smile. I’ve always loved that smile and wondered what it would feel like pressed against my mouth.
I hope he doesn’t see the blush that I feel creeping up my neck.
Usually I’m better at hiding my reaction to Wyatt, but I’m exhausted and my defenses are seriously lacking, along with my sleep.
Friends. You’re just friends and can’t be anything more.
Wyatt is handsome with a perpetual tan, dark hair, and brown eyes so deep you can get lost in them.
Jesus, girl. You must be tired if you're waxing poetic about the man’s eyes.
He’s tall too. Maybe not as tall as Braxton, but I’ve always loved standing next to a guy and feeling petite, which is hard to come by when you stand five-nine.
He has long legs and thick arms. Arms I’ve imagined being wrapped in while he kisses me with that smirk on his face he seems to always wear.
But he’s also a biker, and technically one of my bosses.
Though I mostly answer to Ozzy, Wyatt is in the club and still has a say in what happens with my job, should we start something that ends up crashing and burning.
Not to mention, Colby loves him and his damn dog.
I would never be responsible for breaking my kid’s heart when Wyatt realizes dating a single mother is nothing like the girls I’m sure he’s used to.
I’m not free to take off at a moment’s notice and ride down the coast. I can’t hang out at parties all night and sleep in the next day as though I don’t have any responsibilities.
He might be nice to look at—very nice, actually—but that’s all it will ever be.
Me looking and him living a free and easy life.
Handing the beers over to Wyatt, I give him my best attempt at a smile. “Here you go.”
Wyatt takes the beers and tilts his head, studying me. The boyish smirk is gone, replaced with something that looks like concern.
“You okay, Maiz?”
“I told you. I haven’t been sleeping well, remember?” I reply with a little more bite to my tone than he deserves.
“It just looks like it’s something more than being tired.”
“So you’re saying I look haggard?” I ask, raising my brows.
“No…I'm saying if there’s something you need to talk about, I’m here.”
Gah, he’s fucking gorgeous and nice as hell, even when I’m being a wretched bitch.
“I have raccoons,” I blurt out.
Wyatt lifts an eyebrow, confusion written on his face. “In your…house?”
I bark out a laugh, and that relieves some of the tension on Wyatt’s face. “They’re outside, and they keep waking me up. That’s why I haven’t been sleeping.” Partly true, mostly not.
He nods. “I’ll send someone over to get rid of them.”
“You don't have to do that.”
Wyatt rests his elbows on the bar and leans toward me.
“I know I don’t have to, but they're causing my favorite bartender to lose sleep and snap at me.” And the smile is back.
It would be so easy to lean forward and put my mouth inches from his to see what happens.
Just throw caution to the wind and let the chips fall where they may.
Friends, Maizie. Just friends.
Lack of sleep and the temptation of Wyatt are too damn much right now.
Shaking myself out of my wayward thoughts, I refocus on the conversation we’re having instead of the curve of Wyatt’s smile.
I should argue and tell him I’m going to take care of it, or I could accept his offer and say thank you.
Either way, if I know anything about how these guys operate, it’s as good as done.
“They won’t kill them or something, will they?”
That pulls a laugh from Wyatt. “No, I’ll make sure he just removes them from your property. We don’t need Colby coming across the murder of a raccoon family and being traumatized for the rest of his life.”
And he cares about my kid. Damn him.
“Thanks, Wyatt. I appreciate it.”
“Anything for you, Maiz.”