3. Maizie #2
Wyatt straightens and turns, walking over to the table Braxton and Barrett are sitting at, completely oblivious to the riot of butterflies taking off in my stomach. The idea of anything sends thoughts swirling around in my head. Thoughts I have no business thinking.
Two hours later, and I think I’ve passed the point of exhaustion and have gone into that weird phase where you feel like everything is some sort of fever dream. Thankfully, it’s closing time and since it was a slow night, the only thing I have to do is take the trash out and lock up.
“Let me do that,” Wyatt says, standing from his seat.
“Absolutely not,” I tell him. “It’s my job, and no way in hell am I going to have you telling my boss I’m slacking.”
Wyatt chuckles and sits back down. “Didn’t realize you were so territorial over the dumpsters.”
“Now you do,” I tell him. “If you want to do something helpful, though, you guys can flip the rest of the chairs.”
He salutes me, and I roll my eyes, then walk through the hallway where the bathrooms are to the back door. I toss the giant bag into the dumpster and turn around to find Nolan standing between me and the door leading back inside.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I hiss, trying to keep my voice low, at least for now. I don’t want anyone knowing that Nolan is lurking around to talk to me. There would be questions that I really don’t want to answer.
“I came to talk to you about the kid,” he says, looking behind him at the door.
It looks like Nolan is alone, but there are three members of the Black Roses just on the other side of the door he’s standing in front of.
“Is he mine?”
Every muscle in my body locks, and anger courses through my blood. “No. He’s mine .”
Nolan holds his hands in the air as though he’s surrendering. “I’m not trying to take anything from you.”
“My child is not ‘anything.’ He’s my son.”
Nolan blows out a breath; this conversation probably not going as he expected. “Listen, I’m going back to Arizona tonight. I didn’t come here to start trouble.”
“Why are you here, then?”
“I had some business that I needed to take care of. I take it you haven’t told anyone who his father is.”
“Like I said, he’s my child. End of discussion.”
Nolan nods a few times and stretches his neck. “Yeah, alright. The last thing I need is a kid weighing me down, anyways.”
I don’t move. My eyes stay laser-focused on him, hoping he sees the fury burning in them. I would do anything for my son, and I swear to God, if it means killing this man where he stands to keep him away from Colby, I’ll fucking do it.
“See ya around, Maizie,” he says, then heads down the small alley and turns the corner.
That’s when I finally exhale and nearly collapse next to this fucking dumpster. That conversation was less than a minute, but I’m pretty sure it shaved about ten years off my life.
The back door opens, and Wyatt peeks his head out. “Hey, you okay?”
Holy shit, had it been ten seconds earlier, he'd have walked out when Nolan was here, and I’d have had a shit ton of explaining to do.
“Yeah, just getting some fresh air.”
Wyatt’s eyes dart to the dumpster then back to me. “Out here?”
I nod and smile, shrugging. “Fair point. Come on. I need to grab Colby from Lucy’s and head home.”
“I’ll call Jude and have him bring Colby to your house. That way you don’t have to drive over there.”
“It’s no big deal. It’s not that far out of the way.”
“Really, I’m sure he’d be hap—”
“I said I got him. He’s my son. I will go pick him up, then I will take him home and put him to bed.” My tone is sharp, a lot sharper than the one I used earlier tonight. But for fuck’s sake, I don’t need a white knight biker trying to invade my life right now. I don’t need anyone playing savior.
“Okay, Maiz,” he says, that placating tone making me feel two inches tall all over again. He opens the door wider without meeting my eyes.
Fuck, now I feel like an asshole. But here’s the thing.
If I start to depend on Wyatt, then I’ll be setting myself up for disappointment.
And not just me, my kid, too. Wyatt is handsome, charming and sweet.
If I make a list of everything I want in a man, I’d basically be listing everything I like about Wyatt.
He’s also completely and utterly unattached.
He doesn’t even have his own place. Not that he needs to own some fancy house or something.
But he still lives at the clubhouse and can pick up and leave whenever the mood strikes.
I…can’t, not with any of it. I just can’t.
The next night, I’m at work, and Colby is at Charlie’s house. Again. Until I know for sure that Nolan has left town, I’m not comfortable asking Cece to come stay at my place. It’s a little busier, but I’m just as tired as I’ve been all week.
At least I have one of my favorite people here to keep me company.
“You know, I’m a little offended that Colby hasn’t asked to come to my house to hang out while you’ve been at work,” Mia says from the other side of the bar.
It’s not that he hasn’t asked, but Mia lives on the same property as her grandmother. and with Nolan in town, I’m nervous he'd show up there.
I laugh in an attempt to deflect from the unease I feel. “Don’t blame him. Charlie and Lucy ply my kid with junk food.”
“Hey, I’m the baker in this group. And he loves my chocolate chip cookies,” she grouses.
“True, but it also helps that Charlie and Lucy live right next door to each other, so I’m pretty sure he’s getting double the sweets.”
She nods. “I can see the logic in that. So, did I tell you my brother is officially on his way back to Arizona?”
“You didn’t. How do you know?” That’s the confirmation I was looking for, and she doesn’t realize how much I’ve needed to hear it. How could she when I still haven’t told her why I want him gone so bad?
“I guess my mom called him, and he told her he was in some little town in Kansas. Naturally, my mom called my grandmother and bitched her out about not being able to keep him in Shine, where he belongs. Jesus, my parents really have no clue.”
Thank God. Kansas is states away from me and Colby.
“He didn’t even try to come see my grandmother. I don’t think he was in Shine for more than a day or two. I never saw him again, did you?”
My head rears back. “Why would I see him?”
“Uh, you work in one of the only bars in town and he likes to drink.”
“I work in a bar owned by another club. This is the last place he’d come to wet his whistle.”
It’s not like he was stopping by for a beer when I saw him last night, so I’m not technically lying.
The front door opens, and one of my other favorite people walks in with her man. Then comes Mia’s, and trailing behind is the guy who hijacked way too many of my thoughts last night.
“Hey, sis,” Lucy says as she sits down next to Mia. “Wyatt said you’re having a raccoon problem at your place.”
I nod as Wyatt sits a couple chairs down from Lucy.
“I have a guy stopping by in the morning to take care of it, if that’s okay with you?” Wyatt says, giving me a cautious smile.
Guilt instantly shoots through me. I was a complete bitch to him yesterday when he offered to help me out with Colby.
That conversation played over and over in my mind last night as I was sitting on the couch at my house, where I’ve spent the last couple nights.
Though I’m still firmly of the belief that Wyatt is the last person I should let myself rely on for a myriad of reasons, I also know that I didn’t need to be so rude about it.
“Thank you so much. I really appreciate it,” I say, offering him a smile and his favorite beer.
He nods in thanks, and I move on to make drinks for Knox, Lucy, and Jude.
“So, I was thinking,” Lucy says after taking a sip of her whiskey.
Mia snickers. “Oh, this should be good.”
Lucy purses her lips and gives Mia a hard side-eye. “As I was saying, I’m going to sign you up on one of those dating apps.”
Mia laughs, nearly spitting her drink out, and from the corner of my eye, I see Wyatt stiffen in his chair. I’m not the only one who notices, either. Jude eyes Wyatt and then gets what I can only describe as a devious twinkle in his blue eyes.
“Lucifer, I think that’s a great idea,” he says.
“Right? I’m brilliant.” Jude leans over and kisses Lucy on the mouth. “And I may have already set up a profile for you,” she says, grabbing her phone from her purse.
“You did not,” Mia says, shaking her head as Knox chuckles beside her.
“Of course she did,” Knox says. “This is Lucy we’re talking about.”
“Did you run this by Charlie? Usually she talks you down from your ridiculous ideas,” Mia comments, looking over at Lucy’s phone.
“That’s exactly why I didn’t. She’s a buzzkill.”
“By buzzkill, do you mean she’s the one who keeps you in line? We all know it wouldn’t be your old man,” I say.
“Exactly. She’s been shackled to Linc for too long to remember what it’s like to get out there and date.”
“Wait a second, Lucifer. What’s that supposed to mean? We’ve been together for nearly as long.”
“Just that my friend is single, and I want her to find someone who cares about her and wants to give her the world like she deserves. And maybe a roll in the sheets, too.”
“Jesus Christ, Lucy. There’s more to life than sex,” I say, wholly uncomfortable with where this conversation is going.
I’ve been out on a couple dates since I had Colby.
I’ve even had sex. There was a perfectly nice guy who used to come in here when he was traveling through town for work a couple times a month.
We struck up a conversation, and he took me out.
We would’ve even maybe made a go of it, but he got a new job that required travel and a home base six hours away.
Then again, now that I think about it, I wasn’t particularly devastated by his change in employment. That was…Jesus, how long ago was that?
“I’m not talking about regular sex. I’m talking about knock-your-socks-off sex. And that, my friend, is some life-altering shit,” Lucy says.