24. Chapter 23
Crusher – A Week Later
“I’ve missed working with you,” Lola rasps as she drives out of the station, and I roll my eyes looking out the window.
I don’t want to be here and certainly not with a woman who, even now, after working together for six years, won’t take no as a fucking answer.
As soon as I began my career and was placed in this region, she fucking latched onto me.
She knows I’m married, she just doesn’t give a fuck. When I came in for my shift today, I was fucking pissed to see she’d rearranged the schedule so she’d be on my team.
Fucking patch chasers.
“What have you been up to?” she asks, and I silently groan, already seeing that this is going to be a long fucking day, and my mood is already sour.
The past week, my wife has allowed me to have her body, but as soon as she wakes up, she regrets what we did the night before.
She’s trying her hardest to push me away, to convince herself that we shouldn’t be together, but I see the longing in her eyes, the love she still holds. I just need her to forget that goddamn picture she was sent. I need her to at least try to learn to forgive me.
I need her to fight for us like I am, because fuck, I’m petrified of losing her.
I open my mouth to tell Lola to just drive so we can fill the rig up before a call comes in, but my phone rings, saving me from having to speak to the bitch.
I quickly grab it and smile seeing my wife’s name and answer, “Freckles?” causing Lola to look at me with a frown, most likely hearing the love in my tone, but I ignore her.
“Daddy,” my son says, and I sit up straighter.
“Bud? Everything alright? Where’s your mama?” I ask with a bit of panic, and my son sighs.
“She’s driving, but I need your help,” he says, and I relax slightly but soon hold in my laughter when he asks, “Can you tell Mama she doesn’t have to stay with me for my first day?”
Guess I should have seen this one coming.
Clearing my throat, I remind him, “She’s worried, bud. She was adamant about homeschooling you until you gave her the look.”
“I know, but I need to do this, Daddy, and Tray will be with me all day,” he whispers, and I sigh in understanding.
He wants to try and be brave.
“Alright, put your mama on,” I say, and he mutters, “Love you, Daddy,” and I return, “Love you, son.”
Lola swerves the rig, and I roll my eyes just as my wife's sweet voice enters my ears, “Kayden, just wait near the door, please,” before she says, “I know what you’re going to say, so don’t.”
“Freckles,” I say softly, “I know you’re scared, but you trust me, right?” Then, I quickly confirm, “With our son?” knowing she doesn’t trust me with her heart.
Lola swerves again, and I snap, “Will you keep the rig on the road? I want to be able to get home to my family tonight!” and Lola locks her jaw.
I repeat, fucking patch chasers.
“Let me guess, your partner is a woman who wants you,” Alexiana snaps, and I smirk.
Good to know she’s still getting jealous.
“She also knows I’m married and in love with my wife,” I reply, and Lola squeezes the steering wheel, her false nails digging into her palms with how long they are, and I roll my eyes again.
“I can’t leave him all day,” my wife whispers, and I soften.
“You can because you know the school, you went to that school, so you know the teachers are old and half of them are married to the other half, so no crazy woman is going to storm into the school and shoot our son again.” I reply softly, “He’ll be alright, I promise you, Tray has this, he won’t leave him alone and if anything the kids will love that he’s a club brat. ”
“Not helping, Hayes,” she whines, and I grin and remind her, “He needs this baby…”
She’s quiet for a moment before she threatens, “If anything happens to him, Hayes…” and I finish, “Then I’ll stay in the guest room.”
She scoffs, “Yeah, like that would ever happen, no, I’ll be buying a sex toy with your credit card, locking the door and using it on myself!”
“That is never going to happen!” I snap with darkness, “That body is mine!” and she giggles, which of course makes me smile.
Fuck I’ve missed that sound.
“Kayden,” my wife calls, and I hear a door open before she says, “If you set the classroom on fire, I’ll be staying with you for the rest of the week!”
Wait what?
“Freckles, I don’t think he would…”
My son cuts me off and huffs, “Mama, it was one time, it isn’t my fault the burner exploded!”
Hang on a minute…
“He did what?” I snap, but my wife ignores me and reminds our child, whose nickname is becoming more real to me, “That may be so, but you were experimenting with the wrong things, so please no fires, no broken windows, no exploding things.”
“Mama, I swear I will be on my best behavior,” he replies before he says, “Love you, Trays here.” Before I hear him slam the SUV door that my wife reluctantly accepted while glaring at me.
“Oh geez, he’s going to set something on fire, I just know it.” My wife mutters, and I choke, “Uh, baby, are we raising a hooligan?”
“He’s your son, Hayes. What did you expect?
” she retorts, full of sass, and I nod because yeah, okay, I can see it, though I was rebelling because Dad was forcing me to train for a role that he ended up giving to my big brother anyway.
Alexiana sighs, “If I get a call, I’m sending them your way,” and I choke on a chuckle before she sighs, “Okay, I’m going, and I know you probably have work to do. ”
“What are you going to do today?” I ask as Lola pulls up to the gas station, then climbs out, slamming the door shut, and I roll my eyes and mutter, “Fucking patch chasers…”
Alexiana snorts and then answers, “Figure my life out.”
“Skating, that is your life,” I say, then add, “and me and our son and whatever other kids we may have in the future.”
“I’m on the pill, Hayes, there will be no babies,” she says, and I add, “Right now, no babies right now, but soon there will be…”
I notice Lola going in to pay with the company card and I say, “Look, just go to the rink, you have full access, skate for a little while and maybe speak to the owners. See if you can rent out the rink and do some research into teaching figure skating because we both know you can do it.”
Lola climbs back in just as the station beeps in, “Eighty- two-year-old on Havins Drive has fallen, has a head laceration, lost consciousness for a few minutes,” and I reply, “Rig 3432, ETA five minutes out,” before I say to my wife, “I’ve got to go, but I’ll message throughout the day, alright?
And I expect you to be doing your research. I love you…”
I hang up before she can say anything back, while Lola puts the lights on and then speeds out of the gas station.
“You have a kid?” she asks through gritted teeth and uses her anger to weave in and out of the cars.
“I’ve been married for eight years, what the fuck did you expect?” I snap, “I never gave you any indication I wanted you. You took one look at me, saw my cut and thought, oh I’ll have him, even though I’m fucking happily married, so do me a favor, grow up, and concentrate on the fucking road!”
Okay, so happily married is a big fucking stretch, but I want to be. I want my wife to want me, I mean, I know she wants me, she just doesn’t trust me.
How can I convince her that I won’t hurt her again? That I want a lifetime with her?
***
I sigh as I stretch my neck from side to side, as I climb off my bike, walking inside the house after closing the garage. Despite the long fucking day, I smile, hearing my son's giggles coming from the backyard, and I head that way.
Sighing, I walk outside, but I freeze as a bark hits my ears before I lock eyes with a tiny fucking Pitbull puppy running my way before weaving in and out of my legs, and my son shouts with glee, “Daddy, Mama got us a puppy!”
“No shit,” I mutter as I bend and lift the wiggling little one up.
Smiling slightly as she licks my face, her bright blue eyes actually pretty, I ask, “And what is her name?” Putting her back down before she runs after my son.
My wife walks my way, looking fucking beautiful in my old high school hoodie and leggings.
Kayden might have let slip that if she wasn’t at work, she’d live in the thing. I may have put several more of the old ones I found at my parents’ place in her side of the dresser.
“Her name is Angel,” she says, then comments, “You look tired…”
I hum as she stops by me, but too far away for my liking. I grab her arm and yank her towards me before wrapping mine around her waist. When she doesn’t fight me and relaxes, I sigh with relief and hold her tighter as I press my lips against her head, then watch our son.
“Fucking exhausted. Not only did an eighty-two-year-old try to set me up with her great-granddaughter who eyed me like piece of meat when I went to help with her injuries. Didn’t even care when I flashed my ring tattoo, but my partner crashed the rig while said great-granddaughter tried to flirt with me in the back.
” I admit and Alexiana looks at me in shock and I shake my head.
I explain, “For years the woman has wanted me and for years I’ve said no and brought up your name more times than I can count.
When I got to work this morning, the bitch had changed the schedule assignments to ensure she was paired with me. ”
“Holy…” she gasps, and I nod as I take a pull of my beer.
“She’s been suspended until further notice pending investigation, but my boss said with the several complaints I’ve made over the years, including complaints from others, she’s losing her job,” I mutter, taking another pull just as my son confirms, “Isn’t a female dog called a bitch?
” and I choke on my beer as my wife sighs.
“He’s your child,” she mutters as he shrugs and continues to run around with the dog, and I agree, “That he is,” before I ask, “Where did the dog come from anyway?”
“Your blood brother,” my wife replies, and I mumble, “I’m going to kill him.”
She chuckles, “No, you won’t because your son adores her,” and I huff, knowing she’s right. She shifts to look at me, her deep green eyes sucking me in, and she asks, “How are you so calm with all this? I mean, your wife who left you pops back in with a child to boot, how are you so sane?”
“I can’t change the past,” I answer as I hold her tighter to me, “And I know I’m to blame for all this. This is my penance for breaking your heart, your trust, and I have to live with it.”
She shakes her head and looks back at our son.
“It isn’t healthy to think that way,” she mutters, and I kiss her head then murmur, “I know, but I can’t change how I think, baby,” before I mention, “You never mentioned my choice to leave the club?”
I’ve been thinking about it more, wondering if she’ll learn to forgive me if I do what she originally wanted and choose her.
“You’re not leaving the club,” she states, and I pull back and raise a brow at her, but she shrugs, “Back then, I never would have allowed you to hang up your cut, I was testing you and you failed. You didn’t choose me after you did the worst I could possibly have imagined at the time, and now I’m telling you, you are not hanging up your cut, you’re not leaving your family. ”
I tilt my head at her, and I confirm, “You’re testing me with the patch chasers?”
She furrows her brows before she whispers, “Maybe I am,” and I nod as a little bit of hope fills me.
We’ve got a dog, she’s falling asleep in my arms even if she acts as if she regrets it the next morning, and she’s testing me.
Maybe she is fighting for us, and she just doesn’t realize it.
“Okay,” I mutter before I press my lips against hers softly, holding her close and forcing her to lay her head against my chest. We watch our son run around with the puppy and I whisper, “A man could get used to this,” causing her to grip my cut and I half smile because, I really could and I won’t lose it.