Chapter Ten
Lark
Five days had passed since our night at the Social Club, and I was starting to fall into a routine at the clubhouse.
It was a weird routine, considering it involved waking up in a room that wasn’t mine, eating breakfast with an entire motorcycle club, and having a hot, moody biker shadow me from morning until night.
But it was still a routine.
The Dairy Bar had reopened two days ago, and getting back behind the counter had helped. There were milkshakes to make, tables to wipe down, and customers who wanted to know why we’d been closed without being rude enough to come right out and ask.
Life was starting to feel normal again.
Or as normal as it could feel with Oliver waiting for me every morning when I stepped out of my room.
He never knocked on my door or rushed me. He was simply there, usually leaning against the wall with his arms folded over his chest, looking like he’d been standing there for hours even though I knew he hadn’t.
From that point on, he stayed with me.
If I went to the Dairy Bar, Oliver went to the Dairy Bar. If I walked from one side of the clubhouse to the other, he somehow managed to appear close enough to keep me in sight without making it obvious he was following me.
It should’ve annoyed me. Instead, I was getting dangerously used to it.
I walked into the clubhouse kitchen and headed for the cabinet where I’d seen the bowls the day before.
The common area was already filling with the low murmur of voices, chairs scraping against the floor, and the steady drip of coffee being poured by people who looked like they couldn’t function without it.
I opened the cabinet and rose onto my toes to reach the stack on the second shelf. My fingers barely brushed the edge of a bowl. “Come on,” I muttered. “Work with me.”
I stretched a little higher, managed to hook my fingers around it, and pulled. The bowl slid free faster than I expected and I stumbled backward, my heel catching on something behind me. My arms flew out as I tried to catch myself, and the bowl slipped from my hand.
Before I could go ass over teakettle in the middle of the kitchen, a hard arm wrapped around my waist. Another hand caught my arm.
My body jerked to a stop against a solid chest. The bowl hit the counter behind me with a hollow clatter but somehow didn’t break.
For one second, neither Oliver nor I moved.
His arm stayed locked around my waist, holding me against him while his other hand gripped my upper arm. My palm had landed flat against his chest, and I could feel the steady beat of his heart beneath my hand.
Or maybe it wasn’t steady. Mine sure as hell wasn’t.
“You okay?” he asked. His voice was low and close enough that I felt it as much as I heard it.
I lifted my gaze.
Oliver was staring down at me, his blue eyes locked on mine. There was a crease between his brows and tension in his jaw like catching me had somehow scared him more than nearly falling had scared me.
Not that I was scared anymore. I was too busy noticing how warm he was. And how good he smelled. And how perfectly his hand fit against my waist.
“I think so,” I whispered.
His gaze dropped to my mouth. It was quick. So quick I might’ve imagined it if his hold on me hadn’t tightened for half a second.
My fingers curled slightly against his shirt and Oliver’s eyes came back to mine. The whole kitchen seemed to fade away around us.
Just Oliver.
And me.
And the very inconvenient realization that having him near me all day was nothing compared to having him this close.
“Church!” Wrecker’s voice boomed through the clubhouse.
Oliver’s arm dropped from my waist as if someone had cut a rope holding us together. I took a quick step back and nearly hit the counter.
“Right,” I breathed.
Oliver stayed close enough to catch me again, but his hands remained at his sides. “You sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah.” I glanced at the bowl sitting on the counter. “My dignity took a hit, but I think I’ll survive.”
His mouth twitched. That tiny almost-smile was becoming one of my favorite things.
“Thank you,” I said.
He nodded once.
I turned toward the common area and froze. Arlo leaned against the end of the bar with a coffee cup in one hand. He was watching us with a slow, knowing smirk stretched across his face.
He didn’t say a word.
Somehow, that was worse.
Oliver followed my stare and looked over his shoulder. “Don’t,” he warned.
Arlo lifted his cup and took a drink. “I didn’t say anything.”
“You were going to.”
“Maybe.”
Oliver stared at him.
Arlo’s smirk widened.
I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing.
Wrecker’s voice carried through the room again. “Now.”
Oliver looked back at me.
“I need to go.”
“I gathered that.”
“We’ll head to the Dairy Bar when we’re done.”
I nodded. “Okay.”
His gaze lingered on me for another second before he turned and followed Arlo toward the hallway leading to church.
Arlo glanced back once, still smirking.
I pointed at him. “Not one word.”
He made a motion like he was zipping his lips, then he disappeared down the hallway.
I turned back to the counter and stared at the bowl. My hands were still a little unsteady when I grabbed the cereal box. “Well,” I whispered, “that was far from normal.” I poured cereal into the bowl, added milk, and carried it into the common area.
Alice and Nikki sat at one of the long tables with coffee mugs in front of them. Alice was scrolling through something on her phone while Nikki picked at a piece of toast.
“Morning, Lark,” Alice called.
“Morning,” Nikki added.
I smiled and slid into the chair across from them. “Morning.”
Nikki looked up at me. Just looked. There was nothing suspicious in her expression. Nothing knowing. Which was good, because I had spent the last few days having extremely indecent thoughts about her son.
Not mild thoughts either. Very detailed thoughts involving his hands, his chest, and what might’ve happened if Wrecker hadn’t yelled for church.
I shoved a spoonful of cereal into my mouth before my face could give me away.
Alice glanced over at Nikki’s plate. “Are you going to eat that toast or stare at it until it gets uncomfortable?”
Nikki looked down. “I’m eating it.”
“You’ve been holding the same piece for five minutes.”
“I was thinking.”
“That’s dangerous.”
Nikki narrowed her eyes. “I can think.”
Alice took a drink of coffee. “I didn’t say you couldn’t. I said it was dangerous.”
I laughed into my cereal.
Nikki pointed the toast at Alice. “Keep it up, and I’ll tell Wrecker you’ve been making plans without him.”
Alice didn’t even blink. “He already assumes that.”
“Because you are.”
“Exactly,” Alice winked at her.
The front door swung open, and Wendy walked in with Karmen right behind her.
Neither woman said good morning. They headed straight for the coffee pot, and Alice watched them go.
“Should we speak to them?”
“No,” Nikki answered. “Not until the first cup.”
Wendy reached for a mug without turning around. “Smart woman.”
Karmen filled her cup and took a long drink before she finally looked over at us. “Morning.”
“See?” Nikki said. “Now she’s ready.”
Wendy leaned against the counter with her coffee held in both hands. “I’m not ready. I’m just less likely to stab someone.”
Alice nodded. “Progress.”
More people began drifting into the common area. Ever came in first, rubbing sleep from one eye. Adley followed, and Star wandered in a few minutes later.
The room filled quickly.
Cabinet doors opened and closed. Someone started another pot of coffee. Chairs scraped across the floor while conversations overlapped until I couldn’t follow any one of them.
Eden shuffled into the room last. Her hair was piled on top of her head in a messy knot, and she wore an oversized sweatshirt that looked like it belonged to a giant. She dropped into the chair beside me and rested her cheek on the table.
“I-I w-want my b-bed.”
Alice looked over. “You’ll have it tomorrow for one night.”
Eden lifted her head. “W-We’re g-going h-home?”
“Yes.” Alice set her phone on the table. “I need to be at the farm, and you need more than an hour a day with your animals while your dad stands there checking his watch.”
Eden sat up straighter. A smile spread across her tired face. “R-Really?”
“Really.”
Nikki raised an eyebrow. “I’m surprised Wrecker is letting you go back.”
Alice slowly turned her head toward her. The smug look on her face said everything before she opened her mouth. “As if I really gave the man a choice.”
Karmen laughed into her coffee.
Wendy shook her head. “Poor Wrecker.”
Alice waved one hand. “He’ll survive.”
“Will he?” Nikki asked.
“He has so far.”
“By sheer luck,” Karmen muttered.
Alice smiled sweetly. “Luck had nothing to do with it.”
The women laughed and even Eden joined in.
I sat back in my chair with my spoon resting inside my bowl and watched them.
This was breakfast to them. Just another morning filled with coffee, teasing, people talking over one another, and someone making plans that would probably turn into an argument with Wrecker later.
For one quiet second, I couldn’t help thinking how much fun it would be to belong to something like this.