Chapter 10 #3
“Why’d she come? How’d she find out about you?”
“Our mom’s dying. She’s messaged me on Facebook a few times, asking to see me, but I’ve been ignoring her. I didn’t know about Jessa. Not until today.”
“You going to see her before she croaks?”
“I don’t know, dude. Should I?”
Unlike me, Merrick had lost family before. Men he’d served beside in the Army. His dad. His first old lady, Rose.
“What do you think you should do?”
I sighed. Merrick was going into mentor mode when really I just wanted a goddamn honest answer. I stayed silent for a beat before responding. “I should. Not for me. Not for that woman who calls herself a mother. But because it’s important to Jessa.”
Merrick nodded. “Then there’s your answer. You suck it up. Let her tell you how sorry she is or whatever. You don’t tell her what you really think of her because that would hurt your sister. End of story.”
I nodded grimly. I guzzled the rest of my beer and left, heading for my room above the clubhouse instead of sitting at the bar with the rest of the guys.
I sat on the floor beside Chaos, scrolling through my phone as she chewed on a toy.
I couldn’t stop thinking of the shithole trailer I’d left my sister at and wondering where she’d end up after her mom died.
A knock sounded at my door, and Chaos let out a high-pitched bark. I rubbed my ears. “Come in.”
Merci walked in, and the smell of sweet-and-sour chicken filled the space. “Want some?” she asked as Chaos wobbled over to her, all wiggles and happy whining.
“Yeah, sure.” I stayed on the floor, letting Chaos settle back with me after she said hello to her second-favorite human.
Merci handed me a fork and hovered over me. “You know, there’s this really cool concept called furniture. Tables. Chairs. Couches.”
I smirked at her. “Chaos wanted me down here.”
Merci sat beside me, and I snatched the takeout container from her and took a bite.
“Course she did. Little Chaos Gremlin always gets her way, too.” Merci forked a piece of chicken and stuffed it in her mouth. “What’s wrong?” she asked, mouth full.
“Well, a kid showed up at the clubhouse today,” I started.
“Oh, fuck. You have a kid?” Merci gasped.
I rolled my eyes and nudged her shoulder. “I’m sure Merrick told you about this already.”
The shock on her face told me he hadn’t.
“Haven’t been home yet. I wanted to see Chaos first. So, you’re a dad?”
I shook my head and chuckled. “No, but apparently I have a sister. She showed up at the clubhouse today.”
Merci tilted her head. “You seem surprisingly OK with this.”
I shrugged. “She’s a good kid. But she’s only fifteen. When her mom—fuck, our mom—dies, I’m the only family she’s got.” I handed Merci my phone, showing her the real estate listings I’d been scrolling through. “I need to find a house for us.”
“You think she’s going to move in with you? A man she’s never met before today?”
Her skepticism grated on my nerves. “I think it’s that or foster care. At fifteen, she’s not going to get adopted. She’ll either end up on the streets as a runaway after they put her in a house with some creep, or she’ll end up in a group home until she ages out. I can’t let that happen.”
Merci hummed. “I don’t know. It’s one thing to take in a puppy. It’s another to take in a human.”
I slammed my phone on the coffee table, and Chaos flinched. I murmured an apology, petted her, and glared at Merci. “I wasn’t asking for your opinion. You can see yourself out.” I grabbed a clean towel and headed to the hallway bathroom.
“Hatchet, wait—” Merci called out.
I didn’t want to hear her apologies. Everyone saw me as the biker all the sweetbutts loved. The good time and an even better fuck. And fair, that’s all I’d been since joining the Mavericks.
But watching Thane, Reaper, and Merrick settle down made me crave more, and I couldn’t find someone living every bachelor’s dream. And with the possibility of becoming a de facto parent to a high schooler, I needed my own space.
As the hot water sluiced down my back, I imagined what weekends would look like.
Jessa and Chaos would play in the yard while Merrick and I drank coffee on the front porch on Saturday mornings.
We’d overhear Kenna and my old lady—a mystery to me—laugh in the house as they poked fun at us about old-man hobbies like fishing.
They’d come out, and the screen door would squeak on its hinges.
My old lady would complain that I still hadn’t gotten around to oiling it, and I’d promise to do it later that day.
Kenna would lean down to peck a kiss on Merrick’s cheek, and my woman would move to sit on my lap, wrapping her arms around me.
With my eyes closed, I tried to make out the face surrounded by a halo of dark hair.
Merci.
My eyes flew open. Fuck. I turned off the water and quickly toweled off.
When I got back to my room, Chaos ran wild with a throw pillow in her mouth. I should have specified that I wanted Merci to put the pup in her crate before she left.
“Chaos, here,” I commanded. The pup shook her head, and the threadbare stitching finally ripped.
The impending explosion that had been building like Mount Vesuvius ever since she first discovered my pillow-turned-chew toy began to throw white stuffing across my entire space. “Motherfucker. Chaos, here.”
But Chaos didn’t have her listening ears on. She had her gremlin ones on. That meant every command went unheard as she rampaged through my room with unbridled glee, intent on causing complete bedlam and destruction.
I couldn’t handle a ten-pound puppy. Was I delusional to think I could raise a fifteen-year-old girl?