Chapter Eleven
Ice
F OR THE LAST week, I haven’t heard back from Ruby.
Lock has been checking in with me every single day to find out if she’s messaged me back.
He’s more upset that I haven't heard from her than I am, it seems. I wasn’t really expecting someone like her to respond to such a simple message and shouldn’t have sent it in the first place.
That’s on me and something I won’t do again.
It doesn’t stop me from thinking about her and looking at the pictures in my phone.
I dream about her at night and the only time I’m not thinking of her is when I’m at work dealing with something.
I’ve even stopped being on the floor while the girls are dancing because I don’t want to see them shake their ass and tits like I have a million times since I took over as manager.
I’ve been staying caught up on things in my office and only leave if they need me for some kind of dispute between the dancers or customers they can’t handle on their own.
I won’t complain because it means I’m more organized than ever before.
Today, I’m heading in to work early so I can meet with one of the potential new suppliers I’ll use for the club.
They’re local and a new company trying to get their name out there.
I’ve spoken to Darren, the owner, multiple times over the last week and he seems like a really good guy.
He’s one of the few who doesn’t care that he’ll be delivering to a strip club and says we all have a job to do and no one should show judgment about strip clubs when they’ve probably frequented them at least once in their lives.
I really like Darren and hope we’ll have a longstanding working relationship moving forward.
As I head through town, I get to a stretch of the road that’s empty of houses or businesses.
There’s a car parked on the side of the road with the front door open and the hood lifted.
I can’t just pass by someone who might need help.
Slowing my bike, I park a little ways behind the car and shut my engine off.
Removing my helmet and bandana, I carefully make my way closer to the car.
Without my bike running, I hear a baby screaming and someone sobbing.
My feet move faster as I rush to the door of the car, but don’t stand too close.
“Excuse me, Miss. Can I help you?” I ask, startling the young woman in the driver’s seat as she whips her head in my direction while holding the baby in her arms tighter. “Do you need emergency services for your baby?”
“N-N-No,” she stammers, trying to calm herself down as I crouch down so I’m not standing above her like a predator or something.
“It died and won’t start again. I think it’s the battery, but I’m not sure.
I don’t know what’s wrong with the baby.
He just started screaming and nothing I do calms him down.
I changed his diaper, tried to feed him, burped him, and walked around the car while bouncing him gently in my arms. I don’t know what else to do. ”
I watch as more tears start to fall from her eyes and it breaks my heart to see her so completely unraveled and stressed out. Standing up, I take a few steps closer to her and hold out my hands.
“Let me see if I can help with your little boy. I promise I’m not gonna hurt him and I won’t leave your side.
Pull up the number to call for emergency services and take a picture of me so you have it,” I tell her, just wanting to help this young woman.
“My name is Ice and you can send the picture to anyone you want.”
I watch as the girl snaps a picture of me and sets her phone in her lap before allowing me to take the baby from her arms. There’s no hesitation in her and I wonder why this girl is trusting a complete stranger with her son.
I’m not sure I could do the same thing if I were in her position.
Especially when we’re a little ways from town on a deserted road.
There’s something really familiar about her though as I turn my focus from her to the little boy in my arms.
His face is really red and his body is covered in a fine layer of sweat as I cuddle him to my chest and hold him loose but firmly in my arms. I gently bounce on my feet as I hum him a song I heard Wren singing to the boys when they’ve been fussy.
The little boy in my arms grabs hold of my tee-shirt with one of his little hands and starts to stop screaming.
He ends up having some hiccups as I rub his back and continue to hum the same song repeatedly.
The baby looks up at me and I take in his wide, innocent brown eyes with tears clinging to his thick lashes.
For the first time, he looks at me with complete trust and owns a piece of my heart.
“I can’t believe you got him to calm down,” the young woman says, her voice barely above a whisper. Still, it seems like I’ve heard her talk before and I don’t know where. “I’m so sorry you had to find us this way. I wasn’t sure what to do.”
“That’s okay. We all have a bad day now and then. Do you think I could try to put him back in his car seat now?” I ask her as the little boy’s eyes start to flutter closed as he falls asleep in my arms.
“Yeah. I think he’ll be okay. I’m Keaton, by the way,” she says while twisting in her seat as I climb in the backseat after opening the door and carefully putting the baby in his car seat and strapping him in.
“It’s nice to meet you, Keaton,” I tell her once the baby is in his seat and not waking up again. “Let’s see if I can figure out what’s wrong with your car.”
Getting out, I move to the front while Keaton remains in her seat.
I tell her to try and start it so I can hear what it’s doing.
Keaton turns the key and the car does absolutely nothing.
I check the battery cables and neither one of them are loose.
I’m not sure what’s wrong with her car at this point. I really want to help her though.
“I don’t know what it could be. I can call Whittaker’s for you and have the car towed there.
They can fix it for a reasonable price. I can also have a Prospect bring one of the club’s SUVs to get you and Little Man home,” I tell her, wanting to help this woman to the depths of my soul for some reason.
“I can’t trouble you for all of that. Thank you for helping with Bridger. That was more than enough. I’m sure I can find a ride or something,” she tells me, looking down at her hands in her lap where she’s twisting them together in a nervous gesture.
“No thanks necessary. Please, let me help you,” I tell her, already pulling out my phone to call Judge.
“Need a tow for a young woman and her baby. Her car died and it won’t start again.
I’m not sure what’s wrong with it. Also need one of the Prospects, preferably Tristan or Zach to come with the SUV so she can get home.
Maybe meet at the garage so she can tell one of you what exactly happened when the car died. ”
“I’ll send Tristan over with the flatbed right now and Zach can follow in the SUV.
He can bring them here so we can talk before takin’ them home and anywhere else she might have to go.
If she needs groceries or somethin’ we’ll make sure she gets to the store.
You gonna wait with her so she’s not alone?
” Judge asks me as I look at Keaton in her car as she silently cries while staring off into the distance.
“Yeah. Not gonna leave her alone on the side of the road with a baby. Not sure how long she’s been here to begin with,” I answer him as my heart stutters in my chest.
This girl is fucking breaking me in a way I’ve never experienced before.
I want to pull her in my arms and hold her as she cries out her frustration while learning all about her.
The only other time I’ve ever felt like this is when I first saw Ruby.
My reaction to two different women is exactly the same for some reason and it doesn’t make any sense to me at all.
I send Judge our location before sliding my phone back in my pocket.
“He’s sendin’ out a flatbed for the car and an SUV to take you to the shop so they can hear exactly what happened before the car died.
Zach will take you to the store or wherever you were goin’ before this happened and then run you and the baby home.
Zach is a good guy. He’s a Prospect for the club and very respectful.
Wren, Judge’s ol’ lady, really likes him and he’s her foster brother.
They’re very close. I know you don’t know Wren, but she’s a sweet girl who’s been through some shit in her life.
She doesn’t let too many people in but Zach is one of the few she does.
He won’t hurt either one of you,” I say, trying to reassure Keaton as she blinks her eyes and looks up at me as I crouch down once again so we’re more on the same level.
“Thank you, Ice. You look really familiar. It feels like I’ve met you before. Did you grow up in Briar Glen?” she asks me as I look closer at her.
“I did. Been here my whole life. My real name is Tucker Jeffries,” I tell her, giving my real name to a woman I’ve just met. That’s not something I ever do because no one needs to know my legal name.
“I think we went to school together until I started homeschooling at the start of high school. My name is Keaton Jones. I didn’t really hang out with too many people.
That was my best friend Nora. She was always the social butterfly,” Keaton says as I try to remember anyone by that name in my class.
“Do you mean Nora Thomas?” I ask her, knowing Nora from school.
“Yeah. She was my best friend. Bridger is actually her son. She was just killed about two weeks ago,” Keaton informs me and I watch as her heart shatters and she visibly shuts down in front of my eyes. That’s the last thing I expected to hear today.
“Shit. I’m so sorry to hear about that. I haven’t really been payin’ attention to the local news or anythin’ so I hadn’t heard about her death. Was it somethin’ random?” I ask, knowing I shouldn’t push for details when Keaton is already so upset about the loss of her friend.
“It wasn’t random. Her ex-boyfriend was abusive and she was trying to leave him. We met so I could take Bridger from her and he found us in a parking lot. He shot her right in front of me,” Keaton says before absolutely losing it.
This time, I move closer and wrap her in my arms. Keaton doesn’t push me away.
She accepts my comfort and cries into my chest. Her entire body is trembling and I try to hold her close with the odd angle.
There’s a familiar vanilla scent surrounding us from Keaton and it instantly takes me back to the festival with Ruby.
The vanilla is exactly the same on the two women and confusion fills me because there is no difference in the smell like I would expect with two different people.
Closing my eyes, I simply hold Keaton close and let her continue to cry in my arms. We’re in the same position when Tristan and Zach pull up with the flatbed and SUV.
I don’t pull away as they get out and make their way over to us. Keaton is the first one to pull away.
“I’m sorry for getting you all wet with my tears,” she whispers as Tristan and Zach step up behind me and I move to stand while Keaton gets out of her car.
“This is Tristan and Zach,” I inform her, pointing to each man in question as she gives them a small nod. “Tristan, load her car once we get the baby out of the backseat. Zach, bring the SUV closer so she doesn’t have to walk with the baby that far.”
Zach and Tristan move at my words and I step closer to Keaton.
The need to be near her is overwhelming as I keep my eyes locked on her.
Zach moves the car right up next to hers and we get the car seat switched over carefully without waking Bridger up.
Keaton climbs in the passenger seat with my help because I don’t want to leave her alone.
I know Zach will protect her, but I want it to be me.
It’s almost like I feel he won’t do as good of a job as I will when it comes to the safety of Keaton and Bridger.
Two people I just met and already want to see every single day.
How the fuck can I feel this way twice in such a short period of time?
I walk over to my bike after helping Tristan load the car on the flatbed.
Once it’s been secured, Tristan climbs in the truck and waits for me to pull out.
I’ll follow behind the SUV which will follow Tristan back to the garage.
As soon as I start my bike and rev the engine, Tristan pulls out and heads to the garage with us behind him.
My attention is on the SUV in front of me as I call Greyson and let him know I won’t be heading in to work just yet.
I don’t tell him why, just that I’m dealing with something and might show up later.
If not, he can close up and he’s in charge while I’m gone.
Greyson might be a Prospect, but he’s been with the club for a while now and I trust him at the strip club.
He’s never let me down when I’ve left him in charge previously and I don’t see it happening tonight.
For now, I want to stay with Keaton and Bridger as long as possible.