Chapter 6
ROMY
It seemed I never really knew what I wanted.
It wasn't just a partner. It was a relationship with someone who would be there when I needed them. Not only when they needed me.
Sure, I wanted stability. But I needed more than that. Something that would send a rush of excitement through my veins. The feeling of gratitude in the small things Jeremy could never see.
Someone who didn't need to fit other people's expectations for me. It was what I needed that mattered. And it turned out that could come in a completely different package than my original hopes and dreams.
Rush showed up when I didn't want him and stayed until I did.
He didn't throw in the towel when I gave him every wrong signal. When I locked the car door. When I screwed up my face at the sound of his bike.
Did I mention I loved Harleys now?
Because I did.
I wanted someone who did what they said they would. Someone who solved problems instead of creating them.
I wanted to feel part of a family other than my mom and dad.
And I found that in the Southside Skulls MC.
My second home.
They didn't just fix my car. They made it better than new.
They didn't charge me because, in their eyes, that was just what family did.
Nothing about Rush or the club was what I would have imagined.
I guess I’d been a little judgmental before I met him. Before I met them.
I’d changed.
I really hoped others would too.
Because I had something to ask Rush that had been weighing on me for weeks.
He came into the bedroom and I did what I was good at.
I blurted it out before I could overthink it.
"I have a suit," he said.
Well, I didn't expect that.
"And why would you have a suit?"
"Sometimes I need it for work."
"I can't imagine. What would a nomad biker need a suit for?"
"My other job."
Every day I learned something new about him. He wasn't big on talking about himself. Always more interested in me. But every peel of the onion revealed another layer to this man, who could have stepped straight out of a mystery novel.
"And that is?"
"I serve people."
"Serve them? Like legal documents?"
"Yeah. The sort of stuff you write up at your job. We're more connected than you think."
"Yet our firm has never dealt with you."
"They don't deal directly with me. I'm just the guy who delivers the paperwork. Sometimes people get crazy and they need someone who can handle himself."
"Oh yeah. You can definitely do that."
We both laughed at the implication.
"You don't need a suit," I said. "It's casual."
"So jeans and a club vest?"
I didn't answer because I wasn't quite sure whether he was joking or serious.
He grinned.
"Haha. I wasn't going to wear the vest. But it was worth it for your expression."
I slapped him on the shoulder and he pulled me into a hug.
"I'm looking forward to it," he said.
More than me, I thought.
We took the car. He looked good in a long-sleeved tee and light jeans. I wore jeans and a tee too.
The perfect suburban couple.
My heart was racing the whole way there. I was glad he was driving because I wasn't sure I could concentrate.
"We've got this," he said when we pulled up outside the house.
"You might. I'm not so sure."
The front door was open and I walked right in with Rush two steps behind. He'd left his boots at the door. When I glanced down at his feet, one last breath before the plunge, I saw he was wearing pink socks.
I giggled. "You're crazy."
"I thought you might need a distraction from inside your head."
He really did know me well.
"Well, helloooo," my mom said, her voice dropping an octave as she took him in. He really did look like a snack today.
He gave her a hug and I was fairly sure she held on a little too long. He didn't seem to mind.
Dad was next, with a welcoming smile on his face. But as Rush extended his hand, the shirt rode up his arm, exposing the edge of his ink and the smile vanished.
The long sleeves. That's why he'd worn them.
"Pleased to meet you, sir," Rush said.
"Yes, yes. You too," Dad said. And in the next breath: "So what do you do for a job?"
"I serve legal documents for Romy's firm and others in the city."
And just like that, everything I'd worried about was fine.
The big bad biker had saved the day once again.