“She driving you crazy already, man?”
He shakes his head. “I don’t know who that woman is in there but it’s not my wife. I’ll be glad when this pregnancy is over.”
“True, but then you’ll have two of them in your house.”
His eyes widen. “Shit. Why didn’t I think of that until now?”
“No clue,” Lucas answers, laughing. “This is Quinn, by the way. Quinn, this is Storm.”
I smile. “Hi, it’s nice to meet you.”
“You, too, Darlin’. Y’all better get in there. Ali is excited to meet you.”
“What are you gonna do? Stay out here?” Lucas asks, quirking a brow and Storm blows out a breath.
“I’m seriously considering taking up smoking.”
Lucas laughs as we turn back toward the door. “I’m gonna tell Ali that.”
“Don’t you fucking dare.”
He walks out to the parking lot as we reach the door and I suck in a breath, my belly doing a little flip, as Lucas opens the door and ushers me inside. The room is fairly open with a bar on one side and pool tables and couches on the other side with a few tables scattered throughout the space in between. One table near the entrance is piled high with gifts and I set ours down on top, thankful that I don’t knock the rest over in the process.
“Is this a big party?” I ask, eyeing the stack of presents and Lucas chuckles as he shakes his head.
“No, but it’s the first baby in the club in a long time and the guys went a little crazy.”
I bury my head in his shoulder to hide my smile. “That’s fucking adorable.”
“Just don’t tell anyone I told you,” he whispers and I peek up at him as I nod.
“Your secret is safe with me.”
“Lucas,” someone yells and a little redhead bounces over to us with another large man following behind her. “And you must be Quinn. We’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Oh?” I ask. “All good things I hope.”
She grins and I peek over at Lucas as he rolls his eyes.
“Quinn, this is Tate and Kodiak.”
“And who is this little cutie?” Tate asks, stepping forward and tickling Brooklyn’s belly. Brooklyn giggles but it’s a little reserved.
“This is Brooklyn,” Lucas answers and she lays her head down on his shoulder, plopping her thumb in her mouth.
“Oh my god,” Tate gushes. “If that’s not the cutest goddamn thing I’ve ever seen…”
“Quinn!” another voice yells above the noise of the crowd and I scan the room with wide eyes. A bubbly blonde with a giant belly wiggles through the crowd. “You are Quinn, right?”
I laugh and nod. “I am.”
“Oh, thank god. I’m Ali, it’s so nice to meet you.” She pulls me in for a hug and I glance back at Lucas, who grins.
“It’s nice to meet you, too.”
She releases me and turns to Lucas. Brooklyn peeks up at her and she smiles. “Hello, cutie. What’s your name?”
“This is Brooklyn,” Lucas answers and Ali makes a face at her and just like that, Brooklyn’s shyness disappears as she copies the look. Everyone laughs and Ali taps her nose.
“Oh, I think you’re going to fit in around here just fine, little girl.” Ali turns to me again before looking around the room and frowning. “Hey, any of you seen my husband?”
“We passed him outside,” Lucas answers and her scowl deepens.
“Well, what the hell was he doing out there?”
Lucas and I share a glance. “Uh, he was just getting a little air.”
“Oh.” She looks upset for a second before a smile slowly stretches across her face like every cartoon villain revealing their master plan that I’ve ever seen. “You want to know a secret?”
“Absolutely.”
She giggles, shaking her head. “I’ve been doing everything I can to drive that man insane so he’ll finally let me stay home when he’s working late.”
“Oh, what the fuck?” Lucas whispers before laughing.
“Fucking diabolical,” Tate mutters with a grin on her face and Kodiak shakes his head.
My gaze bounces between all three of them before I turn back to Ali. “Wait, why won’t he let you go home?”
“Ever since I got pregnant, he doesn’t like me to be home alone so when he’s working late with the club, he makes me sleep here and as you are well aware, pregnancy makes you very uncomfortable and the double bed he’s got up in his room doesn’t help anything. Not to mention that it’s hard to get any work done with all these guys hanging around all the time.”
“I’m gonna tell him,” Lucas cuts in with a grin and she narrows her eyes into a glare as she points her finger at him.
“No, you’re fucking not. I just want my bed, Smith. My big, comfy, king-size bed. Is that really too much to ask for?”
“Babe,” I murmur, nudging him. “The correct answer here is no. Just for future reference.”
“I don’t know. He’s just trying to keep her safe,” Kodiak adds. Tate peeks over her shoulder with a look that could kill.
“She is literally growing a person,” she objects and I nod.
“And in… wait, how far are along are you?”
“Thirty-three weeks.”
I nod. “Right. And in six-ish weeks, she’s going to rip her body apart to give birth to that little person so if she wants her bed, she gets her bed.”
“Here, here,” Tate calls and Ali raises one in the air as the other cradles her belly.
“Preach, sisters.”
Kodiak shares a look with Lucas. “We’re getting outnumbered here, brother.”
The three girls laugh as Storm walks back into the clubhouse. He scans the room and as soon as he spots his wife, he makes a beeline for her.
“Where you been, babe?” Ali asks as he pulls her into his side and he shakes his head.
“Just outside for a minute.”
“Mm-hmm,” she hums, meeting my gaze as I try to bite back my smile.
“Kitten…” Storm growls and she laughs, holding her hands up in the air.
“What? I didn’t say anything.”
“Ali, do you want to get the food started?” someone asks, approaching the group and Ali nods.
“Yeah, we can do that. Oh, by the way, Carly, this is Quinn. Quinn, this is my best friend, Carly.”
I hold my hand up and wave. “Hi.”
“Hey,” she answers, smiling at me before she turns to look at Lucas. “Wow, Smith. The dad thing works for you.”
He glances down at Brooklyn with the sweetest smile on his face. “Thanks.”
“I’m gonna go throw stuff on the grill. You need to sit down,” Storm grumbles and Ali rolls her eyes.
“Yes, boss man. Right away, boss man.”
“Kitten, I will spank your ass if you don’t listen and rest your feet.”
“I’m heading out, too,” Kodiak says, kissing Tate on the head before he heads out with Storm. Lucas passes Brooklyn to me and presses a quick kiss against my lips as the rest of the guys file outside to cook.