“Stop feeling guilty,” she said. “It’s not necessary. I’m okay, Mia.” She squeezed my hand to take the sting out of her reprimand.
I heard the slam of the back door and then voices. The kitchen was suddenly overrun by Darcy’s two children and Cheese’s brother, Silas. He was a skinny kid with skinned knees, but his smile was big and goofy. His ears stuck out just a bit, but I knew in a few years, after braces and a growth spurt, he’d be a good-looking teenager. With a biker as an older brother, I was sure he’d learn how to swagger and break a few hearts.
“Mom, I’m hungry!” Cam said.
“Me too!” Lily yelled. “Hi, Mia!”
I smiled at the adorable girl. “Hey, Lil.”
The kitchen was suddenly filled with people—church had ended and the bikers were now back, grabbing plates of food and sitting at any available spot.
Colt came up behind me, reached over my shoulder and took a half-eaten piece of bacon off my plate, and popped it into his mouth.
“Hey,” I said. “I was going to eat that.”
He grinned after he swallowed. “No you weren’t.”
“Yeah, I wasn’t,” I admitted with a laugh.
Joni climbed off her stool and waved Colt to it. “Those pain killers are throwing me for a loop. I think I’ll go lie down.”
Colt took her seat but not before whispering something in her ear. She nodded and then headed upstairs.
“You ready to go?” he asked me.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Zip set his plate of food on the coffee table and stand up. He made his way upstairs, so discreetly that even Colt didn’t notice what was going on beneath his nose.
“Mia?” Colt pressed.
“Sorry. Yeah, I’m ready.” I looked at him in confusion. “Where are we going?”
“Home so we can grab your clothes and whatever else you need. We’re staying in the clubhouse for the next few days.”
My gaze narrowed. “Next few days, huh? So that’s Colt-speak for ‘until the threat has passed’.”
He smirked. “You already speak my language. You must be some kind of savant.”
I rolled my eyes and pressed my hand to his chest, forgetting about his tattoo. He winced and I immediately pulled away. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine.”
“Wait a minute, you two,” Darcy said. “Hush, everyone!” The room quieted and all eyes looked to Gray’s wife. “We’ve got a situation here that no one has addressed.”
I shrank back into the wall of Colt’s chest, afraid that Darcy was going to call out Joni’s injury and what had had happened last night. She surprised me when she announced, “Mia and Colt got tattoos. We need to celebrate that!”
There was a resounding cheer that was deafening and made my eardrums vibrate.
“Tonight we rage!” Boxer yelled.
I looked at Colt and whispered, “Is this a good idea?”
“Is what a good idea?” Colt looked down at me, the smile lines at his eyes crinkling. “Living life?”
“But what about all the other stuff?”
“It’ll still be there tomorrow,” he said. He wrapped his hand around my waist and pulled me to him. “You never know how long you’ve got, Mia.” His eyes darkened and his mouth clamped shut even though he looked like he wanted to say more.
He’d lost his parents young. I’d lost my family too. By all accounts, Colt and I finding each other, finding some measure of happiness in a chaotic world, was a miracle.
“Okay,” I said with a slight smile. “Let’s celebrate. One condition, though.”
“Name it.”
“I want Shelly and Mark to come.”
“Mia…”
“She was there for me, Colt. When Grammie died. She was there for me when no one else in the whole world was. She has to be here to celebrate this new life with me. Celebrate us. I know it will be weird, and she has thoughts about you and the entire MC thing. She won’t get to know you in a night, but it’s a start. Please?”
Finally, he nodded. “Boxer is right, though. Tonight we rage. You think she can handle that?”
I grinned. “Guess we’re going to find out.”
We headed home, leaving the party planning in Darcy and Rachel’s capable hands. While Colt showered, I packed a bag full of clothes. I went into the bathroom to gather some of my toiletries, but lost all sense of concentration when Colt stepped out of the shower, naked and wet.
Utterly gorgeous.
He reached for a towel and quickly ran it across his head and then swaddled it around his body. He grabbed his toothbrush and slathered toothpaste across the bristles.
“What did you do with Richie’s corpse?” I asked.
Colt looked at me. “Do you really think I’m going to answer that?”
I sighed. “You’re not going to tell me.”
“Do you even really want to know?”
“I guess not.”
“As far as anyone is concerned, Richie is still missing. I’ll leave it at that. Okay?”
“Okay.” I blew out a breath of air. “Does it bother you when I ask questions?”
He rinsed out his mouth. “No. Does it bother you that I handle shit and might not always be able to tell you what goes down?”
“I thought it might. I don’t know. Maybe it will at some point in the future. But not now.”
“Speaking of future,” he began.
“We were speaking of the future?”
He shot me a look. “We are now.”
“Okay, I’m listening.” I followed him out of the bathroom, carting my toiletries and setting them down on the bed.
Colt flung off his towel and strode nude to his dresser. “Do you want kids?”
“What?” I asked, startled. “Kids?”
“Yeah. You know. Children.”
“Yes, I’m aware of what a child is, Colt,” I snipped.
“Do you want one? Or more than one?” He pulled on his boxers but kept his gaze trained on me.
“I don’t know if I want them,” I admitted.
He stared at me for a long moment and then asked, “Did you want kids before you got tied up with me and the Blue Angels?”
I swallowed but didn’t answer.
“If you want kids, we’ll have kids. If you don’t want them…then we can fuck on the kitchen floor whenever we want and not have to worry about scarring a kid for life.”
A bubble of laughter escaped my lips. “That’s your vision? We’re on the kitchen floor and our kid comes in?”
“Well,” he grinned wickedly, “the real vision is you on top of me while I’m on the kitchen floor and you’re screaming my name. Never really factored a kid walking in on that, though knowing us, it would be bound to happen.”
The carefree way he described the situation made me smile.
“Tell you what,” I said. “Let’s get through all this crap with the Iron Horsemen and we can reevaluate the kid thing.”
“So you’re not saying no,” he said. “Just so we’re clear.”
“Not no,” I agreed. I cocked my head to the side. “But I think you want kids. Don’t you? You’re just trying to be accommodating?”