She raised her brows at the mention of her name, expecting him to blame her for the inconvenience of commuting to work together. Romeo's gaze landed on her, and he nodded in approval at her helping out. Warmth filled her, and suddenly, her happiness over being back with the Muel family returned.
While the brothers teased her and Romeo's gruffness came out more often than his laughter when she was around, she enjoyed how they quickly forgot that she was an outsider and treated her as part of the family.
Chapter Nineteen
A loud whistle pierced Timber's ears. She ducked her head while trying to see where the noise came from.
"Timber!"
She spotted Willow hurrying toward her, carrying a young child. "Romeo sent me with a message. He wants you to come and wait for him in the clubhouse."
Timber slung her purse over her shoulder. "I can wait out here for him."
Willow shifted the boy to her other hip. "Don't be silly. You're welcome to come inside when a member invites you."
"Okay." She walked toward the clubhouse. "I didn't know you had a son. He's a cutie."
"Four of them." Willow grinned. "I keep them away from the diner and the truckers. It's too busy and they love to go in all different directions." She hitched the boy up higher on her hip. "The older two are playing at the clubhouse. This is the second to the youngest. The baby is only three months old and asleep inside, being spoiled by Vega while I hang out with Onyx—who is responsible for that ear-piercing whistle you just heard. I can't believe our kids sleep through that, but I think all the motorcycles could start simultaneously, and none of them would even budge with the noise."
"Oh, wow. I can't even imagine." She viewed Willow in a new light.
If she wasn't mistaken, Willow wasn't that much older than her. To already have that many kids to take care of, and run the diner, seemed like an impossible task.
She glanced over at Onyx, surprised he hadn't ghosted Willow when she had her first kid. That's what Timber's father had done. She couldn't imagine bikers being loyal to a family when being a member kept them away from their loved ones.
Willow walked into the clubhouse with her and motioned toward the right. "I'm going to go gather all my kids and walk them home. Romeo's in the kitchen. Ask anyone, and they can help you find him if he's left that room."
"Thanks again." She waved to the baby and followed the direction Willow pointed.
Romeo sat on the kitchen counter talking to Bull and a biker she hadn't met before. He spotted her in the doorway and waved her inside. She clasped her hands and joined him, trying to stay out of their conversation.
He pulled her in, keeping his hand on her shoulder. "That's Charlie, and you know Bull."
She nodded and smiled at Charlie, who acknowledged her without hesitating on telling Bull about the putter he heard in the top-end—she wasn't sure what that meant but had a feeling it had to do with his motorcycle.
Romeo put his head down closer to her. "Do you want to stick around for a while?"
"Here?" She glanced at the others. "I'm a little out of place."
Even Willow had mentioned leaving. She wasn't sure Vega was in the other room still.
It made her nervous about being inside because she'd heard about the women who hang around the bikers. Even the other waitresses would spend their free time over here. It wasn't a secret why they came here on their nights off.
Most of all, she wanted to stay away from the clubhouse in case she ran into her dad. Since going back to Romeo's house, she hadn't seen him. Hopefully, his absence meant he hit the road again.
"No one will bother you if you're with me." He slid off the counter and guided her out of the kitchen. "Want a beer?" He looked at her. "How old are you? Nineteen?"
She'd be twenty in another month. "I'm fine. I had a pop on my last break."
There were at last fifty members loitering in the room. There was a catch-all area where they could sit at tables, lounge on couches, and play pool. She half-turned, taking in the double staircase—one on each side of the room. From the main floor, she could make out a row of doors stretching across the width of the building.
She'd missed looking around the last time Romeo had brought her inside the clubhouse with the excuse to see her dad and she fled.
Growing up, she had no idea Killere Motorcycle Club was that big. She always imagined a dozen bikers going from town to town, living out of dive bars filled with smoke and spilled beer.
It made her angry that while her dad was here, having a good time with his homies, she was stuck in a bare apartment by herself and wondering where her mom had gone. Maybe if her mom would've known her dad had a whole clubhouse and hundreds of members to support him, she would've stuck around and tried harder.
Romeo rubbed the back of her neck. Her skin prickled.
Turning toward him, she said, "You know what? I will have a pop. Where do I find one? I'll bring you back a beer, too."
"Kitchen."
"Gotcha." She walked away from him, needing the break.
Romeo had no claim on her. The others would start to think of her as belonging to him if she let him keep touching her. She already lived with him, and when he was home, he crashed in the same bed. But that was behind closed doors. No one needed to know what went on between them.
In the kitchen, she turned and almost collided with Vega and her daughter Freedom. "Oh, gosh, sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going."
"You're distracted at a Killere party. I get it. Finally getting initiated, huh?" Vega covered her daughter's ears and mouthed, "Have fun."
She laughed, glancing at Vega's daughter. "Are you staying?"
"Oh, no. No, no, no. I'm going to Willow's house before things get wild here. I promised Freedom she could go play with the boys." Vega ushered her daughter away.
Returning to the main room, Timber stopped and gawked. More people had arrived while she fetched the drinks. She cocked her head. The music was louder, too.
She searched the crowd for Romeo and found him leaning against the railing of the stairs.
She headed in his direction when Creamer stepped into her path, blocking her way. The older man pointed at the bottle in her hand. She held it out to him, but he wrinkled his nose once he read the label and shook his head. He moved on slowly, and she skirted the crowd, arriving at Romeo's side.
Romeo talked with Rager but reached out and clamped his hand on the back of her neck. A burst of excitement warmed her insides at the possessive way he brought her to his side.
She passed him the bottle, surprised when he opened his and reached toward her can, popping the top for her before returning his hand to her neck and cupping her spine.
He kept her close while her mind jumped to conclusions about how he was acting toward her. Deep down, she understood he wanted to prove a point to the others. It was his way of protecting her from the men. But he had no right to stop anyone from talking to her.
She wasn't sure what he believed would happen if he left her alone with them, but she could take care of herself.
Needing to prove he couldn't micromanage her life, she slipped away from him. She headed toward the opposite corner with no plan but to show him she would be fine on her own.