Wild
Hearing her say she’s all-in is the best news I’ve heard in my whole life. “I’m glad to hear that, because I’ve been scared to give you all the parts of myself, afraid you wouldn’t want them.”
“No,” she rests her head against my chest, “I want them, but I’m just unsure if I deserve them. I’ve been such a pain in the ass the past few months.”
“You’re young, Shortcake, trying to find yourself in a situation that not everyone understands. You’re not expected to have all the answers right now, and I think you figured you would. None of us have all the answers. We’re just doing the best we can while we get by.”
“Are you sure you’re not just saying that? Because I feel like I’ve done some pretty shitty things to Tate, not been there when I should have, and not checking in with her when she probably needed me.”
“She’s done the same to you,” I remind her. “You both got involved with the men in your lives and kind of let your friendship fall to the wayside. You’ve got to decide if it’s worth fighting for and she’s got to decide the same thing. When you throw girlfriends and boyfriends into the mix it always gets messy.”
She gives me a saucy look. “Is that what you are?”
“What do you mean?”
Tightening her arms around my neck, she leans in so that our foreheads touch. “Are you my boyfriend?”
It’s stupid really, the way that question takes hold of a place in my gut I hadn’t known was empty. It fills that emptiness and I know I have this woman to thank for it.
“We’ve never made it official, huh?”
Her head ducks and when it comes back up, her light eyes meeting mine, she shakes it, biting her bottom lip. “I didn’t want to pressure you, make you offer something you couldn’t give, but I kinda want to know now. Am I the person you’re seeing? The one you’re thinking about?”
I tilt her chip up with my finger, forcing her to look me straight on. “I’m sorry you even have to ask me this. I guess I should have made it clear to you that there’s no one else for me. You’re the only thing I think about all the time, the only person I’m seeing, and the greatest sense of peace I’ve ever had.”
There are fucking butterflies in my stomach as I debate whether I want to be as completely honest with her as I’m tempted to be. “No one has ever cared for me the way you do, and I’ve never cared for anyone the way I do you. You’re special to me, Addie. You’ve got a place in my heart that’ll be empty if you go.”
“You’re special to me too,” she whispers.
And then I can’t wait anymore, I take her lips with mine, kissing her in an act of almost aggression, letting her know how much she means to me. That she even had to question it is enough to make me physically turn her around make her straddle my lap, and stick my hands up the back of her shirt.
“Please know I never wanted you to doubt how I feel about you. You’re someone I’m learning I don’t want to live without, Shortcake.”
“Same here.” She tugs at my shirt, clearing it over my head.
Her squeal as I pick her up is the best sound I’ve ever heard.
Twenty-Three
Addie
* * *
May
* * *
Since the day I talked to Wild about how much I miss Tate, it’s been eating at me. Yeah maybe she hasn’t made the effort to talk to me, but I haven’t made the effort either. Sick of wondering what’s going on with her, I save the file I’m working on at CRISIS and grab my phone. A quick text message will tell me all I need to know.
* * *
A: Hey, I know we haven’t talked in a while, but I’d really like to catch up if you have time. Maybe we could go for some pie at Harper’s?
* * *
Putting my phone to the side, I don’t expect her to answer quickly. The fact of the matter is, we aren’t the most important people in each other’s lives anymore, and that’s okay. We’ve grown up, and with the growing up comes other priorities. I’m finally beginning not only to realize it, but be okay with it.
* * *
T: I’d love that! I’m only working half a day because your brother is picking up an extra shift. Meet for lunch?
* * *
Thank God Caelin’s back to work with Cash; if he stayed here any longer, I might have had to kill him.
* * *
A: Yes! See you there!
* * *
With a smile on my face, I get up to tell Mom I’ll be taking a longer lunch than normal.
Parking my SUV, I see Tate’s, and I can’t lie - I’m excited. I feel like I haven’t seen her in ages. When I walk in, she runs over from where she’s talking with Harper, throwing her arms around me. We’re talking over one another when Harper whistles loudly.
* * *
“So loud,” she giggles. “I’ll make you two some lunch and get you some pie. Have a seat and catch up.”
* * *
“How are things going?” she asks as we grab our drinks and go to one of the empty tables in the lobby.
* * *
“Good.” I nod, unsure of how much to tell her about Wild.
* * *
“How is he? I’ve seen him around the clubhouse and even talked to him a few times. He’s hot.”
* * *
I can’t help the squeal that comes from out of my mouth. “I know! I never meant for it happen, but it did.” I open and close my lips.
* * *
“How did it happen?” Tate asks, sitting forward in her seat.
* * *
“Mayhem. I shouldn’t have gone, but I did, and he saved me when he didn’t have to. I was lonely,” I admit slowly. “I was lonely because it seemed like you wanted to be with Remy more than me. I know that’s stupid…”
* * *
Harper picks that moment to drop our food off.
* * *
“It’s not stupid,” Tate picks up where we stopped. “I’ve missed you a lot, but I realized that I dropped you like a hot potato once Remy and I really started getting to know one another. I didn’t know how to reintroduce myself back into your life,” she shrugs. “I wanna be a better friend.”
* * *
“I wanna be a better friend to you too.” I reach over, hugging her tightly.
* * *
“There are still going to be times when we need each other more than we need the men in our lives, but there will also be times when we just need them. We have to respect the relationship we have with each other, but with them too.”
* * *
“I agree.” I take a bite of the sandwich Harper gave me. “We’re gonna have to learn how to be friends again, kinda.”
* * *
“This growing up thing is hard,” Tate laughs as she takes a drink of her Coke.
* * *
“It is, let’s just go get some crayons, coloring books, and have naptime. That’s the shit I miss.”
* * *
We laugh as we dig into our pie, and this right here is exactly what the fuck I’ve missed about not being able to talk to my best friend. But today, we get a piece of our friendship back.
A few days later
* * *
“Do we have any idea why we’ve been called here?” I ask Tate as we have a seat around the table in the clubhouse. We sit next to each other just like old times. She grabs my arm in hers as we wait to be told why we’re here.
* * *
“I haven’t a clue.” Tate plays with the chipped nail polish she’s wearing. “Cash closed the shop with a quickness and then we drove out here together. He’d been summoned too. Harper just walked in a few minutes ago.” She points over to where the two of them stand over in the corner. The two of us have grown closer since Wild made the comment about us not checking in with one another.
* * *
Some of the guys had been called into an early morning meeting, and then all the ladies and anyone else who had anything to do with the club had been called in. I see D
alton’s brother and uncle sitting not too far from us, Liam’s mom, and Ashley in the back. Doc Jones sits next to B as the two of them look to compare pictures of something on their cell phones. Layne is standing next to Jagger, both with their arms crossed over their chests, making me wish I knew what the hell was going on.
* * *
Mom comes rushing in, Caelin not far behind, and has a seat beside where we are.
* * *
We’re still waiting for most of the guys to come out of where they’ve been meeting. I’m nervous a hell about whatever this is. In the years I’ve been part of this family I’ve only seen one or two meetings called like this. Beside me, Mom squirms in her seat.
* * *
“I texted Tyler to see what the hell is going on, but he hasn’t checked it yet.” She shows me the message still marked as unread. “Which means they haven’t given them their cells back yet.”
* * *
Remy and Wild sneak in the back, taking seats next to the two of us.
* * *
“Do you know why he’s called us all here today?” Tate whispers as Liam comes out with Denise and a couple of the other members at his side. He stands at the head of the table in the room. Mom gets up and goes to sit next to Dad, where there’s an empty seat.
* * *
“No idea,” he answers, looking at the two of us, his eyebrows raised as the everyone quiets down.
* * *
“Thank you everybody for coming.” Liam sends out a grin to the table and around the room.
* * *
Wild throws an arm over the back of my chair as I watch Remy do the same to Tatum. Both of them giving their full attention to the man who’s brought everyone together in this big family.
* * *
“Some of you know what this is about, some of you don’t. I can assure you I didn’t keep it a secret to hurt anyone, but I did it for myself. Up until this morning, I wasn’t positive I could go through with it, but when I woke up next to my wife,” he pulls Denise in close, “with a sense of relief, I knew it was time.”
* * *
There are murmurs around the table, and Tatum grips Remy’s hand, her worried gaze flies over to me, obviously concerned about what’s going on with her parents.
* * *
“With great honor, I’m turning over the Heaven Hill MC to my son, Drew.”
* * *
There’s a palpable feeling of shock around the table, but at the same time there’s an excitement.
* * *
“I’ll still be around, but I won’t be telling people what to do anymore.”
* * *
The whole table laughs loudly. “What?” he questions. “Well I might tell you what to do, but unless you’re my kid, you don’t have to listen to me.”
* * *
“And with Liam stepping down, I’m also stepping down,” Dad announces, grabbing Mom’s hand. “Dalton will be taking my place. I’m thrilled to see what these men who we’ve known since boys are capable of doing. And like Liam, I’ll be around. I have a vested interest in all of this, and I’ll be damned if I give my place up at the shop.”
* * *
Everyone knows he loves working on cars, bikes, and anything else that can get his hands dirty. Tate and I look at each other, complete shock on our faces. This was the last thing we ever expected to happen when we got the news.
* * *
As the announcement breaks up, I run quickly to my dad, throwing my arms around him. “Have you been thinking about this for a while?”
* * *
“A long time,” he admits. “I’m not getting any younger, I wanna spend more time with your mom.” He leans in, kissing her on the cheek. “Would like to spend more time with you and Caelin, get to know Wilder better, if you all let me.”
* * *
“I think I like the sound of that, Dad.”
* * *
“I do too,” he says as he pulls Caelin and I into a hug.
* * *
Things aren’t perfect, they never are, but right now they’re damn near close.
Twenty-Four
Wild
Mother’s Day
“Dad.” Addie rolls her eyes as she grins over at me. “You told me you had this when I asked, and I asked you more than once. You swore you knew how to do this. Do you want to make blueberry pancakes, or do you want to make pancakes with blueberry topping? There is a difference and I need to know what your plan is.”
This has got to be one of the funniest conversations I’ve ever heard. The great Tyler Blackfoot asking his daughter how to make pancakes on Mother’s Day. Real talk though, this is the first Mother’s Day I’ve celebrated in a very long time. I wasn’t sure what do when I was given the invitation to spend it with the Blackfoot family, but I can honestly say, it’s going to be nice to be a part of something like this.
“Do you want me to come over? I’m at Wild’s. I can be there in a few minutes. This needs to be good for Mom, you know she does shit for us all year, and puts up with Caelin. She deserves to have a great breakfast.”
I groan loudly. Did she have to tell him she spent the night here last night? Even if he’s not my VP anymore, he can still shoot me mean as hell looks and try to make me accidentally touch that skull mug of his, which I’ve been able to avoid – thank you very much. “Don’t tell him that,” I whisper-shout to her. That’s the very last thing I want Tyler to know.
“Okay, let me get dressed and we’ll be on our way.”
Again with the too much information. When she disconnects the call, I grab her around the waist, pulling her down to me. “Don’t give your dad all that ammunition. He doesn’t need to know you stay here all the time. I’m worried one day he’s gonna let something fall on me at the garage, and then he’ll blame his mug. Nobody will even realize he’s tried to kill me for sleeping with his daughter.”
She giggles, a carefree noise I’ve been hearing more from her lately. It does my heart good to know that she’s making positive changes in her life that are allowing her to enjoy it more. “I’m happy, Wilder. As long as I’m happy, he’s happy. He just doesn’t like the reminder that I’m sleeping with you. Which he’s going to have to get used to, since Tate’s moving in with Remy.”
For a while those had been dreaded words for me; I’d worried how Addie would handle them, but luckily it doesn’t seem to be that big of a deal.
“Tate told me today that Remy’s asked her to stay at his dorm with him all the time, so I’m not sure what I’m going to do.” Addie bites her nail as her dark eyes look at me. “I know I can’t afford the apartment by myself, so I’d either have to look for a roommate or downgrade.”
“Move in with me, here.” The words are out of my mouth before I can stop them. I’ve wanted her with me night and day for a while now, probably even before I got stabbed. She makes me happy, gives me the stability I crave, and I think I give her that little bit of defiance she craves. “There’s nothing that would make me happier than to wake up with you every day and go to sleep next to you every night.”
“Okay.” Her smile is wide and full of an emotion I’m not sure either one of us want to acknowledge yet. “I’d love to.”
“I thought you told him already.”
“Oh no,” she laughs. “I was waiting until we could both be together for that.”
“Okay, then we’ll tell him today.”
She grabs my hand in hers, entwining our fingers. “Okay, today it is.”
Leaning in, I steal a kiss from those lips of hers I’ve come to crave so much, but before we can get carried away, she puts on the brakes. “C’mon, he needs help with breakfast, and if we take forever to get there, he’s gonna know what we were doing.”
She doesn’t have to say anything else as I hop out of bed faster than I have in years.
Addie
This has been the best Mother’s Day we’ve had in a long time, and I’m willing to admit that partially has to do with me. For mo
re years than I knew, I spent this day wondering about my real mother, feeling sorry for myself about being second-best. I don’t feel that way this year. Having the conversation with my parents as well as clearing the air with Tate has done amazing things for my self-esteem.
“Dad,” I giggle as he splatters the batter out on the butcher-block counter top we have in the kitchen. “You have to do it slower than that, you’re making such a mess.”
“I have big hands,” he argues.
Wild: Heaven Hill Generations #2 Page 13
