He nodded.
“I got it.” Ryatt stood next to my dad by the coffeepot. He grabbed two mugs and filled them. Then he handed one to me and one to Cruz, before filling a third cup for himself.
“We need a fresh pot,” my mom said to Ryatt and pointed to the filters and coffee grounds.
I smiled and pulled a chair out. Cruz looked at me. Insecurity pulled at his mouth. I indicated the chair next to me. It would put Ryatt at the end of the table next to my dad.
Cece snatched my mom’s usual spot so she could be next to Cruz. As soon as she sat down, she started chattering. “I got a ribbon for a hundred on my math.” Cece piled strawberries on her plate.
“You’re going to fill up on more than those.” My mom plopped a pancake on her plate then set the platter on the table.
My dad ambled over and took his seat.
“Remember when you showed me the shortcut for the fractions and decimals with the power of ten,” she continued without a pause in her story. “I showed my teacher. She said I had to write out the long division, but I got the ribbon anyway because my answers were right.”
“I reserved some private track time with Jay. You still planning to ride the Ducati?” my dad asked Ryatt.
Ryatt’s gaze shifted from my dad to Cruz. “Absolutely.” He filled his plate with pancakes and eggs. “Although, I never thought I’d be in the market for a Harley.”
“You are?” My dad spread butter on his pancake, shifting his gaze between Ryatt and Cruz. “You two riding together?”
“Looks like it.” Ryatt smiled.
“How’s that working out?” he asked me. “Are you taking turns on the back of their bikes?”
“Lane, she’s fine. She’ll ride her own bike.” My mom smiled at Cruz.
“Oh, no.” Strawberry jam dripped down the front of Cruz’s cut. Cece pulled up the leather and dragged her tongue over the jam, licking it off.
I slapped a hand over my mouth to hold in my laugh.
She lifted her remorseful gaze to Cruz. “I’m sorry.” Pink tinted the white of his name patch.
“You’re good. I might get hungry on my way home.”
She giggled.
My mom scooted her chair back. “It’ll stain. Let me try to get it out.”
Cece shrugged out of the cut, and my mom disappeared down the hall to the laundry room.
“I didn’t want you wearing it anyway,” my dad gruffed.
I hated this. I knew he worried about my relationship with Cruz. No dad wanted to see his daughter hurting. But he didn’t know the same Cruz I did. The one who never turned his back on a friend, the one who would ride or die for his Heller brothers, the one I’d fallen in love with because he tapped into the part of me that needed his kind of love. A wildness and recklessness that breathed life into me.
Whereas Ryatt had become the calm place in the storm that I needed.
“You know how I feel about you running with Hellers.” My dad didn’t lift his head as he spoke to me, just took another bite of eggs.
It wasn’t just the Hellers he didn’t like me running with. He’d latched onto Ryatt as a potential boyfriend for me, but I didn’t need him to alienate Cruz even more.
“You know she’ll be safe,” Ryatt said. “There’s a reason I’m picking up a Harley. I want the patch.” He smirked at Cece. “But you’re not wearing my cut while you eat.”
She snickered and popped another strawberry into her mouth.
“You sure that’s a good idea?” My dad grimaced. “How is your PO going to feel about you prospecting for a motorcycle gang?”
“It’s a club,” Cruz mumbled, and Ryatt said aloud at the same time.
