I grabbed my phone and slipped it into my pocket before taking his hand and following out of the bedroom. “How often do you stay here?” I asked.
“On average, about once a week.”
“Where’s your home?”
“I have a condo on Naito.” He squeezed my hand. “I’ll show you next week.”
I grinned. “Sounds good.”
We walked down the hallway, past the gross bathroom again, but before we reached the common room, Austin pulled us to a stop. “You good?”
“Glue, right?”
He smiled, leaning down to kiss me quickly. “Yeah.”
“Then I’m good.”
The rest of the night flashed by so quickly, I wasn’t entirely sure it had happened. I met everyone there, tried to remember everyone’s names, but only managed a few. It helped that most of them had their names on their cuts. I got a lot less weird looks being in the presence of Austin, and I started to relax as the night went on. Could have been the wine as well, which was all I was drinking. I’d brought two bottles of my favorite red, and I was pretty sure I was the only one drinking it, as I never saw anyone else with anything other than beer in their hands.
I was leaning heavily against Austin, half listening to him talk to a couple of his brothers, my fourth glass of wine partially gone, when a little hand patted my thigh. I glanced down to see a little girl about four, her hair in a haphazard ponytail, her jeans on backwards, and her tiny little leather vest covering a pink shirt with roses on it. “Hi, wady.”
I hunkered down beside her. “Well, hi. What’s your name?”
“Lily.”
“Hi, Lily. I’m Dani.”
“My pants don’t fit. Can you hewp me, pwease?”
I smiled. “They’re just on backwards, honey. Where’s your mom?”
“I don’t have a mommy. My daddy’s in his room.”
I glanced up at Austin and raised an eyebrow. He shook his head and gave me an “I’ll explain later” look. I took Lily’s hand and rose to my feet. “How about we find somewhere a little more private to fix your jeans, hmm?” She gripped my hand and I handed Austin my wine as I narrowed my eyes at him. “Glue.”
He smiled and gave me a chin lift in response.
I walked Lily to a little alcove behind the pool table where computers were set up along the window, and helped her with her tiny little motorcycle boots (seriously adorable) then I removed her jeans and helped her put them on the right way. “How did they get off you, baby?”
“I was going potty and I took them off,” she said, as though it was obvious.
“Good job,” I said. “Did you go potty by yourself?”
She nodded her head. “I can go like a big girl.”
“I bet you can. But if you need to go potty again, how about you come find me if you can’t find your daddy, okay?” I smiled. “That way we can make sure your jeans fit right.”
I led her back out in the common area, just in time to see Tiff walking into the room, her body wrapped around a really good-looking man who looked to be in his early thirties. He was tall and lean, had dark blond hair, deep green eyes, and a handlebar moustache that covered full lips. I had never been one to find the meth dealer look appealing, but this biker rocked it.
“Daddy!” Lily squealed, and pulled away from me to make a run for him.
Tiff looked somewhat put out as the man caught his daughter, scooping her up in his arms and kissing her, but she schooled her features and made a good show of looking interested in the little girl.
“Where have you been, little girl?”
“The pwetty wady helped me,” Lily squeaked, pointing at me.
The man followed her hand and raised an eyebrow at me. “Did she?”
