“But now that you live here, that they’re your Alphas, it’s different. I get it. What can I do to keep your mind off it?”
“Let’s go to the craft store and the grocery store so I can make the station muffins for tomorrow,” she says, wiping her face.
I grab the keys to her new BMW and hand them to her.
“I’ve hardly gotten to even enjoy her,” she says, glancing down at the key fob.
“Well, let’s take her for a spin then.”
Her smile is beaming as she slips on her shoes, and we head out for the day. She drives like a fucking lunatic all the way to the store, and I know the moment Sterling sees the way she drives, he’s going to ban her from being behind the wheel.
“It’s amazing,” she says, her hair in a frenzy around her face from the wind.
“I’m glad you like it. Now, what kind of supplies are we getting?”
“I’m going to have to start over with my stained-glass supplies. There’s no way I’m going to my mom’s house and asking for it all back,” she says, holding my hand as we walk into the store.
“Whatever you need,” I tell her and I regret the words as she puts a soldering iron in the cart.
The firefighters are going to lose their fucking minds over the fire hazard. Regardless, we buy everything she needs for her stained glass along with some other projects.
“So, what do you usually do when they’re at work?” Hailey asks.
I shrug. “Do things around the house, go to the casino, work out.”
Hailey hums. “A workout sounds nice. The pole kept me in amazing shape, and I’d like to maintain that.”
“That it did,” I say, as my hand shifts down to her ass for a squeeze. She doesn’t bat me away, just gives me a saucy look over her shoulder. “Maybe a pole at the house wouldn’t be such a bad idea.”
“I could absolutely teach you some moves,” she says with a laugh.
“I think I’ll stick to being a very horny patron of watching you on the pole.”
My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I smile as I read the text.
“What has you smiling?” she says, stretching her neck to look over my arm.
“How do you feel about meeting my mom and stepdad tomorrow?” I ask.
Her cheeks immediately heat and she stumbles over her words. “Oh, your…um…your mom?”
“The one and only,” I reply and I grab her hand and give it a squeeze. “They’ll love you, I promise. Mine and Sterling’s families will welcome you with open arms.”
“Nate’s?” she questions.
“Estranged like yours,” I say.
She nods, but her brows furrow. “I guess I never really thought about it in those terms, but I suppose it fits. I want nothing to do with her or her pack. It’s just weird to not have a family to take your partners to go meet.”
I grab her wrist, tugging her toward me. “We’re your family now, and by extension mine and Sterling’s family.”
“Okay, I’d love to meet them.”
Hailey dropped her muffins off at the station, and she’s obviously upset the guys weren’t there. They were on a call. Wewaited for a half-hour and then decided to call it and head to my mom’s house.
I drive there so that we don’t die, and when we reach the house with a literal white picket fence, Hailey smiles.
“This is where you grew up?”
