After she went back to the table to sit with Isla and Jasper, I pulled out my phone, dialing Prez’s number and putting it to my ear. There were still two people ahead of me in line and the phone call would be quick.
“Yeah?” Prez answered, sounding distracted.
“Hey, Prez. Got a problem.”
He cursed quietly under his breath. “Another one? What happened?”
“Pretty sure Battle’s crew tried to run my girl off the road last night. We need a meeting.”
“Fuck. Yeah, we do. You aren’t the only one who called me this morning. Will Jasper let you come or do you need to call in?”
Jasper still hadn’t accepted the idea of getting near the crew, but this was important. Maybe with Simone joining us, he’d feel more comfortable.
“I’m coming in. And hey, while I was getting Isla checked out last night, I met one of the new guys at the precinct. Seemed at least willing to talk. He asked me to give you his number so he could get a better understanding of what’s been going on.”
Prez hummed thoughtfully. “Send it to me. If we can get more officers on our side, I’m not going to say no. Let’s say lunch time for the meeting. The guys without kids won’t appreciate me waking them up this early.”
I snorted. “Heard, Prez. We’ll be there.”
I hung up just as I stepped up to the counter, tucking my phone away as the bored teen asked me my order. I got a variety, since I didn’t actually know what Simone or Jasper would like, and two coffees for me and Simone. While I waited, I noticed the cop car pull up to the drive-thru window. Officer Hernandez looked tired, which, if she’d been on the night shift last night made sense, but she gave me a polite wave before accepting the enormous coffee the window attendant offered her. The woman liked her coffee, that much was obvious.
“Order for… Zero?” The kid handing out the coffees looked confused by the name on the order form until I stopped in front of her. Her face lit up in understanding when she saw my cut. “Ohhh… like one of those biker names? I get it now.”
I smirked, winking at her as I took the coffees and the box of donuts waiting for me. It hadn’t been my intention to make her blush, but it made me chuckle seeing her reaction. Jaspermust’ve noticed because he frowned at me when I sat back down, looking between me and the coffee girl behind the counter.
“What’d you say to her?”
“Nothing,” I answered honestly. “Chicks dig bikers. It’s a universal truth.”
Simone rolled her eyes so hard, it looked painful. “Don’t call them chicks. And usually it's less about the biker aesthetic and more about personality. Women like confidence as long as it doesn’t stray into cocky territory.”
Jasper’s brows furrowed and he shot me a questioning look. He didn’t get it.
“Which looks cooler? Someone who walks into a room strutting around like a turkey, or someone who comes in sure of themselves without drawing too much attention to it?” I asked.
He looked thoughtful, nodding slowly. “I guess the second one. But how do you look sure of yourself?”
“You have tobesure of yourself,” I shrugged. “You don’t act confident, you just are. If you’re acting, you probably look like the turkey.”
Jasper snorted, but Simone seemed to disagree, shaking her head. “You don’t wake up one day suddenly knowing exactly who you are and what you’re about. That takes time. Most people build up their confidence by doing small things that make them feel capable. Eventually, they won’t just feel capable. They’ll know they are.” She gave me a pointed look. “And sometimes, you fake it until you make it because there will be certain situations where you’ll feel out of your depth but need to stand strong anyway. The point isn’t to pretend, it’s projecting the version of yourself you’re trying to grow into.”
It hit me like a ton of bricks. She was right. I wasn’t confident when the kids showed up. Hell, I still felt like I was barely treading water half the time. But I faked confidence because the kids needed to know they could rely on me, even when I feltclueless on how to proceed. I shot her a grateful look. I wouldn’t have known how to explain that to Jasper at all without her here.
She smiled back, then gave her attention to Jasper again. “The difference is if the ‘confidence’ you’re projecting is making people uncomfortable, then it’s not confidence. It’s showing off, and no one truly wants to be friends with a show off.”
Jasper seemed to follow along easily enough, nodding slowly. “So… act confident, but not too much?”
“Exactly. And watch your peers. You’ll be able to pick out who’s faking and who’s actually confident if you pay attention.”
I snorted. “True. Watch my crew too. Even adults sometimes don’t know the difference.” Which reminded me… “Speaking of which, we need to head to the clubhouse after this. I called my prez after what you told me. Things are getting worse. We need a club meeting to figure out what to do about it. Do you mind tagging along? He might have some questions for you.”
Simone seemed agreeable enough, nodding, but Jasper didn’t look like he was going to agree. It was Simone who changed his mind, nudging him with her elbow. “Remember what I told you? About our friends being reflections of ourselves?”
His expression clouded and while he didn’t look happy, he eventually gave in. “Fine. But I’m watching Isla. She’s still sick. She doesn’t need to be around a bunch of rowdy bikers.”
“That’s fine,” I agreed. “I’ll let the guys know to leave her be so she can rest. She can have a nap in my old room after lunch. Doc said she needs her meds twice a day, and we gave her some this morning, so we don’t need to worry about the next dose until dinner time. And she’s not due for more pain meds until after lunch.”
I added that last part because that morning, Jasper had nearly started shouting at me when I suggested giving Isla her medicine before we left. We’d all slept in thanks to the late nightin the ER, so I figured it’d been long enough, but I’d had to call Mel for approval to give it to her before exactly eight hours apart for Jasper to calm down.
