After Elias went to the back room for his meeting, I led Jasper to the couches to sit and wait. I knew he was still uncomfortable, but I didn’t want him isolating himself. I could see how important being here was to Elias. Jasper needed to at least give it a chance.
One woman I was familiar with, the nurse who had come to help with Isla’s care, smiled up at me from where she sat on the floor, playing blocks with a baby boy who looked around the same age as Isla. “Hey, Simone. How’s the little princess doing?”
Sitting on the couch, I rubbed Isla’s back to keep her asleep. “Woke up smiling this morning. Jasper and Elias are keeping asharp eye on the clock so she takes her medicine on time, and she seems to be feeling better.”
Mel looked relieved, smiling brightly. “That’s great. I hate when the littles get sick, but unfortunately, it’s not something that can be avoided. Especially when it comes to ear infections. Something as simple as teething can trigger them, and since they’re so little, they can’t tell us when it hurts.” She gave Jasper a little wave. “I’m glad she has you, though. She was fussing up a storm until her big brother came into the room. He had her relaxed and napping in no time flat.”
Another woman with black hair and a patient smile while listening to her young daughter read to her looked up long enough to say, “That’s a great skill. Getting the babies to calm down when they’re in pain is hard.”
Jasper looked uncomfortable with the attention, and he pulled out his phone to hide behind it after a few minutes. I ignored it. He wasn’t the first teen to use his phone as a buffer. If Elias didn’t mind, then I saw no reason to correct him.
The back door opened and two familiar faces came in. Xander’s footsteps halted when he saw me sitting in the clubhouse living room, Kaiden bumping into him before he looked up from his phone long enough to notice me. Both of them looked shellshocked to see me, and Mel seemed to enjoy it if her snicker was anything to go by.
“What’s the matter, boys? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“I, uh… Nothing,” Xander said awkwardly, still frowning at me.
“She’s dating my cousin,” Jasper said abruptly, now scowling at his phone. “Apparently, all chicks like bikers.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
SIMONE
Jasper didn’t seem to take kindly to the shell shocked expressions of his peers, but the revelation seemed to be an ice breaker for them. Both boys clambered over the back of the couch, sitting near Jasper and leaning close enough to whisper questions to him. From the faces Jasper made, he didn’t appreciate having to answer questions about my relationship with his cousin, but he grumbled out a few replies before Mel changed the subject for them.
“Xanny, you and Kaiden still owe me a rematch on Mario Kart. Jasper, do you want to join us? I need a teammate.”
Jasper flicked a glance at me and I gave him a patient smile in return. “She’ll be with me the whole time. You can go.”
Reluctantly, he got up and followed Mel and the boys to another couch in front of the tv. It was close enough that Jasper could still hear Isla if she woke up, but far enough away that the sound wouldn’t disturb the babies.
“They looked surprised to see you,” a woman with blue streaks in her hair said questioningly. “I’m Skylar, by the way.That’s Maggie, the crew’s first lady.” She tipped her head toward the black-haired woman.
“Simone. I’m their math teacher,” I explained, then tipped my head. “Well, I was Jasper’s math teacher. He’s since been moved up a grade. His mother was a math professor, apparently, and he excels in the subject.”
Maggie’s eyebrows jumped in surprise. “Really? That’s amazing.”
Skylar nodded enthusiastically. “Think he’d be willing to tutor some of the younger kids? Malcolm has been struggling and Butch can’t keep up. I try to help him, but he says I don’t do it the way his teacher does.”
Pursing my lips thoughtfully, I considered my answer. “I think perhaps in the future, he might be willing. Right now, he’s still adjusting to living with Elias. This is actually his first appearance at the clubhouse, according to Elias.”
When Maggie grimaced, I cocked my head curiously. “What?”
“Well… Wyatt told me about the changes the crew was going to have to make. With everything going on… It might be his last appearance here too. All the kids are going to be banned from the clubhouse until things settle down. And no one knows how long it’ll take.”
“You think they’ll come here?” I asked with a frown. I knew things were bad, being targeted by that crew the night prior didn’t leave me any doubts as to how dangerous they were, but Elias hadn’t told me much. Just that the crew causing trouble wasn’t linked to them and was trying to cause trouble for their crew.
Skylar shook her head slowly. “We don’t know. That’s the thing, this has never happened before. At least, not as far as Butch has said.” She shot a questioning look at Maggie, who also shook her head.
“Wyatt hasn’t mentioned it happening before. He said it wasn’t the first time this crew has approached them about joining forces, though.”
“Why? What do they want?” I had to ask.
“Territory,” Skylar answered. “Our crew might not be dangerous, but this is still their area, and any other crew wanting to come into town would have to contend with them. Since they’re all good guys, they’d be more likely to report any crimes than turn a blind eye, so crews like the one causing trouble don’t want them around. They want to chase the crew out or force them to disband so they can take over.”
Blowing out a breath, I sat back. The town already had a problem with Elias’s crew, and they didn’t do anything illegal. People would realize really quickly how easy they had it if a dangerous crew decided to move into town, but it wasn’t a lesson I hoped the town would have to learn. Small towns overrun by drugs were a nightmare. The kids who lived there would be at risk just walking to school. Families would leave to keep them safe, and the town would die, all because we allowed Elias’s crew to get chased out.
“Is there anything we can do?”
