“Now that Mom and Chad are gone, do you think Lark will come out?”I asked Ryan
“Why do you ask?”
I shot him a half-hearted scowl.“You have to stop asking questions when I ask them, honey.”
He chuckled.“Are you asking because you want to talk to him again?”
I shrugged a shoulder.“No, I figuredhewould want to talk to Rusty.”
“Ah,” he said with a slow nod.“He left while you and your mom were out in the parking lot.Beast is managing the rest of the night.”
“Is that unusual?”
“Yeah, and it almost feels like a slap in the face to me, Mick, and Ricochet.”
“They don’t trust one of you to run it tonight.”
“Yeah, but even saying that, we only have a little over three months under our belts, so I can also see it from the club’s perspective.We need more time before we run solo on a Friday night.”
I stared at Ryan.He seemed antsy.“I take it we should get going.”
He sighed.“Yeah.Rusty isn’t focused on us.He’s busy watching Mickayla.”
Ricochet sauntered up behind him.“We know.Tundra’s high-key pissed about it, too.”
Ryan turned to his triplet.“Really?”
“Yeah, but all the brothers are pissed,” Ricochet said, shrugging.
Ryan nodded.“If you need me, call.I’m gonna take her to the clubhouse.I can come back.”
Ricochet shook his head.“No.Seven of us to one of him.It’s all good.”
We cruised through the forecourt of the Riot MC compound at a torturously slow pace.The area in front of the clubhouse had at least two dozen people milling about and the back patio was equally crowded.Ryan eased his Triumph to a stop next to a Kelly-green Harley.
“Shit,” Ryan said.
“Is something wrong?”I asked and climbed off his bike.
Ryan swung off and turned to me.“That’s Block’s bike.I just hope like hell, he left Heidi back in Biloxi.”
“Why?”I asked.
“She’s my mom’s best friend, and probably the biggest influence on Mickayla – though both of them would deny that.”
He stared at me and put his hands on my shoulders.“Don’t be freaked.”
I shook my head.“I’m not freaked about meeting her.The crush of people here is surprising.I guess I didn’t expect it to get so ‘peopley.’”
“Thought you were an extrovert,” he said.
I nodded slowly.“Yeah, but I was looking forward to getting some sleep.They’re loud.”
He dragged his hand down his face.“Yeah.We can head to your place.”
I put my arms around his waist.“No, Ryan.This is part and parcel of your world.I’m gonna have to get used to it.No better time than the present.”
He wrapped his arms around me and kissed my forehead.“Right.It doesn’t look like all the Biloxi brothers are here because there’s too many bikes I don’t recognize, so something else is goin’ on, but it’s all good.”
