“What about Axel? It’s his money now too,” she bit her lip and I tried not to grin that she was clearly considering it.
“I’ll talk to him,” I promised. “But he’ll be fine with it,” I assured her.
“What did you have in mind?” she asked quietly.
“You’ll need a divorce lawyer,” I began. “A good one. Let us help with that and childcare while you’re getting back on your feet. I saw how excited you were about that job at the hospital,” I pointed out. “You’ll need someone to watch Mason if you want to go for that job. What is the arrangement with Kat’s old place?”
“Cal won’t let me pay for it,” she grumbled. “I don’t even know him!” she protested.
“If he made up his mind, good luck convincing him otherwise,” I grinned. “It seems like he’s taken a shine to you, hmm?” I hedged.
“I don’t know, maybe,” she shrugged, seeming confounded. “He’s handsome – I mean, really freaking handsome. You’d have to be blind not to notice but I’m in a crazy head space right now. I can’t deal with even thinking about anything romantic,” she sighed. “If that’s what he even wants,” she hastened to add.
I looked at my beautiful friend and could only assume that was the case.
“For now, he’s just been supportive from a distance. The whole club has been so awesome.” She smiled fondly.
“Yeah, they really are,” I agreed. “So does this all mean that you’ll let us help you out?” I asked hopefully.
She sighed. “I feel beyond weird about it but my priority is getting sole custody of Mason. I can’t afford a lawyer and clearly I need one. So yes, thank you,” she agreed, seeming relieved.
I reached over and clasped her hand. “What are friends for?”
“Cal mentioned there being some sort of ceremony at the club tomorrow night,” she said and I knew she was deliberately changing the subject.
“Ry’s getting patched in,” I grinned. I knew it meant the world to him and to Axel.
Her brows knitted together and I knew many aspects of the club were still foreign to her. “So he’ll be officially part of the club?” she wondered.
“Yep,” I nodded. “I don’t know what the ceremony entails really,” I admitted. “The guys are kind of mum on those details. But we’re invited to the party afterwards. I probably won’t be able to stay long with Maddox but you should come.”
“Nah,” she shook her head. “I’m sure it’ll be rowdy, and with Mason, I wouldn’t be able to stay long anyway. Why don’t I watch Maddox for you so you can stay longer?” she offered.
I sighed, knowing already what Axel would say. “Thank you. Ordinarily, I’d take you up on that but I don’t think Axel will go for it.”
She nodded. “I get it.”
It was late by the time we decided to turn in. Our bedroom was dark when I crawled under the covers snuggling up to Axel’s warm body.
“Jesus, babe, you’re freezing,” his sleepy voice rasped as he wrapped his arms around me.
“We were sitting outside,” I explained, nuzzling into his chest and breathing in his scent.
He grunted as I stuck my freezing nose against his skin. “Have fun?”
I nodded. “It was good to catch up. We talked more about the situation with Tim. It’s bad, babe. I had no idea. I feel so guilty,” I shook my head.
“She obviously didn’t want to share, darlin’. You both had your reasons for keeping secrets.”
He was certainly right about that.
“True,” I sighed. “I really want to help her with her lawyer. She’s going to need a good one. I told her I’d talk to you about it first. It would mean a lot to me to do something to help her with that money.”
“I think that’s a good idea, babe. Got no problem with that. Her man sounds like a piece of shit. But I gotta ask, are you ever gonna wanna use it for yourself? For Mad?” he countered, his tone quiet but firm.
We hadn’t touched a dime of my trust and though Axel didn’t seem to care about the money, he cared about why I didn’t want to touch it.
“We don’t need it,” I shrugged, hoping he’d let me off easy.
