Page 5 of Swan

She nodded. “Fair enough. Is it a shifter romance with knotting? Boy, are those books hot.” She fanned herself.

My eyes widened. Rommy was reading knotting romances. As the shock wore off, I reminded myself we were the same age; I just sometimes thought of her as younger.

“It’s not, but I’m always up for recommendations.”

Her smile brightened. “I’ll get a list together, and you can send me some too.” With a quick hug, she skipped off after saying, “Talk soon.”

I waved, not that she would have seen it as she raced up behind her brother, Texas, and jumped on his back.

Her spirit was such a soft and beautiful one. Though she definitely had a wicked side—at least when it came to her romantic reads, apparently.

Smiling to myself, I made my way out of the common room and down the hall towards the kitchen. I should get to know Rommy more. I didn’t even realise she loved reading. I supposed it was harder to be as close to her, like I was with Maya or Ruby, since she lived in Melbourne.

At the kitchen, I peeked inside and only saw a few of the old ladies, who belonged to brothers in the club, milling around. I stepped in, and all eyes went to me.

“One day you’re gonna want to spend time with a real man and not a fictional one,” Mum said with a smirk. The brothers of the club called her Hellmouth. She was quick to swear or snark at anyone she found a problem with. On my first day at the library, the other employees couldn’t believe I was the daughter of Deanna Daniels. We were nothing alike. Well, except for our fierce loyalty to our family and friends. Admittedly, she wasn’t my birth mother. When I’d asked why I didn’t call Deanna Mum, Dad explained to me it was because she hadn’t given birth to me and that my birth mother had passed away, but I could call Deanna Mum if I wanted.

Of course I’d wanted to.

She’d shown me nothing but love and support since I was two years old.

Rolling my eyes, I went to the counter and pinched a salad and meat roll off one of the trays. “I highly doubt it. Fictional men just do it better.” My face flamed at my own words. Mum, Zara, and Ivy laughed.

Emmy smiled softly at me and said, “Leave her be. I would join you if I had a book or my phone with me.”

Mum snorted. “Bullshit. You’ll be taking this bowl of salad back out to the common room and curling up with your man.”

Emmy’s chin tipped up. “Ryan’s out on a job with Violet actually.”

“But I’m sure he’ll be back soon,” Mum teased.

“I’m not joined at the hip with him. I can have time away.”

“Honey, we’re all just as obsessed as you are. There’s nothing wrong with it,” Ivy said, and the women laughed.

“Anyway,” I said, giving Emmy a quick grateful smile. “You know where I’ll be.” I started for the hallway that’d take me into the garage. “I’ll come see you before I leave,” I called.

Entering through the workshop, I made my way to the office. Since it was Sunday, the mechanics business wasn’t operating, so the office was the best quiet place I’d found over the years. And thankfully, gatherings on any other day of the week were held mostly after hours, so again, I got to hide out in there.

Once inside, I took my seat and unwrapped my sandwich as I kicked my feet up on the counter.

This was what I called a good time.

CHAPTER TWO

A few days later, there was a loud knock on the front door, and then the bell rang over and over. I finished washing my hands and rushed from the kitchen to see who was being a pain before?—

“Who the fuck keeps ringing the bell? I’m going to wring their goddamn neck,” Mum said, barrelling down the stairs.

She opened the door and her mouth, then closed her lips and glared instead. “Next time you even think about messing with that damn bell, rethink it. Got it?”

Maya nodded. “Completely.”

Mum huffed and pulled her into a hug. “Good to see you.”

“You too.” Maya hugged her back and then stepped inside, waving and smiling over at me. “I have something exciting,” she called.

Mum snorted. “I’ll leave you two alone. I’m in the middle of cleaning out our wardrobe.”

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