Page 6 of Rebel

I didn’t stop, didn’t slow my pace. If anything I walked faster.

“Nikki, dammit.” He grabbed my arm and pulled me to a stop. “You really never got the note with my number on it?”

“No Logan, I didn’t get it. If I had, I would’ve called. I thought we had a good time in and out of bed.”

He smiled. “We did.”

“You actually waited for me to call?” I couldn’t believe it. All these years I cursed his name, I hated him. On the days when my morning sickness was at its worst, I cursed him. When I couldn’t sleep because Liv couldn’t, I wished impotence on him. When she was colicky, I wished worse. But now I had to consider that everything I believed was a lie.

“Yeah, I waited. For a lot longer than I should have.”

I believed him, dammit. So if he hadn’t abandoned me, my anger and my hurt were for nothing. And that was simplytoo much to process right now. I still had another three hour broadcast and then bedtime with Liv. “Look, I’m sorry. It was just a mistake, but I shouldn’t be here. I have to… go.” Now that I had a new version of the past I would have to tell him about our daughter. Eventually.

“Wait. Please.”

I stopped and turned.

“Now that everything is out in the open, we need to talk,” he said.

I shook my head. “Not now.” I couldn’t do it now.

He seemed to sense my hesitation. “Okay. How about after the show we can talk and clear the air completely?”

After the show. That’s what I wanted more than anything, but I couldn’t. “I can’t do it tonight. There’s a lot to do with this kind of thing,” I answered vaguely and motioned towards the booth overlooking the festival grounds.

He seemed to deflate at my words. “Fine. Let’s exchange numbers.” He pulled out what looked like a receipt and patted his pockets for a pen.

“How about we skip the old school version?” I opened my phone to the address book and handed it to him.

“Right.” He smiled, and my heart stuttered a little bit. “Here.” He handed me his phone and we both entered our contact details quickly. “Call me when you’re ready.”

“I will.” I had to, it was just a matter of when.

“If not, Iwillbe callin’ you Nikki.” His words sounded like a promise, and I hated the way my body responded to him.

Logan was here and I skipped a prime opportunity to tell him that he was a father. I was a coward. No, I was worse than a coward, dammit. I was a low life who was now actively keeping her daughter away from a father she was desperate to know more about.

Soon,I promised myself.I’ll tell him soon.

Ish.

***

The crowd had grown thicker since I confronted Logan, and it took me forever to make any progress, so I looked around at all the different people who’d shown up today at the rock music festival. Anybody was welcome, but this festival drew lots of bikers and long-haul truckers, campers and other people who spent their lives on the road rather than in one place. They were from all walks of life, retired lawyers and bankers, young nepo babies, biker clubs whether sportbikes or hogs, off-duty cops, and even a few politicians.

In fact just as I passed the booth beside where I’d spotted Logan, I spotted one politician in particular. Joe Cameron. He’d been a councilman for a decade and in that time, he’d experienced quite the glow up—from two-for-one suits, to wearing designer labels, and if the local gossip blogs were to be believed, a new set of hair plugs as well. Seeing him at events wasn’t shocking, but after the caller’s story earlier this week, seeing him with the Blood Fangs MC was slightly less shocking.

The MC was notorious in the area and anyone who saw those fangs with blood dripping from them on the back of their leather vests knew to walk in the other direction. And this guy looked to be deep into a serious conversation with Councilman Cameron. I wondered what all that was about. I might be a radioshow presenter and not an investigative journalist—but I knew a good story when I saw one.

I watched them intently and found myself moving closer to see if I could catch even a small piece of their conversation, but what I saw was even more interesting. Both men looked around suspiciously before the biker handed him a thick envelope that looked as if it was stuffed with stacks of cash. Something about the action unsettled me, and I wanted to find a way to record it without being obvious. I quickly pulled out my phone and took a few selfies with the men in the background before I spun and recorded a video as Nikki fromHighway Pulse.“If you’re not at Rock Out in the Desert yet, what are you waiting for? Look at this amazing crowd of people who’ve come to hear good music, eat good food, and drink, while mingling with other lovers of the road. Get your butts down here. Now.” I smiled and turned the camera towards myself, waving before I ended the video.

“Hey, what the fuck do you think you’re doing?” A hand gripped my shoulder and spun me around.

I came face to face with a member of the Blood Fangs MC. His dark brows were drawn down into an angry frown. Panic settled in immediately and I wasn’t sure how to respond. Luckily, my feet knew what to do and I started slowly backing away from the angry man. “I was, uh, just shooting a video.”

“Why the fuck was it aimed at me?”

“You?” I frowned and shook my head as I backed away while he advanced on me. “I was just recording a video for social media. I’m the radio host,” I replied and pointed at the banners all around the festival.

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