Page 133 of Heartbeats & Highways

Duke shrugged and then sighed. “I don’t want to argue about it anymore. You clearly care about her, and this is real. Are you still fighting?”

“No. I quit,” Savage said. “Soon after Evie and I got together.”

Duke looked at me. “Well, I guess I have you to thank for being a calming influence on him.”

“He came to that conclusion all on his own,” I announced. “But I’m happy he’s not doing it anymore. I’d be nothing but a bag of worry each time he got in the ring.”

“Don’t tell Willa,” Savage stated. “I know you two share everything, but I don’t want her to know about this.”

“Agreed,” Duke said. “She doesn’t need to know.”

My stomach rumbled and I picked up the burger. I offered Savage a bite first, but he shook his head, choosing instead to take a fry.

“You’re really done with it?” Duke pinned Savage with a stare.

“I’m really done with it,” Savage promised.

“Good.”

Savage reached across the table and took half of Duke’s sandwich.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Duke demanded. “Evie offered you her burger.”

“You think I’m going to take food out of my pregnant woman’s mouth? You’re out of your mind.”

We left the diner with Savage and Duke’s friendship on the mend. They bro-hugged it out and then Duke got on his motorcycle and left.

I hoped the turbulence was truly behind them.

Savage walked me to the car and said, “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For being fucking gracious. You could’ve held that shit against Duke.”

I shook my head. “That’s no way to live, Savage. And it’ll make things a lot easier moving forward.” I touched his cheek. “I wouldn’t have let this continue. At some point, I would’ve enlisted Willa’s help and gotten you two to talk.”

He turned his head and kissed my palm.

“His reaction to you fighting was odd, though,” I said softly.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I thought he’d give you a lot more grief. Or there would’ve been a lot more deliberation about telling your club president. But there wasn’t, was there? To him, you come before the club.”

“When we patch in, we’re supposed to put the club first and always. And for the most part we do. But Duke, Willa and I . . . Life was once a pile of shit, and only the three of us got each other through it. The club is there for us, too. But Duke and Willa are different.” His eyes remained on me. “And now you. You’re everything to me.”

I hugged him and pressed my head to his chest. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed my hair.

“We better go or we’re going to be late meeting everyone before our baby class.”

I pulled back. “How am I supposed to eat again? I’m stuffed. Not to mention exhausted.”

“You’ve had a full day already,” he agreed. “Let’s go to the restaurant and I’ll buy you dessert. There’s always room for dessert.”

Savage followed me on his motorcycle to the French restaurant. We walked in, hand in hand.

“Good. Sutton and Viper already got us a table,” Savage said, leading me to the couple.

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