I scoffed. “That was before I had a son and cared what he thought!” I wouldn’t just draft Jack into my kind of life. Dad had done it to me. Just expected me to accept the lifestyle and live it. I wouldn’t force this life on Jack and if I had it my way, he would know nothing about my life.
“You do realize he is your son, right? Like your blood runs through his veins?”
“What’s your point!”
“He is just like you.” She said that like it was obvious. “Do you know what he did on his first day of preschool?”
How would I know? I wasn’t there for it. I wasn’t there for anything in his life. And that was my fault. I didn’t say anything.
Amber clicked her fingers in my face, gaining my attention. “Jack pushed a boy into a puddle. A boy who was a full year older than him.”
“Why?”
“Because he saw that boy trip a girl on purpose.” Amber moved a few pieces of paper in the manila folder and pulled out a form. “He is the only four-year-old that I know who got kicked out of preschool.”
I read the piece of paper listing Jack’s expulsion from the preschool for aggressive behavior and smiled. “Did you get him to another one?”
“Yes. A private one. We both decided he did the right thing.” She gave me a gentle smile. “Because it was something his dad would do.”
Something I would do.
“He looks up to you, Jax. In fact, you are his favorite subject. Well, you and a snake at the moment.” She picked up the remote, stoppingGrease.
“So, he knows everything?”
She snuck me a grin. “Right down to the fact you used to cheat in English.”
“You could have left that out!”
She shook her head, pressing play on something. “I don’t lie to him about you.”
“Well, he knows I’m a criminal and a biker. But he doesn’t know what type of biker, right? Like I could just be a motorcycle lover.”
Amber’s grin got bigger and her eyes flashed to the television screen. I followed her glance.
Inside Satan’s Sons. “Please tell me he hasn’t watched this?” If he had watched this and knew I was a part of Satan’s Son… well, there went my chance of trying to say I didn’t ride for a one percent club.
“He watches it religiously.”
I groaned. “Amber!” God, my son was going to be terrified of me. Had she done it on purpose?
“He could repeat this documentary off by heart.”
I groaned again. “Great. Fucking great! If me being a criminal doesn’t scare him off, this will for sure!” Never once have I been ashamed of the life I lived but right now, I was wishing my son could think I was a normal and upstanding member of society. Not a criminal, or the king of the biker’s underworld.
“Come on.” She grabbed my hand and pulled me up.
I followed her, my mind still on the fact my son knew the full truth about me. How the hell was I going to convince him to give me a shot?
Amber led me up the stairs, still holding my hand.
We walked down the hall and she cursed, walking into a room, standing on something. Her hand ran down the wall and she flicked on the lights. “I told him to clean his room before he left.” She gave me a pointed look. “He never listens to me. Just like you.”
“Maybe he had a reason not to listen to you.”
She scoffed. “More like he purposely ignored me, knowing very well I couldn’t stop Dad from taking him today.”
She walked across the rather large bedroom and gestured a hand at a wall. “Well, look for yourself. He did it himself.”