Page 29 of Maddox
Barking out a laugh, I tip my head toward the house and say, “Gonna clean my room this time?”
It’s a long-standing joke between us but I left this house the day I turned eighteen and I rarely come home. There are too many reminders of what I lost living within these walls.
Although Lottie changes the sheets and moves the dust around a bit, she once told me that she wasn’t my fucking maid and if I wanted a clean room, I should do it myself.
This is why I’m not surprised when she narrows her eyes and says, “No way mister. You’re in charge of your own crusty undies.”
“I haven’t worn undies since I was five,” I say, and she shakes her head.
“You’ll always be my sweet boy, but it’s not my job to clean your filth.”
My sweet boy. Mom used to say the same thing. Toward the end when I was a testosterone filled teen with nothing but bravado and the insane urge to be a man so I could join the MC already, I hated it.
Now, I would give anything to go back and hear her soft voice saying it again.
Resisting the urge to rub my chest, I muster a grin and change the subject, waving over her head as I say, “Draven’s in there.”
She knows what I’m doing and although I see the furrow in her brow, she plays along, rolling her eyes before she says, “Thanks for the warning.”
Maybe it’s a shitty thing to do but most days it’s easier to avoid thinking about Mom and while I appreciate Lottie for trying to keep her memory alive, she should put those efforts toward Draven.
I’m fine. She’s not.
Wagging my finger, I say as I back toward my bike, “I’m so telling her you said that.”
“And I’ll tell her you’re afraid of her,” she snorts.
“Am not,” I protest, smiling when she laughs and points her finger at me.
“Are too, but don’t worry, your secret is safe with me.”
I smile all the way back to the clubhouse, but it fades when I pull into the lot and find Pops standing there waiting for me.
He glares at Bran who hightails it inside while Pops taps his boot on the ground.
After dismounting, I finally grunt, “What?”
“Son,” he says with a sigh, clasping my shoulder. “You gotta trust sometime.”
Like we trusted Hand?
His words burn and I avoid his gaze saying, “Trust is earned.”
“Yep, and just like you, these men have earned it. Got me?”
“Yeah,” I say but we both know that it’s a lie which is why Pops just shakes his head and pushes me toward the door.
“C’mon, we got church.”
Chapter 7
Delaney
The following morning, Draven dropped me home with promises to call. I was both relieved and disappointed to find Maddox long gone.
It took a few days, but I’ve let go of the dirty images seeing and feeling Maddox produced, at least in the light of day. At night…all bets are off.
I’m still avoiding Micah, although my phone carrier should be giving me kickbacks for the sheer number of texts that he’s sent.
