Page 57 of Outlaws' Single Mom
“Think so.” I push my bike up on its pegs before we head back towards our quarters. “In a couple of days this’ll be over and Dakota can start to move on. I was thinking we should have a talk with her.”
“About what?” Lash asks.
“About if she’s moving on with or without us.”
Stiff shoves his hands into his pockets. “Which do you want?”
With, obviously, but I don’t wanna trap her. “I want to leave the door open for it.”
Lash nods. “She’s been good for us, her and Logan.”
I look at Stiff, who up until we met Dakota, seemed like he was just existing from day to day. “You in?”
“Fuck yeah. But do we tell her about Grimm and Dillard?”
I shake my head. “Not yet. He can't touch her here.”
31
DAKOTA
I siton Jackal’s couch, looking back and forth between the three of them. “What’s up?”
Jackal leans against his kitchen counter. “We were talking. Pretty soon it’ll be safe for you to move back out of the club.”
My heart squeezes uncomfortably. “Do I need to start looking for an apartment?”
“What? No.” He shakes his head. “I’m doing this wrong.”
Lash speaks up. “The thing is, we wanted you to know that you’re still welcome around here, evenwhen all this is over.”
God, they’re so nice. “Thank you. Once I can arrange for Georgia’s funeral, I’ll sit down and have a talk with Logan about what happened. Not the details, obviously, but that she’s really gone. Pretty soon he’ll be old enough to understand more about where he came from, and when that happens, I want him to be able to learn about Ice.”
“Of course, yeah,” Stiff says with a quick nod. “But not just Logan.Youare still welcome. With us.”
They seem to be expecting something. I know what I want. I want to keep following this thread and seeing where it leads us. I want to know if I’d be happy having them look at me the way Paige’s men were looking at her. If I could fit in with the other old ladies. It feels pathetic, but I lost touch with most of my friends when I had to start taking care of Logan. The only people I have now are mom acquaintances, and that’s not quite the same.
“I don't know exactly what I'm supposed to say.”
“One step at a time,” Jackal says with a smile.
I laugh, remembering my conversation with Jessica. “What step are we on?”
“Falling.”
“What’s the next step?” I ask softly.
“Fallen.”
I feel a little awkward sitting here, my hands clasped in my lap and wondering if I’m reading too much into this, or if I’m just being stupid and I have to dive in headfirst like Logan learning to cartwheel. “I like this step. Can we stay here for a while?”
Lash sits down next to me, wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling me against him. The warmth of him close relaxes me immediately, like a kitten in a beam of sunshine. “Absolutely. There’s no rush.” He nuzzles a kiss into my hair. “Never was big on speeches anyway, when action says so much more.”
It'd be so easy to let him continue that train of thought, until I'm once again naked, sweaty and breathing heavy beneath all three of them. Really easy. So incredibly easy. Especially the way they're all watching me, but I steel myself, needing to know we’re all in this first. “You all feel the same way?”
Stiff nods. “Once you’re safe, I want you to decide if this is what you want, but for me, my answer is yes.”
“I've been thinking about that, too. When Jay or Dillard or whatever?—”
