“I got it, don’t worry. I’m parked at the end of the block.”
While he carried himself in a relaxed manner, I didn’t miss the vigilance in his scanning gaze.
“Everything okay?” I asked.
“Still no issues from Tweedledee and Tweedledum?” he quietly questioned.
“Not a peep.” My guess was they left town, but I had no idea where they went. Didn’t really care either. As long as they didn’t cause trouble.
I was shocked when he stopped next to a big Chevy truck. “Where’s your bike?”
“Sweetheart, I live in Iowa. We can’t ride every day of the year. Besides, I wouldn’t have been able to bring much of Raptor’s stuff down here on my bike.”
“Wait. Raptor moved here too?”
He ran a hand through his hair as he appeared to debate what he should say. Finally, he said, “Yeah, he moved here. I guess there was some family shit he needed to be around for. I’m not sure, because I didn’t pry. That’s part of what I wanted to tell you. He got permission to open the chapter back up here. He has the minimum required members to open, but I kinda thought that maybe I might join them.” He shrugged and looked down the street as he chewed on the corner of his bottom lip. Wait… was he nervous?
He opened the door and helped me climb inside. Before he could close the door, I rested a hand on his chest.
“So you were serious? You were going to move down here before you thought I might be… damn, I can’t even say it. It seems so unreal.” Not that I didn’t want to be a mom, but I hadn’t given it a lot of thought since I was only twenty-four, and every relationship until Phoenix had been utter crap. Which got me thinking….
“How old are you?” I asked.
With a confused smirk, his attention whipped back to me. “That was random. I’ll be thirty in August.”
Staring at him a moment, I arched a brow. “When in August?”
“The fifteenth.”
“You’re a Leo? Oh boy.”
“So, how old are you?”
“Twenty-four.”
He blew out a heavy breath. “Damn, I’m robbing the cradle?”
“Oh, please. We’re only about six years apart, not sixty.”
“Teasing,” he whispered, then kissed me and shut the truck door.
The trip to the drugstore was quick. From there, we went to the hotel he was staying at.
“Nice lighting. Mood lighting?” I giggled.
“Funny. And only if you want it to be,” he replied and laughed. “I’ll be staying in the clubhouse once we get it furnished. At least until I can find a place. Since I wasn’t sure how everything would play out, I didn’t want to commit to anywhere.”
“I get it.” Suddenly nervous, I tightly clutched the small box in the plastic bag. If I was completely honest with myself, I wasn’t sure what I hoped for.
“Hey.” He gently took my free hand and drew me in until I stood between his knees. Resting his hands on my hips, he looked into my worried gaze. “No matter what that test says, I’m here to stay. We’ll see how everything plays out. Understand this is me being magnanimous, because I really want to go out on that balcony and shout to everyone in this fucking town that you’re mine.”
“What would be wrong with that?” I raked my bottom lip through my teeth, and I fought to keep my smile at bay.
“Is that a smile you’re trying to hide from me?”
It was impossible not to laugh at him when he took his index finger and tapped my nose.
“Go take the test,” he encouraged, giving me a reassuring squeeze before he released his hold.
Leaning down, I brushed a featherlight kiss over his lips, took a deep, fortifying breath, and spun on my heel. It didn’t take long to finish my business. Then we spooned on the bed and waited.
My mom was right.
I was pregnant.