Knowing my mother, she won’t back down.
“I’m never gonna stop worrying about her,” she says.
“I get that,” he answers. “Neither am I. We’re on the same side, Lynn.”
She takes a few steps and sits on the bed. “I’m proud of you, Shelby.” She squeezes her eyes shut and exhales slowly. “But you’ll always be my little girl.”
As irritating as that is, I understand what she means. “But I’m not a little girl. One way or another, I was always eventually gonna grow up and leave the nest.”
“I’m scared of you gettin’ hurt.” She peers up at me with tears shimmering in her eyes. “You’re my whole heart. And I feel like I set you free in the world with no protection sometimes.”
I sit next to her, resting my hand on her leg. “You raised me with a pretty strong spine. I got resilience comin’ out my ears because that’s the example you set for me. Life’s knocked you down a bunch of times and you’ve always come back swinging.”
She reaches for a tissue and dabs at her eyes. “You sure handled that awful incident better than I would’ve at your age. Hell, at any age. I don’t know how you got up in front of an audience again after that.”
“It wasn’t easy. But I wasn’t letting some creep steal everything I worked so hard for from me.” I reach out my hand for Rooster and he steps toward us, curling his warm fingers around mine. “Rooster was a big part of that. I wouldn’t have felt safe again without him lookin’ out for me.”
She sniffles and bobs her head.
“Instead of seeing it as losing a daughter, you could always look at it like you’re gaining a son, Lynn,” he says in a quiet, firm tone.
She whips her head up and stares at him. “You mean that?”
“I don’t say things I don’t mean. You should know that by now.”
“Yeah, I reckon you don’t.” She wipes her eyes. “Come here.” She leans in and gives me the biggest hug. “I love you.”
One of her arms unwraps from my body and she reaches for Logan. My heart stops, afraid he’s not into the touchy-feely thing and will reject her.
But he takes her hand, squeezing gently. “Team Shelby?” he asks.
She sniffles and nods quickly. “Til the day I die.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
Rooster
“I won’t be gone long,” I promise Shelby.
Her mouth twists into a pretty pout. “We’re together all the time. Why am I already missin’ you? Is that crazy?”
“Nope.” I pop a kiss on her cheek. “I feel the same. Why do you think I’ve been out here groping you for the last twenty minutes instead of heading out?”
“Aww.” She hugs me again. “Go, before Jiggy has a conniption.”
“Have fun with your mom. Enjoy some time together without me in the way. She misses you.”
She casts a glance at the house. “I think she might finally be Team Rooster.”
Something definitely shifted in the Morgan household after our talk. Whether it sticks or not remains to be seen. It’s all coming out of a place of love for Shelby, so I’m fine either way.
“Trust me, if the worst thing she’s worried about is that I’ll steal your money, I can live with that,” I say.
Shelby’s mouth turns down. Maybe it’s an awful thing to joke about. But I’ve already lived through having my ex’s mom accuse me of being a future murderer. A potential thief is nothing. It’s all about perspective.
“You shouldn’t have to live with it. She needs to respect your place in my life. Period.”
“She won’t have a choice. I’m not going anywhere.”
Shelby nods and presses another quick kiss to my cheek.
I wait until she’s inside the house before straddling my bike and firing it up.
“I’ll follow you!” Jiggy shouts over the combined rumbles of our idling engines.
Funny how easily I remember the way to the diner. The memory of my first moments with Shelby are etched in every mile.
The rest of the guys are already here. Lost Kings and Savage Dragons bikes lined up neatly next to each other. Good sign.
Jiggy and I enter the diner. The hostess directs us to the same back corner we’ve used before.
“Rooster!” Blaise bellows, standing and shaking my hand. “Good to see you again.” He nods to his brothers. “You remember Thorn and Hammer.”
Hammer’s a bit of a dick so I definitely remember him. Still, I do the polite thing and shake both their hands.
We go back and forth with small talk about the weather, road conditions, and our recent travels. Once the waitress tops off our coffee and leaves four of the monster cinnamon rolls on our table, it’s time to get down to business.
“You said you ran into a mutual friend recently?” Blaise prods.
“Not a friend.” I reach inside my cut and pull out the Texas bottom rockers. Blaise’s eyes widen as I slap them on the table. “Deacon didn’t seem to agree that your club’s running this area now.”