“I get that. But sometimes hard decisions gotta be made. You wanna be serious about your music, then you need to make serious business decisions. Like raisin’ Maya, it ain’t gonna be easy.”
“What do you know about either?”
“Truth? I don’t. But I’ve booked enough bands in this joint now, that I got enough of an education on the subject just by servin’ them drinks and listenin’. When I’m bored I’ve asked questions. Look, it can’t hurt to contact him.”
“And if he’s not interested?”
“Then he ain’t interested. We’ll find someone else. Like I said, we’ll figure shit out. With that and with everythin’ else, too. Just gonna take a little time and patience.”
What he didn’t have patience for was getting Syn under him again, even as dog-tired as he was.
She cupped his face in her hands and pressed her forehead to his. “I don’t know how to thank you,” she whispered.
“Got an idea,” he whispered back with a grin.
She straightened, cocking her head. “What?”
He shook his. “Soon as I get a chance, gonna show you. But not tonight. And, so you know, it ain’t what you think.” He grabbed his glass of whiskey and downed the rest of it. Then he wrapped his arms around her and settled his palms on her ass, giving those amazing, firm cheeks a gentle squeeze. “You too tired for a quick game of pool? Thinkin’ a good game will get our minds off what happened last night and what will happen in the future. Even if for a little while. Then we can head up and pass out.”
She shrugged. “It depends on how aggressive the game gets.”
“Baby, this game’s gonna be slow and easy.” He didn’t have the energy to do much else.
“Well, I could use a little practice.”
When she brushed her thumb over his bottom lip, he grabbed it with his teeth and bit down gently.
After he released it, he said, “Yeah, gonna keep it simple. When we got more time, more privacy and more energy, gonna teach you more complicated shots.”
She leaned in again, murmuring, “I look forward to that, too,” against his lips.
Fuck yeah, so did he.
The rumble of a diesel engine shook the windows of the temporary housing that had been set up on the farm. It was one of the mobile homes Reilly had purchased for Shelter from the Storm. Along with the temporary trailer, they’d had temporary utilities installed on a lot next to Rook and Jet’s. The row of homes just on the other side of the tree line near the barn and the sheds was growing.
As soon as spring came, they’d break ground on that lot and have a modular home built on a foundation.
At least that was the plan. He’d been kind of vague about the details with Syn because he wanted to surprise her. Plus, things were still new with them and he hadn’t wanted to push her. Things were also still getting smoothed out between her and Maya.
Mother and daughter were building their relationship. Syn and Sig were rebuilding theirs. And Syn was figuring out her place within the club’s sisterhood.
A sisterhood that, of course, welcomed her with open arms because that was how fucking awesome those women were. And another reason why any of the Fury members would go to war for them.
It had been a bit difficult these last few weeks because, until they signed a contract with the manager of Dirty Deeds, The Synners had been taking gigs wherever and whenever they could.
Even against Dodge’s approval. He didn’t like some of the sketchy places they played. He’d had a serious sit-down with Rex, Eddie and Nico about that when Syn wasn’t around.
They were his eyes and ears when the band was on the road.
“That your mom?” Dodge called out to Maya.
“Yes!” he heard her yell from the living room. He grinned at the excitement in her voice.
He wouldn’t lie, he was feeling a little bit of that himself.
“How ‘bout you put on your coat and go talk to the guys for a little bit while I speak with your mom about somethin’. Get them to play you a song so you can practice your singin’.”
“Okay!”
Even from the master bedroom, he could hear Maya scrambling to pull on her boots and shrug on a coat. He’d quickly discovered nine-year-olds were not quiet. Maya wasn’t quite as bad as Daisy but close enough. Maya’s attitude was about a level five on a scale of one to ten compared to Daisy’s level five-hundred on that same damn scale.
Even so, he was thankful Red liked to spend time with Maya so it would give him a break. Especially when Syn was gone overnight. Though for now, it was never more than one overnight a week. That was something he put his foot down about, especially since he didn’t want her taking Maya along with her to those bars. The rest of the gigs she was scoring were within driving distance.