5 Bikers for Valentines

“The rumors true?” she asked.

“Depends on what you’re hearing,” I said.

“You really moving in with all of them?”

My mother nodded toward the brothers’ booth as my eyes followed her nod. I smiled at all of them as a strange man walked over to their table. He was tall and thick, with broad shoulders and hefty arms that bulged against his navy leather jacket. His blonde hair was shaved into something akin to a mohawk, and there were tattoos on his knuckles. His jaw was set in determination as Jacob made room for him. I wondered who the guy was.

“I am,” I said. “I finish moving in this week.”

“Well, I’ll miss you,” my mother said.

“You mean you’ll miss the bills I pay,” I said.

“No.”

I panned my gaze back over to my mother as she finished off her double shot of whiskey and slid from the stool.

“I’ll miss you,” she said.

I nodded my head as I drew in a deep breath. I wasn’t ready to patch things up with my mother. Not yet. There was so much that had occurred over the years. So much hurt and misplaced blame. But this was a start, and I was thankful for it. For the first time, my mother was walking out of the bar sober, on her own two feet, and without a man on her arm.

“You okay?” Lindy asked.

“Better than I’ve been in a long time,” I said.

“What was that about?” she asked.

“I think that was my mother trying to fix things.”

“I guess there’s a first for everything,” she said breathlessly, watching my mother leave. Then she turned to me. “You ready to meet Crow?”

“Wait, what? He’s here?” I asked.

“Yeah. He sat down with your boys at their booth.”

I whipped my head over as the guy with the mohawk looked right up at me. He had brooding brown eyes and an angry look to him. He was massive. A slab of fucking granite. He locked eyes with me before he shifted his gaze to Lindy, and I watched as his cheek ticked with a smile.

“Looks like you’re being summoned,” I said.

“Help me carry the beers to their table?” Lindy asked.

“Don’t mind if I do.”

We cracked open some beers for all the guys and carried them over. We divvied up the beers as the guys laughed at some joke, but Crow’s eyes were hooked on Lindy. She was leaning into him as his hand rested on her hip. Crow was mumbling something to her before Lindy’s cheeks blushed.

“I don’t think you’ve met Crow yet,” Tyler said.

“Crow, this

is Emma,” Jacob said. “Crow’s the president.”

“So, I’ve heard,” I said. “I also see you have an eye for my best friend.”

“Emma,” Lindy said.

“All I’m saying is she’s been through enough shit. You fuck with her, you get me,” I said.

Crow’s eyes looked me up and down before he drew a deep breath in through his nose. Nick wrapped his arm around me, settling it into the dip of my waist. I gazed into the man’s eyes until he finally relented, nodding his head as his hand slid from Lindy’s body.