“Yeah, right,” Easy muttered.
“You know he does, E. You two went about this the wrong way and while I made it seem like I didn’t agree with Stella earlier when she said I needed to let Trip lead, she’s right. We need to let him do his thing. Just like with Chris, Trip couldn’t just let this go. Even if he didn’t have a temper, consequences from the club president would be expected and breaking of the rules wouldn’t be tolerated. His reactions just tend to be on the spicy side. But let me just say this since neither of you were around back then, be glad he’s not Buck. Easy probably would’ve been shot or been beaten to death without a second thought. You might not think you got off easy, E, but you did.”
“So, now what?” Easy asked.
“So now, I take Dyna, go find Chris and leave you two alone. Work it out. But just know, everything doesn’t need to be figured out today. Or tomorrow. Or even next week. You’ve got months before the baby comes. You have plenty of time to figure things out. And even if you don’t, we’ll all be here to help.”
Chapter Nineteen
Easy waited until he heard the distant click of the front door. He bit back a groan as he forced himself to his feet. Tessa watched him round the table to where she sat.
When she lifted her face to him with her eyes wary, he reached out and slowly brushed the back of his knuckle along the length of her hair, from her forehead all the way to her shoulder. As he traced his fingertips along her jawline, he watched a flurry of emotions cross her face.
He recognized and felt every fucking one of those, too.
“I’m sorry I fucked everything up,” she whispered, turning her cheek into his palm. Her skin was soft, warm and smooth. He could hardly tell where her bruises had been since, except for her arm, she had healed pretty quickly from the crash.
Thank fuck.
“Yeah, me, too. Sorry I fucked everythin’ up. But need you to hear this, Tess… We’re done apologizin’. To each other. To everyone else.”
He dropped his hand from her cheek and held it out to her. She stared at it for a few seconds before placing hers in his. After interlocking their fingers, he gave them a squeeze, then helped her to stand.
“Jemma’s right,” he said. “We don’t need to figure everything out. Not today. Not tomorrow, either. We can figure things out as we go. Fuck anyone who don’t like it.”
“You know how it is around here. It can be smothering with everyone all up in our business.”
“Yeah, both a blessing and a fuckin’ curse.” Easy shook his head slightly because it hurt to do anything more. “But from now on, me, you and our kid come first. Yeah?”
She looked unsure. He felt that to his very core, too.
Her gaze raked over his face. “Hopefully you don’t look like that when it’s born. You’ll scare the kid and I’m telling you now, once it comes out, it’s not going back in.”
He almost grinned but caught himself. His face already hurt enough. “Yeah, I’m afraid to look in the mirror.”
She pressed a hand to his chest in a spot where he was bruise-free. “It’s best you don’t because you might break the mirror when you try to punch the stranger you see in it.”
He glanced around the kitchen and spotted the hallway that led to the bedrooms. He’d actually never been inside Cage and Jemma’s house before since he never had a reason until now. “Don’t know where your room is and I need to fuckin’ lie down. Also need to lie down with you.” More importantly, he needed to hold her and give them some time to let everything sink in.
Tugging gently on his hand, she headed out of the kitchen and down the hallway of the modular home. He was amazed how large and nice it was. Nothing like the temporary trailer Cage had lived in at first. This place felt like a real home with how it was furnished and decorated. He was pretty damn sure that had a lot to do with Jemma and not Cage.
Cage would be fine living in a cardboard box with a beer and a joint.
As soon as they stepped into her room, he shut and locked the door behind them, relieved to see she had a queen-sized bed that they’d both fit in. She also had her own bathroom. Her set-up was nice. Almost like a mini-suite, unlike his basic room in the bunkhouse.
He sat on the edge of the bed and sucked in a sharp breath when he leaned over to unlace his boots. Tessa stopped him and got to her knees at his feet to unlace them for him before pulling them off his feet.