Harley (Cerberus MC)

“I’m on birth control,” I mutter, finally understanding his reasoning. “And if you could not mention this to anyone that would be great.”

“Hey,” he says, standing from the bed and turning in my direction.

I skirt around him as best I can, but he’s just too big.

I feel overcome with emotion as he looks down at me, his big hand cupping my jaw. I try looking down, but he’s standing there in nothing but those boxer briefs, and seeing him that way will only lead to time number three.

He starts to lower his mouth to mine when I look back up at him, but I shake my head. I can’t handle that right now. I can’t deal with more sweetness from him when it’s only going to turn into him hating me or blaming me once again for his own actions.

“See you around,” I mutter as I pull away and leave the room.

Chapter 30

Harley

“And what if she cries a lot again?” Mom asks me.

I press my palm to my forehead. “Do you think we’re spoiling her by giving her exactly what she wants when she demands it?”

Mom chuckles into the phone. “I wasn’t going to say anything, but—”

“That’s a first,” Dad mutters from somewhere in the background.

“Hush, you,” she says, her voice a little further away before speaking to me again. “I wasn’t going to say anything because I know how parents get about advice on their children, but honestly, it’s not going to hurt that child to cry a little.”

“So you’ll watch her?” I prod again, the idea in my head eating away at me for more than one reason.

“I will. I’ll make sure she has everything she needs. Do you have a date?”

“I’m hoping to go out with the guys,” I tell her, which is partly true, but I also have a plan to test a theory I can’t seem to get out of my head, and my mom doesn’t need to be privy to that part of my plan.

She hums into the line as if she’s a little disappointed that I’m not confessing to spending time with Ali.

“I just want to make sure because I may not be fit to parent later this evening.”

“We’ll take care of Aria tonight, son. Have a good time.”

“I’ll make arrangements for pickup and let you know.”

“Talk soon, Harley,” Mom says before ending the call.

I pull clothes from the closet, grateful to have left some here. Honestly, I never planned to clear everything out of this room. I never expected to be able to stay in that house again, but I haven’t looked back since that first night. When I was heading back from our last mission, I thought of the house across town as home, the same way I did when I shared it with Lana, despite having stayed longer at the clubhouse.

I look from the clothes in my hand to the bathroom door. I really need a shower, but technically this is Ali’s room now, and as much as that irritates me, I know it also doesn’t give me the right to stay in here any longer than I already have. I dress, the scent of her sexy-as-sin body still on my skin, and leave the room.

As expected, I find several of the guys in the garage. They look tired, but happy, and I can only imagine what some of them got up to last night.

Boomer lifts a cup of coffee in my direction to greet me, and I nod pleasantly, wondering if I’ll be around if Em catches him out here with that specific cup. He may not have been around when she advised all of us to stop bringing the ceramic mugs to the garage because they keep disappearing. He doesn’t really seem like the rule-breaking type.

“You’re here?” Legend asks as I take a seat, regretting not stopping by the kitchen for my own cup of coffee before heading this way. “Why are you here this early?”

“Because Ali is here,” Apollo says with a smug smile.

“Don’t you have your own house?” I mutter, hating that I have empty hands. It gives me nothing to distract myself with, forcing me to be fully involved in this conversation.

“We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. Maybe you just dropped Aria off at daycare?” Legend offers, but the glint in his eyes tells me he somehow knows better.

“He didn’t,” Apollo says. “I just dropped little Nate off and from the looks of it, Aria had already been playing for a while.”

“I want to go to Jake’s tonight,” I blurt, unwilling to tell these guys what I’ve been up to.

I swallow when I realize not wanting to share has more to do with not disrespecting Ali rather than any guilt I should probably feel for the act itself.

“It’s Monday,” Aro says, speaking up for the first time since I arrived. “Not much goes on, on Mondays.”