Heidi
The front doorcloses with a solid click. A serious air follows Blake inside.
“Hey, how was church?”
“Fine.” His gaze darts around the kitchen, but he doesn’t ask what I’m making. “We need to talk.”
“About?” I raise an eyebrow. “You seem tense. What’s wrong?”
Blake rubs his hand over his beard for a second before meeting my eyes. “Serena’s back… I don’t know the details. But she’s with Grinder and it sounds like they’re serious.”
“Wow, that’s wild.” It doesn’t explain why he looks so…guilty. “Why are you being all twitchy about it?”
“I’m not twitchy.” Blake shifts his weight from one foot to the other but holds my gaze. “I wanted to warn you so you’re not surprised or upset or anything—that’s all.”
Is he for real? I slam the towel on the counter with an unsatisfying thwack. “You know, it’s bad enough everyone else still acts like I’m the same sixteen-year-old brat who can’t deal with complicated grown-up relationship stuff, but for you to do it too sucks extra hard.”
His deep green eyes transform from concerned to amused. “You’re being a little bratty right now,” he points out, pinching his thumb and index finger together.
I fire a glare at him.
His teasing smile fades. “No one thinks that about you.”
“Sure. Then why are you here telling me this like I’ll go on a rampage if I run into your ex?”
“I can’t help it.” He gives me a helpless shrug that makes me want to kick him and hug him at the same time. “I love you and want to protect you from anything and everything.”
I flash my ring finger at him—although I kinda want to flash a different finger. “I have the wedding rings.” I sweep my arms around me in a wide circle. “The house.” I rub my hands over my stomach affectionately. “Your spawn taking up space in my uterus. I’m a hundred percent secure about my place in your life, Blake.” A worse thought occurs to me. “Are you upset about it?”
“No,” he answers without hesitation. “Nothing like that. He seems really into her. Like, he tried to choke Steer for saying—”
“Ugh, what the hell did Steer say?” I can only imagine it was something crude and gross. “Why can’t he mind his own business?”
“Exactly.” Blake chuckles. “The old man’s still got it. Practically lifted Steer off the ground with one hand.”
A gasp slips past my lips. “Wish I’d seen that.” Steer’s a boulder of a guy. Then again, so is Grinder.
“Grinder’s been through a lot,” Blake says. “I want him to be happy.”
My annoyance with Blake vanishes. I can never stay mad at him for long. I step into his space, and he curls his arms around me and kisses the top of my head.
“But I can’t help it. Your happiness is always my priority,” he whispers.
Sacrilege, some would say. The club should always come first. Even if Serena hooking up with Grinder bothered me, I’d be expected to keep my mouth shut and not cause the brothers any trouble. I nuzzle my cheek against his soft flannel shirt. “You always make me happy.”
We stay that way for a few moments, holding each other. I pull away, my mind running over everything Blake said. “Grinder hasn’t even been out of prison that long. How did they even meet? Serena hasn’t been around the club for…months.” The last time I remember seeing her was when Z took over Downstate.
“No idea.” He shrugs. “It didn’t seem like the time to ask lots of questions.”
My nose wrinkles as I try to do the math. She’s only a few years older than me. “He’s, like, a lot older than her, isn’t he?”
“Yeah.” He smirks. “Don’t say that to him. I think he’s a bit sensitive about it.”
“I won’t.” My mouth turns up. “At least we won’t be the biggest age gap in the club now.”
Instead of laughing, he cocks his head. “Does that bother you?”
“Not really.” I wave off the question with a flick of my hand. “I’m kidding.” Although now that I’m on this path, distant memories surface. “I know you think I’m too young to remember a lot of stuff. But I do remember Grinder from when I was little. I remember him telling Mom to knock her shit off and grow the fuck up.”