Malcolm (Henchmen MC Next Generation 2)

"He's a dick."

"He really is," she agreed, slamming her head back on my shoulder. "The day I get to put in my notice will be the happiest of my life."

"You'll get there," I assured her, patting her thigh.

"It's not for forever, just for now," she said. "That's been my motto for the past few months," she told me. "But now is looking better lately," she added, hanging her head back on my chest to look up at me.

I reached out, stroking some of her hair out of her face.

"Are you coming to the diner tonight, or do you have to work?"

"I'm pulling an early evening shift, so I can drop by after the rush. I think some of the girls are coming with."

"I am excited for my next self-defense class. They said you teach some sometimes?"

"Not so much teach as stand in as a punching bag when they need a body," I admitted. "My mom and Aunt like to use real men in their classes, so the women learn to go full contact without hesitation. And try their moves on someone who is bigger and outweighs them."

"That makes sense. So, I get to go full contact with you, huh?" she asked, eyes dancing.

"I can join the class if you want," I agreed, hoping I didn't sound too desperate to monopolize her time.

"That would be fun. Wait... your mom?" she asked, turning suddenly to face me fully.

"Oh, yeah. I figured the girls would have told you."

"They said their aunts run the gym."

"Yeah, one of their aunts would be my mom. Janie. You probably won't see her there that much, though. They have a bunch of employees there now that they have a lot of clients. You might run across my Aunt Lo, though. Or even my Uncle Cash. He's married to Lo," I explained.

"I have a feeling it is going to get very confusing to figure out your extended family," she said. "How many names are there to learn?"

"Shit," I said, smiling. "Forty-something adults. Then all the kids."

"You're not joking," she said, eyes wide.

"I'm not."

"Holidays must be insane for all of you."

"All the families tend to do their own things on actual holidays. But there are barbecues that everyone comes to."

"At the clubhouse?"

"Yeah. You can't imagine the noise."

"I think it would be so fun. I've spent all my holidays alone for so long."

"There's one next month," I told her, wiping a small bit of frosting from her lower lip. "I'd like you to come."

"Really?" she asked, hopeful.

"Really."

"Do you have pictures of your family?"

"Ah, yeah. Somewhere, sure."

"Can we, like, study them leading up to the barbecue? Just so I can make a good impression."

"You'd make a good impression no matter what, honey," I assured her. My aunts would probably be all over her, but in the overwhelming, loving way they were known for.

"Still. At least some of the parents?"

"Sure, we can work on that. The girls will help too."

"That would be great. I'm, you know, not great in social settings."

"You talk to everyone at work."

"Because I have to. This uniform is like a costume, and I act like someone who actually has the ability to talk to strangers."

"I think you underestimate yourself," I told her.

Even if she had to work at it, she was naturally one of the warmest, most welcoming people I'd ever met.

"Maybe I'm just out of practice," she said, shrugging. "I haven't exactly had much of a social life lately. It's been nice to have you and the girls. It sounds selfish b—"

"I'm sure it doesn't," I cut her off.

"But I like having something, you know, mine. I mean, not that you're, you know, mine, or anything like that," she said, eyes going huge at the idea of jumping forward.

"Honey, it's okay," I said, putting my hand over hers. "If you want me to be yours, that's what I'll be."

"Yeah?" she asked, gaze shooting downward.

"Yeah," I agreed.

"You don't have to say—"

"I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it," I assured her.

"I know things are new. We barely—"

"We know enough," I said.

"Am I ever going to be able to finish a sentence?" she asked, shooting me a smirk.

"Sure. If you stop trying to make excuses for why I might not want to be with you," I said, shrugging.

"I'm not great at this," she admitted.

"Relationships?" I asked, hearing a small croak in my voice as I said the word.

"Yeah. I mean, I haven't had a lot of them."

"Doing better than me. I haven't had any," I admitted.

"Really?"

"Really," I said.

"Well then, we can just trip along this together, huh?"

"Sounds good to me."

And it did.

I guess I always saw myself settling down someday. I wanted what my parents had. And I saw myself with some kids to raise up too.

But I guess I figured it would be when I was older.

"So, what do you think?"