“You mean, is he under a pile of women right now?”
My lip quivered, but Janet wasn’t being unkind. She was just plainspoken. She put her hand on mine and squeezed.
“He’s not. Jack is keeping an eye on him.”
“Whiskey too.” Becky leaned forward, her pregnant belly making her look like some sort of round doll. She was so pretty and sweet. “He said he’s never seen anything like it.”
“Like what?”
“Callaway is ignoring all women. Has been ever since he met you.”
“Really?”
She nodded. “Yes, and I’ve been making him stay late to keep an eye out.”
“You need him at home.”
She raised an eyebrow. “You need him there more.”
“Dev’s been there a lot too. Probably a good thing, considering how soon he’s going to be a daddy.”
“What about Dev?”
A handsome dark blond biker was leaning against the doorframe to the living room. Kaylie jumped up with a squeal, launching herself into his arms.
“Hey, baby girl.”
“Hi.”
She sounded almost . . . shy. I sighed wistfully. Callaway made me feel like that. Each and every time I saw him, it was special. New.
And I’d gone and thrown it all away.
I was gutted, and at one of the best times in my life. I had my brother back. I had amazing new friends. And . . . I had him.
I forced myself to smile as Devlin waved and said, “Hi, ladies.” before disappearing into the house. We all giggled. Even a tough guy like him was intimidated by this much girl power in one room.
My smiled faded pretty fast though.
“I’ll be right back.”
Kaylie hurried after Dev. She still managed to be graceful, but there was a bit of a sway to the way she moved. She called it her ‘waddle’ and even quacked sometimes when she said it. She was surprisingly funny for such a sweet girl.
She was back in a flash, sinking gratefully into the couch.
“He says Callaway is definitely not messing around. He’s just drunk and belligerent but completely ignoring the club girls. They’re all pissed about it, apparently.”
“How drunk?”
Kaylie rolled her eyes. “Three sheets to the wind.”
Janet nodded. “That’s good.”
“It is?”
“Yes, it means he’s upset, not trying to get over you.”
“Oh.”
“So, you want to tell us what happened?”
I nodded, swallowing nervously. I was sure they would all think I was a jerk. I told them everything, from the conversation I’d had with Janet to the whole ‘surprise house’ thing. They all sympathized, with Janet blaming herself for the pep talk she’d given me right before the fight. I told her not to be silly. She’d been right, after all. Callaway was being heavy-handed, and I hadn’t known how to deal with it.
I just needed time to come around to his way of thinking. To process all the new changes for myself. And I had. Now I needed to get him to believe it.
The girls had ideas of what to do. Show up at the clubhouse looking hot was at the top of the list. It had worked for Janet. Actually, that seemed like it had worked for all of them.
I shook my head. I needed to do more than that. I needed to prove to him without a doubt that I wanted to be with him for good. I leaned forward and told them I had a plan.
My plan was simple. And it would work. I hoped.
But it was extreme.
I took a deep breath and laid it all out for them.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Devlin
“This is bad, D.”
I shook my head, watching as Callaway slumped over the bar. Jack and Donnie’s cousin, Mac, were on either side of him, standing guard. Lucky stood behind Callaway, casually making sure he didn’t fall backward off his stool.
We’d had plenty of guys lying drunk on the floor, of course. Sometimes, they got stepped on. It was a bit of a ritual around here to take a piss on anyone who passed out too early. Not that anyone would dare to fuck with someone high-ranking like Callaway at the clubhouse, but they stood guard all the same. Donahue was worried about Cal. We all were.
My phone pinged and I saw that Kaylie had finally written back. I’d asked her earlier what she wanted from the store, and the list she’d sent back made me grin.
Ice cream
More ice cream
Pickles
Salt and vinegar potato chips
More ice cream
Seriously, if you don’t bring at least three pints of ice cream, there will be bloodshed.
Xoxox
“I’m going to head out. You think he’s nearly ready?”
“Do you know their plan?”
“We just need to get him to his shop. He can’t be totally wasted.”
“He’s definitely sobering up since earlier, but he’s miserable.”
“Yeah. Pretty sure I saw tears falling into his beer.”
Donnie stifled a laugh. We’d all been through it with our women. It wasn’t always easy getting them roped in, but it was worth it. We all expected Callaway and Molly to get back together.