“How’s that?” He slides his arms under me and drags me closer.

“Your sexy, creative brain.” I tap the side of his head.

“You’re the creative one here.”

“I meant all the positions you come up with.” I pause while he laughs. “Is there anything you like or wanna do…”

The laughter dies on his lips. “Why’re you asking?”

I shrug. “I want to be a good girlfriend.”

He kisses the top of my head. “You’re the best girlfriend.” More seriously, he adds, “I meant what I said. I’m in heaven when I’m with you.”

“Actually,” I tease. “You said it’s heaven inside me.”

He rumbles with laughter and slides his hand over my ribs, stopping to rest on my hip. “That too.”

I snuggle closer. The two of us enjoy the quiet together.

“Everything go okay while I was gone?” he asks. “Were you comfortable hanging out with Heather?”

“Ah, comfortable probably isn’t the right word.” I hesitate. “That’s not why I asked about being a good girlfriend. She didn’t make me feel insecure about us if that’s what you’re worried about.” If anything, it was the opposite. Besides the not-wanting-kids thing, Rooster could never be happy with someone so meek. Ex or not, Heather’s no threat to me.

“Glad to hear it, chickadee. I’ve never felt the way I feel about you before. With anyone else.”

“Same,” I whisper.

“So, how’d you guys end up hanging out in our room?”

“Well, staying downstairs was kinda awkward.”

“Why?”

I tap my finger against his side, considering how to put my thoughts into words. “Well, for one, that girl needs some Heidi and Trinity in her life.”

Rooster cocks an eyebrow. “What makes you say that?”

I explain about the side bunny who showed up to ruin Heather’s night and Heather’s resigned attitude about the situation.

By the end, he’s shaking his head. “Well, shit.” He pierces me with a burning stare. “I’m not going to lie to you and say he’s the only one. Lots of bikers cheat. Having a citizen wife away from the club and an ol’ lady in the club is common.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard that before,” I say carefully. “She just seemed so…casual about it? I don’t know.”

“Shelby, none of my brothers and none of the men I truly respect are like that.” I understand that by his brothers he means the New York charters. “Hell, I don’t think Z’s aware any other woman even exists besides Lilly now that they’re together.” He laughs. “And I’m almost positive I’ve overheard her telling him she’ll straight up chop off his dick if he sticks it anywhere else.”

I choke on my laughter. “Lilly seems too sweet to say something like that.”

“Not when it comes to Z.” He glances at the door. “I can’t picture any of our upstate ol’ ladies passively accepting their men having a mistress, either. No way. I’m pretty sure Z told me Hope pepper-sprayed a girl who hit on Rock once.”

“Damn,” I mutter, impressed. “I asked her if it meant she got to fool around too and she acted shocked. Said that doesn’t happen.”

He snorts with laughter. “Our old prez fucked around behind his wife’s back for years. Tawny definitely got even. But that’s rare.”

“The helmet-haired bitch?”

He shakes his head and fights a smile. “Yeah.”

“See, that I can respect a bit more. What’s good for the goose and all.”

“Their antics caused a lot of issues.” He’s quiet for a few seconds. “Maybe that’s why Acorn came after me. Guilty conscience.”

“I don’t think he has a conscience. Guilty or otherwise.” I sigh and glance at the comforter. “I felt bad for her. I tried really hard not to say anything mean. I didn’t want to hurt her feelings. It seems like she’s in an impossible situation with four kids that young, so I didn’t want to be rude or judgmental, but damn, I wanted to shake some sense into her.”

“I’m sure you were fine. And if not, who cares? We’re rolling out tomorrow anyway.” He runs his hands over my back a few times. “Thank you.”

“For?” I pull away and stare up at him.

“Not asking if I’ll do the same thing one day.” He half shrugs but he’s so serious, I can tell it means a lot to him.

“She made a point of saying, all bikers do it. But it felt too much like rubbing salt in her wounds to argue with her. So I’m sorry to admit that I didn’t defend your honor.”

“Let her think whatever helps her sleep better at night. As long as you know I’m all yours, that’s what matters to me.” He leans down and kisses the top of my head. “Listen, don’t say anything to Jiggy or the guys about it. You can definitely talk about it with the girls at home—ah, back in New York, though, if you want to.”

“Okay.” I’m not sure about this next part. Rooster’s gonna think I’m straight-up nuts. “You think I should try to get her tickets for tomorrow night’s show? She seems to really like Dawson’s music. Maybe she could invite a friend and have a girl’s night out or something?”

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