“If these guys are peddling their drugs through my gym, I’m pretty sure I have a right to kick their asses.”
Tanner laced his fingers over his abdomen. “You can do whatever you want, but don’t bitch at me when I have to arrest you.”
“Arrest them,” Cash demanded.
“We will,” Tanner assured him. “Following the law and letting the justice system work takes a little time. But I’d say we’ll have them behind bars within the week. My guy on the inside is waiting to get the name of the supplier these guys are buying from. We want the top dog, too.”
“Well, I want them out of my gym.”
“He’s got it covered,” Jax chimed in. “Just let him do his job.”
Cash took the final drink of water from his bottle and tossed the bottle into the trash in the corner. “Fine.”
“When is Zach coming by?” Tanner asked, needing to shift the focus away from Cash’s frustrations.
“He and his crew will be here Monday. I told him with the holiday coming up that he didn’t need to stop and start.”
The holiday. The one where he was taking Melanie to meet his mother and tell her about the baby. Just the first of many holidays that would be completely different now that Mel was in his life forever.
What would this time next year look like? Would they be sharing their time with the baby or would they live together? Would there ever come a time when she wanted to try to make this work like a legit family all under one roof?
“Livie is going to make dinner tomorrow if you guys are free and want to come,” Jax invited.
“I’ll never turn down a free meal.” Cash stretched his legs out in front of him and crossed his ankles. “Tell me you’re going to smoke the turkey.”
“Is there any other way to have it?” Jax asked.
“I’m going to my mom’s house,” Tanner stated. “I never make it on the actual holiday, so there’s no way I’ll miss this year.”
“You’re taking quite a bit of time off lately,” Jax commented, then shrugged. “Not that I’m judging. You need the breaks. Melanie is good for you.”
That last statement stirred something deep inside him. At this point Melanie was the mother of his child, a one-night stand, and a friend. She was cautious, but he was persistent.
“Everything go well at the doctor visit?” Cash asked.
Tanner nodded. “So far everything with Melanie and the baby looks fine.”
“You’re still terrified.”
Tanner eyed Cash and simply nodded. His cousins knew full well wha
t he’d gone through before. They knew the pain he carried and the guilt that had never vanished.
“Hard not to be,” he admitted. “She’s hesitant to let me get too close and if I had it my way, I’d move her in with me so I could keep an eye on her.”
Jax eased forward in his squeaky office chair and rested his forearms on the old metal desktop. “You can’t save everyone, and Melanie will be fine.”
Tanner nodded and pulled in a deep breath. “I keep telling myself that.”
“Maybe if you clued her in to what you went through, she’d understand why you’re so pushy,” Cash stated.
“I’m not pushy.”
Cash merely raised his brows.
Pushing to his feet, Tanner looked to his two cousins. “If we’re done with the demo for the day, I’m heading home.”
“Does that mean we’re done sharing our feelings?” Cash asked.