Crossing Lines (Roughshod Rollers MC 1)

Lily, on the other hand, has been having a peculiar reaction over her lack of a mother, recently.

More to the point, she has been actively seeking a new mother.

It’s surprising how many single mothers her school happens to have; at this point, I think I’ve been introduced to every one of the poor women by my determined daughter. I am quite proud of her spirit; but damn, I wish she would just back off a bit. If I want to date, I’ll do it on my own time, not just because my daughter says it’s okay.

“Shut up,” I growl. “She introduced me to her teacher yesterday. Do you know how horrifying it was when she said “Here’s Miss Thompson; she’s single so you can date her!” before running off? I don’t know who was more embarrassed; me or the teacher!”

“Was she hot at least?” Liam asks with a leering grin.

I throw him a dirty look. “I’m more concerned with the upcoming parent-teacher meetings. That’s going to be fucking awful.”

“I’ll say,” Grant says sympathetically, but his lips are twitching, the asshole.

“Don’t worry about it, Ethan,” Liam says, swinging an arm over my shoulders. For a moment I think he’s going to say something meaningful. “Just bang the teacher and get it over with. No more awkwardness after that!”

I give him a deadpan stare.

“Or it will be more awkward,” I point out.

Grant coughs, hiding a laugh. “I’d say Lily is just worried that you’re lonely.”

I open my mouth to reply, and then think about this. Am I lonely? I know that’s why Lily is pushing so hard, because she’s worried about me. Naturally, she wants a mother, but I’m certain she isn’t overly concerned about that.

No, her primary goal, my beautiful little girl, is to make sure I’m happy.

“I’m not lonely,’ I say after a long moment. “I have my club, and I have Lily and I have Georgia.” I sigh. “Admittedly, having a kid makes it hard to date, but I don’t really care about dating much right now, anyway.”

Their teasing smiles fall away, both of them recognizing that now isn’t the best time to taunt me. I hate the serious air that has descended on us as they consider my situation.

But, does it matter? I don’t regret it. Having Lily as a teenager… I was foolish then, and her mother was equally so. Neither of us was prepared to have a child, especially since we were little more than teenagers ourselves. As such, it didn’t surprise me when the mother ran off when Lily was barely one, unable to handle it any longer.

Maybe, if I was sensible, I would have adopted Lily out. Or maybe I would have allowed her grandparents to raise her; both sets of grandparents had been eager to, after all, and I’m still in contact with Lily’s maternal grandparents, my ex-girlfriend never being mentioned by any of us.

But Lily is mine. I don’t regret raising her alone, though sometimes I wonder how she turned out so wonderful when her only model was me. When Georgia and I laugh and joke about it, I often say that it’s her influence that Lily draws on, which never fails to make my childhood friend blush scarlet; her pale skin and naturally red, wild hair always making her embarrassment incredibly obvious.

Raising Lily meant that I probably missed out on a lot of things in my later teen years and early twenties, but…

“Don’t worry, guys,” I say with a laugh. “Come on, it’s my night out and, hopefully, we can celebrate just a little.”

The two of them grin at my words and I smile. Lily, Georgia and the Roughshod Rollers… The three things in my life that I can’t live without.

And I’m not about to give up any of them.

Kyle

I pull my bike up outside the Anchor Bar and drag my helmet off my head with a sigh, running a rough hand over my messy hair. I’m tired and aching for bed, but, with the way my head is spinning about the house and its potential destruction, there’s no way I’ll sleep until I get an answer of some kind.

In all honesty, though, I’m not sure I want to hear the answer. So far, everything we have tried has been useless. That fucking son of a bitch, Burke, makes me boil with rage every time I imagine his smug smirk as we try and reason with him. I don’t even know why he wants to put a convenience store there when there’s one only two streets away. Part of me thinks it’s just to mess with us. He’s disgusting enough that I wouldn’t put it past him.

Can we even save the house? I close my eyes and consider this for a moment. We’ve all been trying so hard, but we only have three more days to come up with everything we need.

It’s starting to look impossible. As much as I want to protect the house and everyone in the club, I just can’t. As one of the original, founding members, it’s a failure that grates on me.

I sigh and swing my leg off the bike and make my way toward the door. I can already hear the sound of the music through the bar door, and I think a drink, right now, is just what I need to banish these dark thoughts.

“Kyle! Kyle Jacobs!”

I look around at the sound of my name and watch as Alex barrels toward me. The man - who is normally so calm and put together - looks oddly disheveled. He’s thrown his club jacket on haphazardly and his hair is a mess, his glasses hanging crookedly.