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That news filled me with relief. She might be pissed off at me, but I cared about Peyton, and I’d die before I let any harm come to her. “Good news.”
Rebel laughed and then pitched his voice low to mimic mine. “Good news.” He rolled his eyes. “We all know she’s yours whether you’ve publicly claimed her or not.”
I sucked in a shocked breath but hid it behind a glare. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” These men were my brothers in arms, my family, but I couldn’t risk them joking like that in front of Nolo, who had turned up at the clubhouse just before our meeting and was now chilling at the bar with a blonde bunny. I hadn’t had a chance to speak with him yet. Nobody had mentioned Peyton’s name in front of him, and I hoped that the matter would just drop, permanently, before someone said something unfortunate.
“Yeah, sure,” Maverick shot back, a hint of sympathy in his tone. “Let’s go with that. For now.” That was his way of telling me this conversation wasn’t over, just paused for a later date.
Any brother who had any new news or settled problems put it on the record, making sure the rest of us knew what we needed to know for the next week. I listened, but my thoughts were still on Peyton. I needed to talk to her, to clear the air, and the minute the meeting was over, I made a beeline to go in search of her.
“Hey, Dad,” Nolo called out to me from his spot at the bar where Simone, another club bunny, draped herself across his chest. “Over here.”
I gritted my teeth and flashed a smile I didn’t feel. I was always happy to see my son, but his timing today was fucking inconvenient. “Nolo. What brings you by?” Though I was sure I could guess.
He smiled and politely separated himself from Simone’s clinging touch. “I stopped by the house and found it empty. Is everything all right?”
“Everything is fine. Peyton was going a little stir crazy, so I brought her here for a change of scenery.”
He had that determined look in his eyes, nodding as he looked around the clubhouse. “I need to talk to her.”
“That’s not a good idea.”
Nolo’s expression darkened, and I was a little taken aback. “I wasn’t asking for your permission.”
He was leveling me with a look I wasn’t familiar with, half challenging and half…I didn’t know what. I blinked as I stared back, and the question passed through me whether he knew something was going on between me and Peyton, or not. I really didn’t know.
I sighed, rubbing my hand over my chin, and stepped back. “Do what you gotta do.”
I nodded to Tess for a beer as my son took off. I hated this fucking feeling, as if my own damn kid was competition when he wasn’t, which only made me feel like an asshole because I knew he had no chance with Peyton.
“You need to tell him.” My brother’s voice sounded beside me.
I hadn’t heard him approach, and I sent Gio a glare. “Shut the fuck up. Forever.”
“I don’t need to shut up,” he said, unfazed as he took the stool beside me. “You need to open your dumb mouth and talk to your son.”
I took a long pull of my beer. “And what is it that I need to tell him, Gio?”
“That you’re in love with Peyton, fuck face.” I scowled and looked away, as Gio continued to talk. “He’ll be hurt no matter what, but if he knows how you feel, he’ll forgive you.” The eventually in that statement went unspoken.
“Shut the fuck up.” I shook my head as I took another long pull of the icy beer. “Forever.”
“Rocky…”
“I’m not in love with anyone—”
“Yes, you are.”
“—and even if I was,” I continued, talking over my stupid brother, “whatever we had is over.”
“That’s why she’s here?”
I nodded. “She doesn’t want to see me. She doesn’t want a single thing to do with me, and I can’t blame her.”
“You ended it,” he said, a shocked expression on my brother’s usually playful face.
I glared at him. “I didn’t end shit.”
“She did? Why?”
