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Mack winced. “If it makes you feel any better, I think he regrets what he said to me that day.”
“It doesn’t make me feel better. He should have never put all the blame on me that way, especially the way he did. It made me look like some kind of predator, when he was the one who woke me up with-”
Mack cut me off with a quick, “La-la-la-la,” while covering his ears. I sighed at his antics.
“I’d never want my baby to think it isn’t loved, but honestly Mack, if I could turn back the clock, I never would have agreed to take you to that party. If you remember, I didn’t even want to go, and your bright idea was that I needed to get out and experience life more. Well, I’m experiencing it all right. Only, it sucks. It hurts. And I hate that my child will have to deal with the fallout of my bad night.”
“I’m sorry, for my part in all this happening. If he wanted to blame anyone for forcing things, it should be me. I knew what I was doing putting you two together all night. There was no guarantee you guys would have hung out. He could have walked away from you at any point. So, you’re right. He needs to own up to his own shit. Still, I feel bad because every step of the way I was encouraging you and pushing him toward you.”
“You had good intentions,” I muttered. “Let’s just go get this over with so I can come home and eat some ice cream and wallow before I have to go to work tonight.”
“How long are you going to be able to do that?”
“Until I can’t, I guess. Women work all the way up until they go into labor sometimes.”
“Yeah, but not your job. There’s a lot of heavy lifting and you’re on your feet all night long.”
I shrugged my shoulders. “What options do I have, Mack? I’m looking for something else, but you know how this town is. It’s all who you know, and we don’t know anyone but the club.”
“Maybe I can talk to Ratchet about getting you a job.”
“Dad might have been in the MC, but Mom kept us away from them. Besides, I’m over eighteen and I’m not in the club. It’s not Ratchet’s job to look out for me, and you know that.”
“Once me and Tripp are patched, you might as well be in the club. That’s a club kid you’re growin’ in your belly, Sis.”
I nodded because he was right about that. Whether Tripp and I were together or not, our child belonged to the club and would receive their protection. I wouldn’t deny my child that the way my mother had done for us.
Chapter 9
Tripp
I was working in the garage when I saw Mack and his sister pull up. There was never really a time when Mack rolled into the clubhouse with his sister in tow. The few times she showed up, it was because he forgot things or needed a ride where his bike couldn’t go, like Tommy’s party. That had been the last time she showed up here, which made it difficult for me to apologize to her for how I reacted about the things that happened that night.
When she stopped coming around, I figured that was a sign that she didn’t want a damn thing to do with me anymore, not that I could blame her. I was fairly certain that Mack told her what I said about that night. Everything had still been fresh, and guilt over what I’d done was riding me hard as fuck, when I lashed out at him and blamed his sister. I accused her of setting the whole thing up and that was fucking ridiculous. Even if she’d set it up that I was in bed with her, the girl had been sound asleep when I made my choices. It didn’t make a difference that I thought she was someone else at first.
They walked slowly toward the shop and not once did Kim lift her head from where she had it tilted down watching every step she took. What the hell? It was obvious she didn’t want to be here, but what I didn’t get was the way Mack was offering her comfort. He seemed to be whispering reassurances to her while rubbing her back as they walked.
When they got close enough, I noticed she swiped at her face with her hand. The minute her head lifted, I understood why. She’d been crying.
“What’s going on?” I couldn’t hold in my curiosity any longer. If some asshole hurt her, I’d help take the fucker out and dispose of the body.
“I um,” Kim started to say and then she looked to Mack for help. At least that’s what it looked like.
“Can you take a minute?” He asked me while tilting his head toward the work I was doing on a sweet little Jeep CJ7 restoration.
“Yeah, sure.” I wiped my hands off on a shop rag and followed them around the side of the garage, toward the back. No one was around, so Mack stopped us there.
“Kim has something to tell you, and I am warning you now, fucker. Say the wrong thing and I might be willing to kill you for it.”
I took an automatic step back at the threatening tone he lobbed my way. “What the fuck man?”
“Mack, no.” Kim shook her head at him before she turned back to me. What she had to say hit just as surely as one of Mack’s punches might have. “I’m pregnant.”
“You’re pregnant?” I parroted, not knowing where the fuck this was going. A hazy memory of her fussing about me coming inside of her came to mind, but that couldn’t be. That was way back in June. I looked at her stomach and didn’t see a change. When did women start showing? As my eyes slid back up to her face, they stopped momentarily and hovered on her breasts. Those were different. She had definitely gained a cup size or two since I’d seen her last.
“Yep,” she finally answered when my eyes met hers again.
“O-kay,” I dragged that word out waiting for someone to fill in the blanks for me. “Do we need to track down the father or something?”
