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“Bishop… I swea—”
His lips descended on mine, his arm circling my waist and pulling me against him, swallowing my protests. My body instantly relaxed into his, and I got so lost in the kiss that I didn’t notice the door open until I heard a soft giggle from behind us.
I tried to pull back, but Bishop held me tight. Obviously, he’d decided to let the rest of the club in on our secret.
“Y’all are cute,” Missy commented, and I pressed my forehead to Bishop’s chest and took in a breath before finally turning in his arms with a smile. Missy stood in the archway to the kitchen, a wide grin on her face. “I’m so glad you both stopped tiptoeing around.”
I rolled my eyes. “You knew, huh?”
Hawk strolled in, slipping by her and plucking a pizza box off the tower. “Well, Bishop doesn’t tiptoe. He tends to stomp, so I’m sorry to tell you, neither of you were as subtle as you thought, especially not since Calli left.”
The mention of her name made my body slump, and Bishop was quick to give my hip a gentle, supportive squeeze. “Speaking of Calli…” he announced, “… I think it’s best we talk to her about this in person. She said she’d hopefully have a weekend soon where she could fly home to visit,” Bishop explained, but my stomach was already twisting.
“I’m going to put some of this stuff outside for the boys.” I forced a smile and slipped from Bishop’s arms, grabbing the large jug of cold brew and the plastic cups, balancing them precariously as I headed out through the back to the porch.
A pair of footsteps hurried after me, but they weren’t his.
Bishop walked with purpose and confidence, his strong, intimidating energy following him.
These footsteps were softer, lighter—motherly.
“You’re scared to tell her,” Missy commented as she stepped onto the porch behind me. “But you gotta trust that she’ll understand, Shay.”
I put down the jug I was carrying on the table we’d set up for the food before turning around. “Calli has given me so much. Not just her friendship, but she opened her life to me, shared her family with me, and gave me people. We were always on the run, my mom too scared to keep us in one place for too long. I never made friends. I never had people.”
Calli had been my best friend for so long that I’d almost forgotten what it was like before, how lonely I was, how I was just moving through life on autopilot, hoping to find something that made me happy.
Calli made me happy.
Being with Bishop made me so fucking happy.
With them both in my life, I felt on top of the world. But if Calli couldn’t understand what Bishop and I had, or if she refused to accept it, I could so easily end up with neither of them in my life.
I’d like to think my best friend would understand.
But there were just no guarantees.
I groaned, pressing my palm to my temple. “Geez, the past few days have been the craziest rollercoaster ride.”
Missy’s smile was warm. “I’m hoping today is an up day, given I saw a certain check on the table inside. I’m guessing Bishop finally handed it over.”
My mouth dropped open. “Is there anything you don’t know?”
She threw back her head and laughed. “Very little. What I’ve learned about being an Old Lady within the club is that you’re often used as a sounding board. Sometimes that just means sitting and listening while they rattle on about their day, but other times it’s helping to offer solutions to problems.”
I wanted to be that for Bishop, the person who could support him like he supported me. “But what if I am the problem?”
Missy grinned. “What if you’re the solution?”
Chapter Twenty-Four
SHAY
“Puked on twice on my first day back. That must be good luck or something, right?” I grumbled, pulling an oversized T-shirt on over my underwear.
Bishop sat at the edge of the bed, unbuckling his belt. “You think getting puked on is good luck? God, you need to hang around the clubhouse more on Saturday nights. You’ll get all the good luck in the fucking world.”
“I’m gonna stop you right there,” I said, choking out a half-laugh, half-gag. “How the hell do they make it here on Sunday for lunch if they’re that dru—”
