Page 71 of North’s Claim

The Candies are already holding court at their table, three drinks ahead of me. Jules waves me over like I’ve been gone for years. Jude pats the seat beside him. Eva drops into a chair, still smirking. North leans down, his lips brushing my ear. “Go,” he murmurs, his hand sliding away. “I’ll find you in a bit.”

I sink into the chaos. Laughter, perfume, and leather wrap around me as the girls fill me in on everything I’ve missed—club gossip, hookups, fights, and which prospects have actually earned their keep. Knowing we lost Shard breaks my heart. I know how close he was with Iron. I exchange a look with him and he tilts the beer in my direction.

Ashley appears halfway through my first beer, sliding into the seat across from me with a smug little smile. “It took you a hell of a time Miss.”

I pull her in a hug, “You came all the way here?”

“That’s what friends do.” Di grins, “North wasn’t that talkative and when he told us you’re coming home we couldn’t miss it.”

“Thank you.” Emotions hit me like an unexpected wave.

“Recover fast, Firefly,” Ashley says like it’s an order.

I narrow my eyes. “Why?”

“Because I need a new choreography. My competition’s coming up, and my current routine’s about as thrilling as lukewarm coffee.”

I laugh, shaking my head. “Ashley, I dance. I don’t teach ice skaters. That’s not my lane.”

She leans in, all confidence and sharp edges, and tilts her beer toward me. “Guess you’ll just have to learn.” She winks, and before I can respond, she’s gone, snatched into some conversation with Blue, one of Black Panthers member.

Then North is there, with Zane, Bullet, Iron, Soul, Tornado and Colt flanking him like a wall of leather and steel. The air changes instantly.

Iron raises his beer at me. “How long till you’re back on your feet?”

I squint. “Why?”

He smirks. “Need a part-time bartender at BB. Thought you might be dumb enough to take it.”

I glance at North, waiting for the verdict. He gives me that short nod that means it’s already decided. “You can have it,” he says. “But you’re starting your courses, too. This hood needs a dance school.”

It’s too much, all at once, and my chest feels tight. I lean into him, hiding my face in the leather of his cut.

“Don’t forget,” Denise calls from the next table, grinning, “we’ve also got a wedding to plan.”

North chokes on his beer. The table explodes into laughter, and I lift my head just enough to smirk. “You haven’t even proposed. Must’ve missed that part.”

His grin is pure trouble. “I did when I gave you the cut, Firefly.”

I tilt my chin up and whisper, “Maybe you should ask me again.”

The chair scrapes back and every head turns.

My heart kicks hard against my ribs.

He reaches me, grabs my hand, and pulls me to my feet.

“North,” I say, breathless already.

His eyes drop to my mouth. “You wanted to play.”

A whistle cuts through the room.

“Get it, Prez!”

Someone laughs. Someone else pounds a fist on the table. The noise explodes around us, rough and shameless, but North doesn’t look away from me. Not once. He just tugs me toward the stairs like I weigh nothing, like the whole clubhouse can watch and he still doesn’t care because his mind is already upstairs, already behind a locked door, already full of all the ways he plans to remind me.

Heat floods my face, but I can’t stop smiling. Especially when he bends, hooks one arm beneath my thighs, and lifts me off the floor.