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Ace shakes his head. “Didn’t have a clue.”
“You haven’t noticed the weirdness?” I ask.
“They were fighting. I figured it was because of Darby. Best guy friends fight over women all the time,” Ace explains. “Hell, usually that’s the only thing they’ll fight over. That and if someone borrows money and never pays it back.”
Skid nods in agreement.
“Who knew Itchy and Snatch were like falling in love and having a two-year lovers’ quarrel?” Ace chuckles.
“Glad that shit is over,” I mutter, but we all stand near our bikes for a long moment.
Itchy was shot on our last mission. We almost lost him, and that takes its toll on a team. It makes us realize, like a slap in the face, that despite how badass we are, we’re also human.
“I think they’re going to be happy together,” Skid says, a twisted grin on his face.
“And y’alls budding relationship?” Skid asks, slapping me on the back.
I shake him off. “Shut the fuck up.”
“What? Not going to be another happy Cerberus couple?”
“We were drunk,” Ace grumbles. “Neither one of us were meant for sucking dick.”
I shake my head. I always said I’d try anything once, and apparently I took that to heart. After a half a bottle of tequila that included trying a little man-on-man action with my best friend, we both learned very quickly that we weren’t meant for the rainbow side of life.
Skid slaps me on the back with a chuckle.
“Hey, isn’t that the chick’s car from the gas station a few weeks back?” Ace asks as we walk toward the entrance of the diner.
Excitement fills my blood, and I walk a little quicker. Her fiery attitude hasn’t been far from my thoughts, and after the shitstorm of Itchy getting hurt, I’ve been left wondering if I’d ever run into her again. People drive through town all the time. The station we stopped at to fuel up is on the highway, so there was a possibility that she was just passing through. Knowing she might be local makes my lips curl up into a smile as I tug open the door.
That smile immediately fades away as I enter and look around the dining room.
Harley, the cutest kid I’ve ever met, is standing up in a booth, his little chest puffed out as he faces two men. He doesn’t look happy. His face is red, his little fists balled up like he’s getting ready to punch them both in their noses.
The pretty woman has her hand on his shoulder, frustration drawing her brow in.
“She said she isn’t interested. You need to leave,” the little guy says, his voice a low growl, marked with his young age.
I know he’s trying to sound intimidating, defending his mom, but he’s all of forty pounds, tops.
Her eyes find mine, but the kid’s back is to me as we approach.
The guys giving her a hard time spot us. The one in front has the wherewithal to widen his eyes just as Harley shifts his weight on the booth. I hitch my thumb to the right, telling the asshole to get lost. He sneers, but he must not be an idiot because he takes a hike. I watch as relief settles over Harley instantly. She pats his back, her eyes still on me, and I find that I like her looking at me. This time, she doesn’t seem agitated with my presence like she did at the gas station.
But then there’s a shift when I don’t immediately walk away.
“See, Momma. I got this!”
The men didn’t walk out of the diner. Maybe I’d leave her to her dinner if they did, but I wouldn’t put it past two assholes like them to come right back once I stepped away.
“Hey there, little guy,” I say to him once he settles down across from his mom. “Good looking out for your mom.”
Harley turns in his seat to look up at me. His smile is wide when he spots me. Skid and Ace peel off, finding a table across the room. I may catch shit from them later, but they won’t bother me while I’m trying to flirt with this woman.
“Hi, Snake,” he says, reading the tag on my leather cut.
“Micah,” I tell him, more for his mother’s benefit as I hold out my hand for him to shake.
His hand is tiny in mine.
“Harley. This is Momma.”
I chuckle as I release his hand and hold it out to his mother.
She looks down at it and I can see the battle in her eyes as she decides if she’s going to stick with her anger from the gas station or give into courtesy.
“Lucy,” she says after a long pause, but she never gives me her hand.
“Join us,” the child says, and if it wouldn’t be insanely inappropriate, I’d give the little guy a hug for the invite.
