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When I finally make eye contact with Royce, he gives me a big wink and turns to follow the boy out.
“Sorry for the interruption, ladies,” Flint says, reaching for a cupcake before kissing Bree on the forehead and heading down the hallway that I assume leads to the bedrooms.
“Well, that was a beautiful, and awkward, interruption,” Charlie says with a sappy grin on her face. “When did he start calling you Ma?”
“Probably when he realized it would help him get his way,” Riley answers with her best guess, before squeezing Bree’s shoulder to lighten her words.
“You aren’t wrong, but he is a good kid.” Bree sighs, before turning her gaze back to me.
My face turned bright red the moment Royce appeared, and I hoped everyone would drop it. That hope was dashed the moment I saw the look on Bree’s face.
She gets up to retrieve another bottle of sparkling wine from the kitchen before turning back to me. “Okay, Molly, dish! What, exactly, happened between you two?”
“Nothing,” I tell her, and Riley lets out a giggle at the doubtful looks on the others’ faces. “We kissed at Charlie’s house. That’s it. Him, being the town whore, his buddies all assumed we, you know…”
“Bumped uglies?” Charlie pipes in.
“Boinked?” Riley contributes.
Tabby has closed her eyes and scrunched up her face in an attempt to keep her mouth shut. “Laid down and danced.” She didn’t take long to join in.
Bree and I share a look, but I notice the corners of her mouth twitching.
“Connal doesn’t think that Royce actually knew about the bet,” Charlie repeats what she had previously told me.
Bree lets out a frustrated sigh and rolls her eyes. “Honestly, if Royce had been involved in the bet, it would have slipped out by now. He’s much more likely to say he did something, than to hide shit. I wasn’t there, but that’s my two cents, if you’re interested.”
Chapter 4
Royce
After another training session with Shade, it was easy to convince him to swing by the bakery before I had to drop him off at Jessa’s aunt’s house. Ellie takes care of Danny and as Roy’s living with her nowadays, I use that as an excuse to tag along with Shade.
From the look he gives me, he knows damn well that I’m just hoping to get more information about Molly. Since he’s engaged in his own battle to get Jessa to move in with him, he thankfully doesn’t give me shit over it.
Hanging back as we enter, I barely listen to Ellie and Shade as they catch up. I’m trying to figure out my next course of action with Molly, and thinking about the snippet of conversation between her and her friends the other day, it’s twice now that I’ve heard Molly mention her cousin, so I file that information away for later consideration.
I was optimistic when I overheard her ask about the poker run. Unfortunately, my presence is the biggest obstacle to her attending. I’ll have to figure out who I can enlist to make sure she comes.
“How’s life as a grandpa?” I greet Roy when I notice him coming down the stairs holding Shade’s son.
Roy was legendary back in his day, but much like Flint, he’s passed the torch to us younger guys. Along with endless amounts of advice.
As far as I know, he never had any kids of his own, even though he had pretty much raised his nephew, Vice.
It was after Vice died, that he took up with Jessa’s aunt and considering that Ellie worked at the police station for most of her life, she was hesitant to wear the mantle of Ol’ Lady. Regardless, Jessa and Danny fall under the umbrella of who he considers his family. If all goes well, Shade will be part of that circle soon too.
“Diapers are not for the weak of heart,” Roy says, swinging the boy in Shade’s direction. Danny shrieks with laughter as his dad grabs his waist, continuing the baby’s arch through the air, and it’s easy to see this is a well-practiced maneuver.
The once rocky relationship between the two men has changed and I feel a lump in my throat, never having had my own father figure.
“I heard young Joe wants to go on the next run with you,” he says, looking at me when he switches to club business. I can’t help the look I give Ellie, who ignores me as she wanders off toward her kitchen.
“Flint said he’d head that off,” Shade replies when I hesitate. It doesn’t feel right talking about something Ellie can’t take part in, in her own home. “Not that he’ll be happy until he does, but the fact that he’s not patched…”
“They want to adopt him,” Roy interjects and that gets my attention.
“Who?” I ask, confused since Joe Madda is probably about seventeen.
