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Grabbing her hand in mine, I gently caress her skin and easeher up from the stool. I wrap my arm around her shoulders supportively and nod. “C’mon. I know someone who can help.”
“No damn hospital?” she reiterates.
Nodding, I tighten my grip around her. “No hospital.”
She exhales as I walk us back toward the clubhouse.
Only one person I know can check Haven out without taking her to the hospital. The same person is the only one willing to come to a clubhouse full of bikers for a medical consultation.
The thing is, I don’t know how my ex-wife is going to feel about this.
Especially when she learns it’s the woman I’ve just been fucking.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Haven
My face hurts like a bitch, but the bleeding is slowing as Alpha and I approach the clubhouse.
I haveneverlet my aim slip like that before. I’m always on point—no matter the circumstances—but there’s something about Alpha and the intense way he makes me feel that’s causing me to falter.
It’s how he works my body and pushes me to the brink by pressing every single one of my buttons. I haveneverhad a man test me the way he does. The thing is, I like it, and that scares the hell out of me because I am trained to keep my guard up. To keep focused. And me getting slammed in the face with a recoiling gun is proof I am certainlynotkeeping my guard up around this man.
“You okay, little lamb? You’re wobbling with each step?” he asks as we make our way inside the clubhouse.
Blinking rapidly, I have to admit my head is a little foggy, but I don’t want him to think I’m weak in any damn way, so I push through. “I’m fine. Honestly, you’re worrying over nothing,” I grumble. Then my legs tremble, and I almost fall.
Alpha catches me, shifting me into the nearest seat. “Okay, sweetheart, whatever you say. I’m gonna go make a call and get you some ice. Stay here. Don’t get up. I fucking mean it, Haven!”
Snorting out some sort of laugh-come-cough thing while my eyes roll around in my skull, I reply, “I hear you.”
Alpha walks off, whistling to someone and signaling for them to come over to me. I shift my head into my hand, blinking a few times, not caring who he’s sending my way. I’m feeling increasingly sleepy. I close my eyes, just for a moment, when agentle hand presses on my back, making me jump and snapping my head up. Ellie and Swift are standing in front of me. Ellie with a cloth and some ice and Swift with a stern glare.
“Hey, baby girl, what happened?” Ellie asks.
I glance at Swift. He crosses his arms over his chest like he’s concerned. I don’t want to tell them everything. Instead, I run with the basics. “Wasn’t paying attention on the gun range. I didn’t count on the recoil being that damn aggressive. The gun smacked me fair in the nose.”
Swift narrows his eyes. “You look like the type of woman who could normally handle a weapon?”
Swallowing a lump along with the tang of blood, I nod. “I can. I was a… little distracted. It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have been firing when my mind wasn’t fully focused.”
“You shouldn’t be handling firearms if you don’t know how to use them,” he grumbles.
“No, I do. It was a momentary lapse. Won’t happen again.”
Swift huffs and turns, storming off while Ellie chuckles, sitting beside me. “He might be a big buffoon and can’t read between the lines, but I can. Alpha was the one distracting you, right?”
She hands me the cloth and ice pack and I nod, placing them on my nose. “Yeah, and it was so freaking good, Ellie.”
She chuckles, lightly gripping my knee. “You know, when Dutch and I were younger, we got up to all kinds of crazy around the clubhouse. It’s harder now. We’re both older, we have responsibilities, and our aging bodies don’t help. But now and then, we sneak out to the gun range. You can have arealgood time out there when no one is watching.”
My eyes widen while I grin at her. “Ellie, you old dog!” I giggle.
She bumps into my side, leaning against my ear, saying, “How do you think we conceived Rhyan?”
I jerk my head back, my mouth shooting open as I stare at her. She winks and pats my leg. “All I am saying, baby girl, is don’t be afraid to be who you are. If you and Alpha have a connection, then go for it. Because honestly, he lights up around you, and I haven’t seen him light up in years. As for you, Haven? I don’t know you, but I am sure you’d fit in here if you wanted to. I might be overstepping, even jumping the gun, but I think you’d be good for Alpha. And maybe he might be good for you too?”
My stomach swirls. It might be from swallowing my own blood. It might be from the hit to the face. But my instinct is that it’s from hearing what Ellie is saying. A truth that I desperately want to be true, but I know it can’t be.
