CHAPTER NINE

Maverick

From the doorway, I smile, standing back and watching everyone fuss over Ingrid and the new addition to our club. Clover looks so happy as she makes kissy faces at the little guy. I duck my head out of the room and peer down the hall, looking for Sadie to see if my pep talk worked.

But there's nothing.

No sign of her at all.

Disappointment flows through me. I cross my arms over my chest and turn back to the room as Clover practically skips over to me. "He's so freaking cute, Mav. Did you see?"

I let out a laugh. "Yeah, Clo, I got a real good close-up of the little guy, remember?"

She leans in, cuddling into my side. "Oh, yeah. I can't believe you did that. You're practically a hero, big brother."

Shaking my head, I wrap my arm around her shoulders, holding her to me. "Not at all. Just in the right place at the right time."

Clover looks up at me. "Well, you're my hero." I smirk at her as she glances back around me. "Hey, where's Sadie?"

Letting out a disgruntled huff, I hold Clover tighter. "She had some things she needed to take care of. Thought this was more a club thing anyway."

Clover frowns. "She left without saying goodbye?"

"Guess she didn't want to make this about her, leaving the attention on that little guy over there."

Clover smiles and nods, turning back to face Ingrid, South, and little baby Louis. "Yeah, that sounds like Sadie. Doesn't matter, I'll see her again soon."

"You really like her, huh?" I ask, and Clover nods.

"She just seems to get me."

"And I don't?" I ask defensively.

"Stop! It's not like that. She's a girl, Mav."

"Okay." I have no comeback for that statement.

We stay at the hospital for a while, taking turns holding little baby Louis and congratulating South and Ingrid until Livvy makes her way back into the room on her rounds.

"Okay, I love you guys, but Ingrid needs time to rest. And with all you fuckers in here, she can't do that. It's time to go home."

Alpha smirks at Livvy. "You're not the First Lady of the club anymore, Liv. You can't go throwing orders around."

She raises her brow defiantly. "No, but I am in charge of Ingrid's health while in this hospital, and I can have you all thrown out of here. So what's it going to be, Alpha?"

He glares at her, but Haven chuckles, stepping up to him. "Babe, remember when you and Livvy first had Poppy? How tired you both were?"

His eyes widen, he glances over at Ingrid and South, then dips his chin. "All right, everyone out! We're going back to the clubhouse. Livvy, if they need anything, and I mean anything, you call me. Do not hesitate."

"Wouldn't dream of it." Livvy rolls her eyes.

"I'm leaving Hayes and Eggs here to guard the door," Alpha grunts.

"Wouldn't expect anything else. Because Ingrid is…" Livvy hesitates but continues, "… not the typical age of a mother we get in here. The doctors want to keep her in for forty-eight hours. Just to make sure she gets the rest she needs, and we can monitor her."

Alpha dips his chin. "You got it. Let me know when we can bring her home."

Livvy smiles, shooing us out the door.

"Thanks for coming, guys," Ingrid calls out.

"And thanks again for everything, Mav," South follows with.

I give them a curt wave before walking out with my arm still wrapped around Clover.

We make our way to the parking lot, and with Sadie gone, we have some passengers to deal with.

Alpha cranes his neck to the side. His eyes fall on me. "Where's Sadie? She's the ride for the girls."

Exhaling, I roll my shoulders. "Wanted the club to have the moment, Pres."

Alpha grunts. "While that's decent and all, it leaves us with a courier problem."

"I'll take Clo, obviously. We just have to figure out Rhy and Poppy."

Alpha scrubs at his beard like he's uncomfortable with this situation. "I don't want anyone taking Poppy but me. Haven, you okay to ride with Loki?"

She smiles, nodding her head. "Oh, I think it's Loki who doesn't know what he's in for."

Alpha snorts as he glances at our VP. "You good with this, brother?"

Loki dips his chin. "I'll take care of her, Pres."

Alpha grins. "That was never in question. It's whether you can handle her and the bullshit she will put you through on the ride home."

Haven chuckles, wiggling her eyes at Loki. "You game, oh god of mischief?"

Loki shakes his head. "Fuck it. Let's cause some havoc."

"Jesus Christ." Alpha groans as Haven makes her way to Loki and his bike.

Alpha and I turn to Rhyan while she gnaws on her bottom lip. "That just leaves you," Alpha states.

"I can get an Uber. I don't want to be any trouble," Rhyan offers.

"I'll take her." Noah steps up.

Dutch moves into the conversation regarding his daughter. Rhyan's cheeks flush as she glances at Noah, but Dutch shakes his head. "A prospect? You wanna take my daughter's life in your hands with the way you ride?" Dutch questions, his voice takes on a stern tone.

The smirk on Noah's face drops before he nods. "Yes, sir. I'll make sure she's safe. I won't ride like I normally do. I swear."

Rhyan snaps her head to her father, almost as if she is pleading with her dad to let her go with the rebellious Noah.

Dutch spins to Alpha and shrugs. "What do you think, Pres?"

Alpha snorts out a laugh. "She's your daughter, Dutch. This is completely your call, brother."

Dutch turns to Noah, shoving his pointer finger harshly into Noah's chest. "You ride fast, you ride stupid, you do anything to endanger my baby girl, so help me God, you're gonna wish I never helped you join this club. You understand me, Prospect?"

"I understand you," Noah replies respectfully.

Rhyan tries to hide her smile, but it is obvious she's excited to be riding with Noah.

Alpha dips his chin. "It's settled then. All right, everyone, let's get back to the clubhouse."

Clover and I make our way to my bike. I hop on, and as she slides in behind me, she lets out a little giggle. "Look at Rhy holding on so tight to Noah. Could those two be any more obvious?" Clover giggles.

I take a quick look at the two of them and smirk when it's clear Noah's eyes light up as Rhy holds onto him. Jesus Christ! Dutch will eat that kid alive if he goes near Rhyan.

Starting up my bike, I reply, "Let them sort their shit out on their own, Clo."

She cuddles into my back. "But young love, isn't it so romantic?"

Snorting out a laugh, I rev my engine. "Love is overrated," I reply, then pull on the throttle and take off after Loki as Haven throws her hands in the air behind him, and I vaguely hear her screaming, "Woo-hoo!"

***

It's been a few hours since we were all at the hospital, and it's safe to say we've all had a few celebratory drinks for the birth of our newest member.

I have been sitting by myself. Moping? Fuming?

Honestly, I don't know how I feel.

Sadie leaving the way she did has been playing on my mind.

With the way she'd been fighting me, I didn't think for a second she would be a quitter.

So with enough alcohol in me to give me some courage, I pull out my cell to send a harshly worded text to Sadie. As I type, Noah slides in beside me, smiling wide like he's up to his usual mischief. Glancing at my cell again, I delete whatever shit I had written and slide my cell back into my pocket.

"So, Prospect. What shit have you got yourself into today?"

He chuckles with a shrug. "Why do I always have to be in trouble?"

I raise my brow. "Noah, since you've joined the club, you've been in three bar fights, caught the bar on fire while lighting your drinks trying to impress the club girls, caused the security guard at Gears to get fired because you told him how bad he was at his job, then snuck in pretending to steal cash from the register to prove your point. And… been the instigator in breaking us through security and drinking on the Hollywood sign. You've been here eight months, Noah."

He grins mischievously, tilting his head. "Okay, so when it is all laid out like that, of course, it looks bad—"

"Noah, you're the club terrorist."

He bursts out laughing, then takes another drink of his beer. "Little extreme, Mav. But yeah, okay, I've done some dumb shit."

"You know, if you want that patch, you're gonna need to stop being a fucking brat."

His eyes shift from me, lingering on Rhyan a little too long as she walks past with Clover toward another table. His eyes quickly shift back to me, inhaling deeply as if trying to keep himself calm and cool like he wasn't just checking her out.

But he's not sly.

"I know you're not eyeing Rhyan, man."

"You ahh… you ever look at the other people in this club and wonder how the fuck they fit in this world?"

I glance over at Clover and Rhyan and furrow my brows. I know exactly what he means because the last place I want Clover is here after she graduates. "You mean how some people are too fucking good for this place?"

He nods. "Yeah… yeah, exactly."

Shrugging, I grip his shoulder. "The way I look at it, brother, is that everyone who walks through these doors and stays through those doors belongs here. Whether they fit the mold or not. For some reason, they are meant to be here because, deep down, they are exactly the kind of person who belongs in this place, even if they're not one hundred percent as tough as the rest of us. Does that make sense?"

Noah nods. "Yeah, it does," he replies, glancing over his shoulder at Rhyan again.

Smiling, I slap his back hard with a small chuckle. "You better know what the fuck you're doing, brother."

Noah shrugs with a heavy exhale. "I never know what I am doing, man. That's why I get in so much shit."

Grinning, I stand and make my way over to the bar. It's been one hell of a day, and I need a damn drink. Then I'm going to have the world's longest shower…

Because I need to get the stink of this day off me.