33. Tempe

33

Tempe

Luna stops beside me, wearing neon-purple sunglasses. She smiles, tipping her face up to the sky.

“I love Nevada.” She waves her arms out.

“That’s because it’s April, and the weather is bearable.” I laugh.

“True.” She drops her arms.

I look across the beach to where Austin is helping Jameson set up a grill. A few prospects are carrying chairs down the hill to the beach from where the motorcycles and trucks are parked up at the overlook.

We’re the only ones in this particular stretch of the lake, and even if it’s more rocks than sand, it’s a nice, secluded space for the club to relax.

Jameson gives Austin a one-armed hug for helping him with a folding table, and my heart expands watching them.

It’s strange to think this is going to be our life now. I never would have imagined it, given my resistance to everything Helix represented. But Jameson changed my perspective. This isn’t just a club; it’s a family. For him, I’m thankful to be part of it.

“I should probably go to find the sunscreen.” Luna examines her arms, glancing up to where a few of the patch bunnies are applying lotion to each other in an attempt to get the guys’ attention.

“Maybe if you ask nicely, Ghost will help you rub it on.”

“You’re terrible.” Luna smiles, a blush painting her cheeks.

“And you’re in denial.”

Luna follows my gaze to where Ghost is watching her. But the second their gazes meet, his stare drops to his phone.

“What is it about a man covered in tattoos that’s impossible to resist?” Luna sighs. “Not that you’re on the hunt anymore now that Steel locked you down. The first of the ranked members to take an old lady. Honestly, I did not see that one coming.”

“Thanks?” I laugh.

“You know I don’t mean it like that.” Luna threads her arm through mine. “But those guys are better known for riding bikes and shooting guns than relationships.”

“Honestly, I’m just as surprised as you are. I wasn’t planning on any of this when I came here. I never wanted a relationship either. But something just… I don’t know. Something just makes sense when I’m with him. ”

“You deserve it, Tempe. You both do.” A genuine smile creeps up Luna’s cheeks. “And who knows, maybe it’ll rub off on the rest of them now.”

“Maybe if you do something about it, it will.” I poke her arm.

“Yeah, yeah.” She releases me, pulling a hair tie off her wrist to wind her freshly dyed purple hair into a ponytail. “The second you have proof Ghost is pining after me, you let me know, and I’ll lock him down. Until then, I’m convinced he’s the least interested in me out of all of them. So I refuse to sit around waiting.”

I shake my head because she doesn’t see that he’s already pining after her, but there’s no use trying to convince her until they’re both willing to admit it.

“Let’s go get our feet wet,” Luna changes the subject.

“You have fun. I need to check in on Austin. Looks like he’s digging a moat around Pearl, so I should probably make sure she doesn’t need saving.”

Luna laughs, walking toward the water. “Good luck.”

I make my way across the beach. There’s a slight breeze cooling the air, making it the perfect temperature to be outside. A gust rustles my skirt, and luckily Jameson made sure I put my bathing suit on before leaving so I don’t give everyone a show.

Nearly half the club is here, patch bunnies included. Reina still glares at me every time we make eye contact, but she hasn’t approached me or said a word since Jameson stood in the center of the clubhouse and announced me as his old lady earlier .

Hopefully, we learn to coexist because I’m not going anywhere, and as much as I wish she would, I understand she’s as much a part of this club as any of the girls are.

Besides, just because Jameson’s past is staring me in the face in the form of a beautiful blonde doesn’t mean I don’t have my own history. What’s in the past is exactly that. If I’m going to accept this life, I need to embrace what I’ve signed up for.

There’s no being half-in with a man like Jameson Steel. I either need to trust him or leave. And when I look up to find him watching me walk toward the group, the smile on his face confirms I have nothing to worry about.

Ghost pulls Jameson’s attention with something on his phone, so I head over to Austin.

There’s not much sand on this side of the lake, but Pearl found a decent patch to set her chair up in. Austin and Bea carved a moat around her, and now they’re filling it with water.

“Safe in your castle?” I stop at the edge of the moat.

“Of course. So long as I have my little knight in shining armor.” Pearl smiles, watching Austin dump another bucket of water into the moat.

“Faster,” Bea says to Austin as the sand drinks up what they just poured.

Her blonde hair is in a ponytail that bounces around as they run back toward the lake. I’m thankful Austin has a friend through this transition, and I hope that makes it easier. Someone for him to share movie nights and playdates with at our house.

Our house .

I don’t know when I started thinking of it like that, but that’s what it is now. A home when I’ve never really had one.

“I hear my grandson wised up.” Pearl smiles. “Congratulations.”

“Hope you don’t mind us sticking around. I know there’s not much peace and quiet with a four-year-old stampeding through the house.”

“Not at all.” Pearl shakes her head. “It’s been far too quiet for far too long. I love having Jameson back home again. And the two of you are an added bonus.”

“Thanks, Pearl.”

She nods, and Austin adds another bucket of water to the moat. He’s been quick about it, and it’s now overflowing.

“I think that’s enough.”

Pearl laughs when it splashes her feet, and I snatch the bucket up from him.

“You like it?” Bea and Austin look up at me, smiling proudly.

“It’s perfect.”

“Honey Bea,” Legacy calls for his daughter, holding up a bottle of sunscreen. “Come here.”

Bea’s shoulders sink, but she reluctantly makes her way over to her dad while Austin runs back to the water. I follow him, crouching down to help him dig a rock out of the ground.

“What are you up to now? ”

“Jameson said if I get a flat one, it skips.” He grabs a flat stone and throws it into the water like he’s pitching a baseball, so it immediately sinks.

“You’ve gotta toss it like this.” I dig another flat stone out of the dirt and stand up. “Like a frisbee. Try to keep it flat when you throw it.”

I show him how it’s done, and my rock skips twice before sinking. Something Austin doesn’t seem impressed by.

He scours the ground around us, and when I spot a flat stone peeking out of the water, I hand it to him.

“That one should work.” I stand behind him, setting his hand in the right position with the stone. “Like this.”

I move his arm back and forth slowly so he can adjust to the movement before letting him go.

Austin’s entire face scrunches as he focuses on the water. He reels his arm back, and then, mirroring the movement I just showed him, he tosses the rock in. It skips once before disappearing under the water.

“I did it!” He jumps up, landing in his signature superhero pose, even if he’s no longer wearing his cape. “It skipped.”

“It did.” I smile when he immediately starts running around, looking for another stone.

I’m still figuring out what experiences Austin had when he was gone with Mom and what I need to make up to him.

I watch him toss rock after rock into the water, and I want him to have all of them. He deserves the childhood she never gave me. One where he could just be a kid, not worrying about the responsibility that eventually comes from growing up.

Bea gets distracted by a kite while Austin runs up and down the water. His feet splash with every step. After a few laps, he finally slows down, pausing beside me and resting his head on my leg.

I brush the side of his cheek with my hand and look out at the water with him.

“Does this mean we’re leaving?” Austin tosses a rock into the water, and it immediately sinks.

“Why would you think that?” My eyebrows pinch.

“Mom let me do fun things when she told me bad stuff.” Austin digs his toe into the sand. “But I don’t want to go.”

“Then good thing you’re not, big man.” Jameson comes up behind us, sweeping Austin up into his arms, and Austin starts laughing when Jameson tickles him.

Jameson holds my brother, turning to face me, and the smiles on their faces are so big, my heart snaps in two. One piece for each of them.

“You mean it?” Austin asks, looking from me to Jameson. “We’re not leaving ever?”

“Ever.” Jameson ruffles the hair on top of Austin’s head. “You and your sister aren’t going anywhere. You’re mine now.”

Austin’s eyes well with tears as he pulls Jameson in for a hug. “You can be mine too, then.”

“I can?” He pats Austin on the back.

Austin nods, hugging Jameson tight.

Family .

I always thought it had to look a certain way, and because mine didn’t, it meant I’d never have one. But watching Jameson hold my brother, knowing he’ll protect and love us with his whole heart—with his whole club—I find the family I never expected.

Jameson winds his free arm around my shoulders and pulls me in to kiss the top of my head. The soft waves of the lake lap at the shore after being kicked up by a boat passing at a distance. And I lose myself in that steady sound.

I pause.

I stop fighting.

And I stop running.

For them, I just want to be here.

“Ice cream!” Austin shoots upright in Jameson’s arms, looking over at where Legacy is pulling ice cream out of a cooler.

“You want some?” Jameson sets Austin down, and he immediately starts bouncing.

“Bathroom first.” I hitch an eyebrow at my brother, who can barely stand still.

“I don’t have to go.”

“Let’s just try, and then you can have all the ice cream you want.”

“Fine.” He skulks.

“I’m gonna help Havoc set up the sunshade.” Jameson glances over at where Havoc’s struggling to balance both sides .

“Okay, we’ll be right back.” I motion to the overlook, where a bathroom is hidden behind the cars and motorcycles in the parking lot up above.

I lift onto my toes and give Jameson a quick kiss before glancing down at Austin’s feet. “Grab your shoes. No bare feet in the bathroom.”

He’s so excited at the promise of ice cream that he can barely get them on his feet before he’s grabbing my hand to pull me up the hill.

“Sonny. Reyes,” Jameson yells for them, pointing at me and Austin.

“It’s just a bathroom break.” I smile.

“Sorry, wildfire. The two of you are never going anywhere alone again.”

I shake my head, laughing, even if I do understand it. Being my father’s daughter was dangerous, and we didn’t speak. But Jameson being the club’s president puts me at even more risk, whether I’m around him or not.

Austin tugs me up the hill to the overlook, and we make our way to the bathroom. It’s getting late in the day and the road is empty.

Sonny and Reyes stand outside while I take my brother in, and I’m glad they have soap because it’s clear no one has cleaned the bathroom in a while.

The smell is still lodged in my nose when we make our way back out, and I almost trip over something.

“What—” I look down to see Sonny lying on the ground with blood pouring out of his neck. “Sonny.”

But before I can drop down to put pressure on his wound, a hand slaps over my mouth, and someone grabs me. I look over at Austin as Reyes snatches him off the ground and covers his mouth with a cloth.

“No.” The word is muffled with the hand over my mouth, and I only get in one good kick when something pricks my neck.

It all happens so fast that I can’t scream or fight.

My vision starts to blur, and the last thing I see is a clear blue sky before the world turns black.