“Read it in one of these magazines.”
“You read that tidbit right now?”
“Ain’t got all fuckin’ day, Pippin, out with it,” he asserted in a neutral tone, ignoring my question.
“Okay...” I grabbed our food off the counter, setting his plate in front of him. He didn’t waste any time, picking up his sandwich and taking a huge bite. His eyes never wavered from the pages of the magazine.
I finished preparing our milkshakes, deciding to stay standing on the other side of the island to eat. So I could nonchalantly get a better look at what he was doing. “My favorite books are anything in the romance genre, pretty much, especially historical romances. I guess you could say I love the old-school heroes who were in charge of everything. Alpha male types who were dominant and demanding. Kind of assholes with hearts of gold, which is all that matters.”
He hid his grin, placing the straw between his lips and sucking down his milkshake.
“The Bronze Horseman are my all-time favorite books, they’re a trilogy... but uh... do you like to read?” I casually asked. Noah’s words echoed in my mind about not knowing a thing about him. Silently hoping he would answer my question and not disregard it again.
“When it interests me.”
Out of the corner of my eye, the Parenting 101 magazine beside him, caught my attention. My stare wandered from one magazine to the next, noticing for the first time that all the bindings were worn, and the pages were somewhat crinkled.
I bit down on my lower lip, suppressing a squeal. Excitement bubbled from deep within me. About to erupt like an active volcano. These weren’t new, at least not for him. He’d read them before bringing them to me. My eyes immediately went back to the magazine lying open in front of him, finally realizing what he was jotting down. It wasn’t a magazine he was gazing at this whole time. It was a Babies R Us catalog. He was circling the things he liked—furniture, toys, and anything else that interested him.
My heart melted at the sight of him. The initiative he had, planning for baby girl’s arrival. I wanted to go over to him and tackle him to the ground. But I stayed put, mentally biting my tongue. If I called him out on it, he would stop. I’d embarrass him. He was trying to play it off like it wasn’t a big deal. As if what he was doing didn’t mean anything to me.
When it meant everything.
“So, what other shit you like to do, besides surfin’?”
“Oh! I love that crib!” I blurted after he circled it.
He nodded, not paying me any mind. “Figured you would since your favorite color is pink. Baby girl will prolly love pink, too. Just keep it in her room, yeah? Don’t want our place to turn into a fuckin’ playroom.”
I jerked back, confused. “Our place?”
He set the marker down, leaned back on the barstool, and pulled something shiny out of his jean pocket. “Come here,” he ordered, finally peering up at me with an expression I couldn’t read.
I did, rounding the island till I was close enough for him to grab my hand. He pulled me in between his legs, caging me with his arms placed on the granite behind me.
“The clubhouse ain’t no place for a baby girl to be runnin’ around. Screamin’, hollerin’, fuckin’ playin’. Ma’s house will always be my home, but it ain’t ours. Ya feel me?”
“Yes.”
“Good.” He softly kissed me. “Got us a place, a house on the water so you can surf whenever you want. It’s near your parents’ place, but not too close that they become a bigger pain in my ass. Hoping maybe one day they will accept me, but don’t hold it against them if they never do. I wouldn’t want my baby girl with a fuckin’ biker, either. But I’m tryin’, Mia. Wanna change for you, have changed for you. Time to start a life with you and baby girl. I know I ain’t the biological father, but it don’t matter. She’s mine, too. Already love her like she’s my own. I wanna be the man you deserve, babe.”
My eyes watered with tears.
“I know you’re young, but from the second I met you, you’ve been wiser beyond your years. Often puttin’ me in my place, only person I ever let do that,” he chuckled, rubbing the tip of his nose back and forth on mine before he pulled away, staring me deep in the eyes. “You got your whole life ahead of ya, and if you’ll take me, I’ll spend each one of those fuckin’ days by your side. Protectin’ you, cherishin’ you, and lovin’ you. Grateful as fuck you let me.”
“Oh my God, Creed, are you propos—”
“No, I’m doin’ somethin’ that means more to me than that. Somethin’ I never thought I’d fuckin’ do,” he interrupted, reaching around to grab his cut from the back of the barstool. Handing it to me with a huge grin on his face.
I took it in my hands, noticing it was much smaller than the one he wore. My eyes widened as soon as I took in the embroidered stitching on the back.
“Property of Creed,” I read out loud, locking eyes with him.
“This is your cut. You wear this and everyone knows you’re mine. No one fucks with you, unless they wanna fuck with me. And trust me, babe, no one wants to fuck with me.” He grabbed the black leather from me, turned it around, and laid it on the counter. Nodding to the front side. “Added some patches, too.”
“Love the life you live. Live the life you love,” I recited one of them, moving onto the next. “Despite the look on my face, you’re still talking,” I laughed, while he wiped away some of my happy tears. “La la la I’m not listening.” He grinned when he saw me eyeing the last few. “A women’s place is on her man’s face,” I huffed, shaking my head, moving on to another. “Don’t mess with a biker’s old lady, unless you want to die.”
He smiled wide. “That one’s my favorite.”
“Of course it would be,” I giggled, reading the last patch. “Don’t even look at me. My biker is VP.”
There were no words to express how I felt in that moment, especially when I read the patch Pippin where my name should be. My mind drifted to the night I went to the party at the clubhouse, remembering how I saw some women wearing cuts. Never imagining I would be one of them in my lifetime. I now understood why none of the brothers were looking at them the way they did with the other women. They were already taken.
This was the MC’s wedding ring.
“So this means you’re officially claimin’ me?”
“Baby, I claimed you the day you were born. You were made for me.”
I threw my arms around him, kissing all over his face. His words hit me in the feels, consuming every fiber of my being. I couldn’t believe this was happening. It was all I ever wanted, for as long as I could remember.