My phone alerts me to a new notification and I pull it out of the back of my pocket. It’s a text from Crooner, telling me that he misses me and that he wants to talk to me later tonight. A smile plays on my lips as I read his message.

I debate replying to him immediately, but then a group of construction workers walk in. I can tell they’re dirty and tired from a hard day’s work, so I don’t dally as I make my way toward their table to take their drink orders. They all look like they could use a tall cold beer.

By the time Traci walks through the doors to relieve me, the bar is completely packed. Her eyes widen as she looks around at all of the full tables. “Shit, I probably should call Ginger to come down here and help me. I can do a lot, but one woman cannot handle all these men alone.”

“Do you want me to call Gracie, see if she can watch Easton for a few more hours?”

Traci looks from me to the crowd. “You don’t mind? You’ve been here all day.”

I shake my head. Extra tips never hurt anyone, and I have a house that needs to be filled. “I don’t mind at all. Let me call her really quick,” I smile.

Traci sighs, and I can see the tension leaving her face. Taking my phone out of my pocket, I call Gracie. I explain the situation and she tells me not to worry about it. She’ll get Easton some dinner and tells me to take my time. I’m grateful that she’s such a great friend. Hurrying back to the center of the bar, I help Traci check on every table, and serve more drinks.

The minutes tick by, and the bar seems to get crazier. It’s absolutely insane for a weeknight. I’ve never seen it like this before. I’m surprised that amongst the crowd of men and women, the Devils are nowhere in sight. Usually, a few of them pop by, here and there, but after Baby and his group left at lunch, we haven’t had anymore.

My phone buzzes in my back pocket as I mix a Captain and Coke. I pull it out and look down, it’s Ward. Without answering, I shove it back in my pocket. It’s too loud, and I don’t have time to call him back, not that he would be able to hear me over the boisterous crowd.

“Jesus, I thought your bikers were rowdy,” Traci sighs, tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear. “I don’t want you to go back out there, Hayden. You stay here and fill orders.”

“Who are all these guys? And where’s Nate?” I ask.

Traci shakes her head. “Nate called out sick. These are the construction crews for a new asbestos abatement job in town. They’re supposed to be in town for the next six months. We’re going to need to hire another waitress for the evenings. We cannot do this shit for six months. I cannot do this for six months,” she practically screeches. “They’re touchy-feely too. Which is why I want you back here,” she states.

“Okay, maybe I should call Ginger, bring in some of the guys?” I ask, my eyes searching the room.

Traci shakes her head. “I’ll talk to Ginger tomorrow, the last thing we need tonight are the Devils waltzing through here waving their dicks around. Let’s just get through this. Do you think you could stay until we close?”

“Let me call Gracie again,” I offer.

She takes a tray of beers and runs off. I take my phone out of my back pocket and call Gracie. After explaining everything to her, she tells me not to worry about it. That she’ll keep Easton all night, and to come and get him after I get some sleep tomorrow. I thank her a dozen times before ending the call.

My notifications are crazy as I quickly swipe through them. I have a dozen missed calls and voicemails, and about that many text messages. I shoot a text back to Ward so that he doesn’t worry too much.

I don’t wait for a response, shoving my phone back in my pocket and getting to work on the men’s orders sitting at the bar, then when I have them handled, Traci appears with another order for the floor. Our night continues on like that until closing. When Traci flips the open sign around to closed and locks the doors, we both let out a sigh.

“Fuck that was insane.”

I moan, exhausted from working over fifteen hours straight. “It was beyond insane, whatever that word is, that’s what tonight was.”

Traci laughs, rubbing the back of her neck. “Thanks for helping me out,” she sighs, wiping down a table.

“I couldn’t leave you alone, not with that bunch,” I shrug, cleaning my own table.

We spend the next hour cleaning the bar for its afternoon reopening, and I pray that Ginger will be able to work because I’m not sure I can come back in six hours. I need some serious sleep, and to see my boy.

“Let me give you a ride, it’s late,” Traci offers as we lock up the bar.

Looking around the empty, dark streets, I decide that I’ll take her up on her offer. It’s dark, it’s extremely late, and my legs ache. The last thing I want to do is walk home. Sliding into Traci’s passenger seat, I thank her as she drives toward my new house.

“I still can’t believe, you and Crooner,” she smiles shaking her head. “He claimed you and moved you in with him before anyone could blink.”

I want to tell her that I think I made a mistake, that it isn’t all sunshine and roses, but I don’t. I smile, giving her a nod, but nothing else. She pulls up in front of my house and I wrap my hand around the door handle, pushing the door open and slipping one leg out.

Traci’s hand catches my arm before I can exit the vehicle. “You ever need anything, Hayden. I mean, anything at all, don’t hesitate,” she says, her eyes focused and pointed directly at me.

She’s trying to tell me something, and if I were a different woman—a stronger woman, I would be able to read her. I don’t respond with anything other than a small smile.

Leaving Traci’s car, I hurry toward my front door, slipping my key into the lock, then myself into the house. Closing the front door, I lock it behind me quickly. Standing in the entry, my eyes dart around the living room.

I haven’t been alone in this house before and for some reason, it frightens me. Shaking my head, I decide I’m being paranoid. Nothing will hurt me here.

Gracie and Fish are just down the street, and I have no doubt that Ward has asked men to drive by every so often while he’s gone. The entire club knows I’m here alone. I’m safe. I’m just being a big baby.

Shuffling toward bed, I laugh to myself. I am being a gigantic baby. Pressing my lips together, I think to myself that it must be because this is the first night alone in this new house. I’ll be more comfortable tomorrow, then the next day, and the next. Soon I won’t even realize that I’m alone. Today my schedule is just off. I’m usually asleep by now, and almost getting up for the day.

I quickly shower, then change and set my alarm for three hours from now. I miss my baby and I want to see him as soon as I possibly can, however, I need a little bit of sleep at least.

A few hours to recharge for another long day of work. Hopefully, Nate or Ginger will be able to work tonight to help Traci. I honestly don’t think I’ll be able to do another double shift.

Slipping into bed, I let out a sigh as my eyes close and I quickly drift off to sleep.

Rage consumes me at Hayden’s lack of response. I squeeze my phone in my palm, listening to it crack before I release it. Glancing down, I’m glad that I didn’t break it, and yet disappointed all at the same time. It takes every single thread of my patience and control not to throw the phone across the bar.

“You look deep in thought, and by the expression you’re wearing, it’s all about a woman,” Fury chuckles. I glare at him, pissed off that he can read me so easily. “Been with my woman a while. Shit is not easy with the bitches we choose. For some goddamn reason I picked a fuckin’ firecracker to share my life with,” he shrugs, taking a pull from his beer.

“A firecracker is the only type of woman who can handle us,” I smirk.

Fury lifts his chin. “No fuckin’ joke.” We sit in silence for a moment, then he speaks again. “She’s got you this wound up, she must be somethin’.”

“She’s the girl the nomads rescued almost two years ago,” I explain taking a pull of my beer, wishing it was something stronger.

Fury’s brows knit together. “The one that Lucifer marked and that had a baby by one of the Aryans?”

Taking another pull of my beer, I grunt as my response. Fury lets out a low whistle with a shake of his head. “That’s a big undertaking, Croon.”

“Don’t I fuckin’ know it,” I state.

He rubs his hand down his face, tugging on the end of his beard before he lifts his blue gaze to my own. “My Kentlee has family shit, but nothing near what your girl has. Plus, my shit ain’t what your background is. You two have a long road to pave. She’s young as fuck, too. I don’t know, Croon,” he shakes his head.

I don’t blame him for being wary, I would be too if I were an outsider looking in, if I were talking with a brother. He doesn’t know that Hayden might be screwed up from her past, but she isn’t broken. She’s the strongest woman I’ve ever met, even though her physical age is that of more of a girl than a woman. Her life experiences and her maturity have made her all woman, even at nineteen.

“Hayden isn’t helpless, she’s strong and mature. Honestly, out of the two of us, she’s probably more mature than I am,” I chuckle.

Fury tips his beer back and finishes the bottle. “She might be more mature, but you’re sitting here pissed off and she ain’t answering your calls. What’s going on?”

Tipping my beer back, I finish my bottle as well, lifting it toward the bar signaling to the prospect that I’m empty. “We had a fight. I said something that made her think about her past and it upset her. I tried to explain myself, but I don’t think she got it. She was at work all day. I told her I’d call her tonight and she didn’t answer my calls or texts. She claims she was still working, but I think she was avoiding me,” I shrug.

Fury shakes his head. “Fuck, I do not envy you. I remember those days. Get your thumb on her, brother. Don’t pussyfoot around a damn thing. She’s yours, she’s claimed, make sure she knows what being claimed by you means. Knock that shit out of her head about her past, it doesn’t apply anymore.”

Lifting my chin, I take the beer from the prospect who appears at the side of our table. “Plannin’ on it, brother. Goddamn, of course I pick one of the most difficult women on earth,” I chuckle.

Fury stands from his seat, wrapping his hand around my shoulder with a squeeze. “No, brother. All of our women are difficult at one point or another, it’s how we react, how we show them that we’re different from other men and then the beauty they give us that makes it all fuckin’ worth it,” he says.

I watch as he walks away, his words playing on a loop a few more times before I take a swig of my beer. He’s not wrong, and I wonder how the fuck he became the pillar of a good man with a strong marriage in this group?

I think about his woman. I don’t know her well, but the girl is a knockout, and she stuck by his side through a lot of shit, maybe having a woman devote herself that way, that makes you want to be the best man you can be for her?

I have no doubt that Hayden is that woman for me. We have some kinks to work out, but I know in the end that everything will be good between us. It’s just getting there that I’m not sure I’ll have the patience to survive.

“Hey handsome,” a woman purrs from next to me.

I glance up and notice that she’s topless, and only wearing a G-string that barely covers the front of her pussy. She bends down, her large natural tits sway in front of my face as her red painted lips turn up into a smile.

She touches her finger to my bottom lip before she speaks again. “I’ve heard about what you like, baby,” she whispers, leaning in to speak against my ear. “I’m wet just thinking about your cock in my ass. Let’s have some fun.”

My eyes glance around the room and land on Free who lifts his beer bottle to me. He’s got a whore hanging off of his neck, one of his hands gripping her ass. But his eyes are on me.

I shake my head once. “Sorry sugar, not tonight,” I grunt.

She straightens her back and her eyes narrow for a split second before she sinks to her knees in front of me. I suck in a breath when her hands slide up my thighs, they squeeze when they reach the tops and I watch as she moves them over to my button and zipper.

Wrapping my hand around her wrists, I stop her movements. “I said not tonight,” I growl.

Her lips twitch in a smile, and she looks like she’s thoroughly enjoying herself. “How about me and another girl give you a little show? Put you in the mood? Or maybe me and another guy? Whatever you’re into.”

Thinking about her with her fat tits being touched by another woman, her pussy being licked, and vice versa, wouldn’t be a fucking hardship to watch. Maybe if I sent her on the mission, she would stop trying to get on my dick.

I curse to myself. Six months ago, I would have fucked this bitch and any other one who happened to be standing around without a second thought. I would have buried my cock in their asses without blinking. Now, there’s Hayden, and she’s mine.

My father would be disappointed in me if I cheated on my woman—I would be disappointed in me if I did.

Hayden doesn’t deserve a man who can’t keep his cock in his pants. She deserves someone clean and good, not me, but I’m what she has, so what I need to be is the best version of myself as I can, and that does not include fucking whores.

The whore comes back with another girl. Her tits are small and pert, and she looks fucking young. “Heard you wanted a little show,” the younger one rasps.

I watch as she leans down and captures the other one’s nipple in her mouth, sucking on it, while her hand travels down her stomach and rips down her G-string. My cock begins to harden at the sight. When her fingers slide through the other whore’s pussy, I groan.

Wrapping my hand around my cock from over my jeans, I squeeze. I close my eyes and try to calm my ass down. I need to get the fuck out of here before I do something I’m going to regret.

Standing, I turn away from the two girls and stumble toward my room. Once I’m inside, I slam the door closed and lock it.

Fuck.