"You're not helping her, Chief."

"It's not your say, woman." Chief's boots thunked against the floor.

Johanna stood outside with her keyring dangling from her finger. Her adrenaline spiked, and she froze with her hand on the knob. Only the screen door separated her from the conversation going on inside between Karla and Chief.

She should've broken curfew and stayed at the party ten more minutes. It seemed like lately, whatever she tried to do, she screwed up. Now Chief and Karla were fighting over her.

Ever since Chief moved her in with Karla and the boys, she'd done everything right. She helped out around the house. Her and Karla got along—she loved her. Karla never treated her like a roommate or extra hand around the house the way Nene had. Karla was a friend, and she had the benefit of getting her support in most things.

She couldn't say they had a normal mother-daughter relationship because Karla wasn't her mother.

Nene hadn't been her mother.

Jett, Olin, Thorn were not her brothers.

She didn't fit in anywhere, except with Chief. He never made her feel like an outsider. He treated her better than his sons, now that they were older and could do everything by themselves. There were certain things she accepted in her new family because what else could she do?

"I'm telling you, Karla. I don't want her going out with her friends past nine o'clock at night," said Chief.

"What about Homecoming?" asked Karla.

"What about it?"

"It doesn't start until seven o'clock, and the boy wants to take her out to dinner after the dance they're having at school. He's a good kid. I know his parents, and he comes from a good family."

"She can't go," said Chief.

"She's sixteen years old."

"That's fucking right. Sixteen. She stays home."

Johanna backed away from the door and returned to her car. The car Chief bought her for her birthday last month, and she'd assumed meant she'd have more freedom.

Slamming the car door, she shoved the keys in the ignition, and backed out of the driveway, and drove away. Chief couldn't control her social life.

Lindsay and Ashley both had dates to Homecoming, and Ashley was almost a year younger than her and had been dating since she turned fourteen. It wasn't fair that Chief forbid her to go out to a school function.

She turned up the radio to match her mood. Brian Stoffield finally asked her out on a date—her first date, and she wanted to go. It was unfair of Chief to make the rules when he only came over to the house when he felt like it, which wasn't often anymore.

His stupid set up with two women in two houses and even having children with one of them were abnormal. Worse than a cheater, because he had Nene and Karla believing they had a good thing going on, and the two women accepted him fully even though she'd bet all the money she'd saved Chief didn't love them the way a man should love a woman.

It was all about sex and him having Karla as his baby momma. She turned the corner, and the tires on her car squealed against the asphalt. The vehicle slid across the road, and she jerked the steering wheel.

The car shook, tilted, and she tried to brake, but the car went off the road and pitched her forward. She hit the dash, coming clear out of the seat, and landed on the gear shift.

A groan ripped out of her chest. Pushing herself upright, she climbed out of the car and fell into the ditch. She stayed sitting on her butt and stared at the vehicle through sobs she couldn't remember having.

Covering her face, she cried. Not because the crash scared her —it had. Not because Chief would probably take her car away for breaking curfew. Not because she'd miss out on going on a date with Brian.

She cried because Chief would be disappointed in her. He might even punish her by staying away from Karla's for longer periods or leave her life completely.

An engine thrum started in her chest and grew. Her tears fell faster the closer the motorcycle came to reaching her. It wouldn't matter if it were Chief or one of his members, he'd soon know what she'd done. News traveled fast within the Brikken family, and there always seemed to be a biker around every corner lately. Even at Tacoma High School. The other kids always talked about how she belonged to Brikken Motorcycle Club.

She suspected that was the reason why she was sixteen years old and hadn't gone on a date yet, and only Lindsay and Ashley remained her close friends.

The motorcycle engine changed octaves and shut off. "Johanna!"

She rubbed her hands over her face and looked over her shoulder. Hidden behind the car, she couldn't see Chief.

"Damnit, bug," he yelled. "Answer me."

She stood as he rounded the fender of the car. His eyes swept over her and hardened. Prepared for the trouble that would fall down around her, she was unprepared for him picking her up and holding her. Burying her face in his neck, she let his beard caress her skin, calming her racing heart.

"I'm sorry." She cried.

He sat down in the grass holding her. "Sh."

Pressed against him, she wanted to stay in his lap and pretend she hadn't wrecked the car and her life was anything but abnormal.

He pulled her head off him and inspected her face, the front of her, and her legs. Then he looked into her eyes. Embraced in his safety and looking into his dark eyes, she couldn't look away.

"You okay?" said Chief, rougher than she'd ever heard before.

"I think so. My heart is racing." She covered his hands with hers and kept him cupping her face. She'd scared him.

He'd never tell her, but she could see the intense concern in his eyes. A look that usually drove him away from her and made her physically ill. She hated when he left because she could never let herself believe he'd return.

She couldn't face the punishment if he stayed away from her. Her heart pounded. He was the best thing in her life. She lived each day afraid he would stay away or even worse, send her away.

It didn't take a genius to know there were two kinds of people in the world. Those who loved forever and those who loved—or maybe couldn't love—and left. Her mom left her with strangers. Nene sent her away. Karla would eventually push her away when she became an adult. From the moment Chief walked into her life, he'd stayed, and she wanted him in her life forever.

"I'm sorry." She kissed his whiskered cheek.

"Johanna," he said, her name dragged out of him.

He looked at her differently and even sounded weird. She'd really scared him.

She kissed him again, twining her fingers in his beard. "I'm so sorry. Don't be mad. Please. Don't be mad and leave me."

His hands lowered to her neck. She swallowed, wanting him to keep holding her. It'd been too many years of not knowing what tomorrow would bring or if she'd wake up in a stranger's room for her to forget about her past.

She couldn't remember where her real mom lived or what school she'd gone to when she was in grade school. But, she remembered what it felt like to be left.

"Please, don't be mad." She pressed her lips against his mouth. His hands tightened on her neck, lifting her face. Her body trembled trying not to cry out loud and his lips softened. His lips moved. His lips pressed against hers, so startling, she gasped and pressed closer.

A tight tingle unraveled inside of her and warmed her stomach. The sensation a caress after the awful emptiness of crying. She'd never experienced anything like it.

Half scared. Half excited. She wanted the feeling of belonging when she kissed him to keep going and going.

She scooted her bottom on his lap to get closer, and he lifted her by her upper arms and stood her on her feet, breaking the kiss.

Shoved out of the cocoon he'd created, she shivered, unable to gather her thoughts. Had he kissed her the way Karla and Nene kissed him? Or was it the kind of kiss she'd witnessed Lindsay and Ashley's mom giving her friends when they left the house?

She wrapped her arms around her middle wanting to contain the feelings. She knew. Deep down, she knew what kind of kiss that was, and she was sure it shouldn't have happened with Chief.

She knew she wanted to do it again.

She was sixteen. He was forty-two years old. Old enough to be her father.

But, he wasn't her father.

They weren't even related.

He'd taken her away in the night and gave her to someone else to raise. For the last eight years, even when she moved out of Nene's house and in with Karla and the boys, he'd sheltered her from everyone

She liked kissing him.

She wanted more.

"I'll take you home on the motorcycle and have a member of Brikken come get your car." He refused to look at her.

She grabbed his hand, refusing to let him walk away without her. Out of the ditch and back up on the side of the road, she threw her arms around his waist, stopping him from getting on the Harley.

"I won't go to Homecoming. I won't go out with Lindsay and Ashley for the rest of the year." She closed her eyes as she let his beard cover her face. "You can beat me and —"

"Don't tempt me," he whispered gruffly, rubbing her back.

She closed her eyes in pleasure. His reply bounced around inside of her leaving her all kinds of confused. He sounded as if he wanted to hurt her, but she'd pleased him.

Something colossal passed through her when she'd kissed him, changing her. Chief looked at her differently, and she could barely breathe because she understood that look. But, she couldn't grasp what it meant or if it was true.

He liked her kiss. He liked it a lot, and she clung to that knowledge because she wanted him in a way that she could keep him forever. Like the way Nene kept him around, and Karla was still in his life.

He stopped touching her. "Let's get you home."

She held on, refusing to let him go, and tilted her head, looking up in his face. Unsure how to deal with the way he'd made her feel, maybe she'd done everything wrong. "Are you mad at me?"

He looked over her head into the field.  Weariness settled in his eyes. Her already fearful mood turned to worry about him. When she was younger, she always crawled into his lap when she sensed club business wore him down. He never spoke of his troubles, but he never stopped her from hugging him to make him feel better.

"Not mad at you, bug. You did nothing wrong. This one is on me." A deep sigh rippled through him. "We need to go. I got shit to do."

Not quite believing him, she got on the motorcycle behind him. The familiar rumble underneath her butt a comfort after how the night turned out. She peered over at her car. If Chief took away the things she liked, it wouldn't be enough punishment for what she'd done. He'd spent a lot on the car—Olin told her how Chief paid extra to order one with midnight blue paint that it almost appeared black.

She'd ruined his present in one careless moment because she allowed herself to get upset about not going out on a date with a boy. A boy.

In her heart of hearts, she knew if Brian Stoffield kissed her, it would never compare to Chief kissing her. Rubbing her lips against Chief's vest, she remembered how soft and yet firm his mouth was on her.

Knowing no one would ever be able to make her as happy as Chief gave her a lot to think about.

***

OUTSIDE KARLA'S HOUSE, Chief took his wallet from his back pocket and handed over a few one-hundred-dollar bills. "Help her pick out a pretty dress."

"You changed your mind about letting her go to the dance?" Karla narrowed her eyes and scrutinized him. "Why?"

He sensed Karla's confusion. Except for a few problems with his sons that he'd had to deal with personally, their mother usually took responsibility for the kids' day to day lives.

"Don't question me, Karla." Chief pulled a hair band out of his pocket and tied his hair behind his neck. "Things could change fast for you."

"As you well know, if you make that decision. If you lay down the law on me, I will come up even stronger." Karla stepped closer to him. "Do not mess with the young lady's head in there or you will regret it. She's not one of the whores who hang around Brikken waiting for some attention from you."

He lifted his eyebrow. "Waiting?"

"I'm only—"

"Crossing the line, Karla." He rounded on her. "If Johanna wants to go to the dance, let her go with her little boyfriend. I'm giving her that."

"You need to give her more freedom." Karla's forehead wrinkled. "What I see you do is wro—"

"Shut your mouth, woman." He raised his hand. "Take care of her. Love her. That's your only job. Fuck it up, and I'll be done with you."

He walked toward his motorcycle more tired than an hour ago. It'd been years since Karla stood up to him. Her lecture was misplaced.

His relationship with Johanna was of no concern to her. All Karla had to do was keep her opinion to herself. She had a roof over her head and took care of his two youngest sons. In a couple years when Olin and Thorn moved to the clubhouse and if she wanted out of the agreement, she was free to go.

If he wanted her to have a judgment about his life, he would plant his ass in the house every fucking night. He had no desire to tie himself down to one woman.

He sat his Harley, making sure Karla went back inside the house and caught Johanna sticking her hand between the slates on the blinds hanging from her bedroom window, and closing the glass.

His chest tightened. She'd eavesdropped on the conversation between him and Karla.

He started the motorcycle and rode away. Nobody knew or could convince him Johanna understood what was happening between him and her.

Until tonight.

He'd felt her reaction to the kiss. The moment it went from innocence to awareness. The slight shift of when her body led and her mind slowly caught up to what was happening. His hands tightened on the handlebar. That connection and hunger had been there, buried below the surface, masked in goodness, and only hidden because of Johanna's age.

She would no longer be able to control the feelings building inside of her, and it killed him to know he needed to step back and let her grow, to experiment, to bloom into the woman she was meant to be without him helping her along the way.