Priest: A Motorcycle Club Romance (The Viking’s Rampage MC: Tucson Chapter Book 2)

It’d been a week since Priest and the girls lost Wendy. I’d been there for every step and we were all exhausted. Helping him and his family was helping me work through my own loss. I still missed Grams, but I’d gained so much by coming back to Tucson. Seeing how he helped his girls through it put things into perspective for me.

Priest was doing his best to hold it all together, but anyone could see he was overwhelmed. He was dealing with his own guilt—I still hadn’t gotten him to open up about that—as well as with his daughters’ broken hearts. I knew he blamed himself for the way they felt.

I’d been trying to give him time to process, but if he didn’t talk to someone about everything he was going to implode. He insisted on having me nearby as much as possible and I fell asleep in his arms each night. Still, it felt like he was pulling away. Like he didn’t want to burden me with his grief.

It was such a contradiction. His possessive nature wouldn’t let me go. And to some small degree, he used me to anchor himself, that much was obvious. But for as much as he kept me physically near, by not opening up to me, it was like we were both alone.

I wasn’t sure how to assure him that I could handle it. That I wanted to be there for him, to be his island in the storm. I knew without a doubt he would do that for me. I saw first hand in Austin the lengths he would go to for his family. He needed to know I would do the same.

“Jenny.”

Looking up, I smiled at my supervisor as she poked her head into my office. “Hey, Rebecca.”

“Hi,” she gave me a warm smile and stepped into the room. “I just wanted to check in. See how you’re doing?”

“Oh, I’m great,” I chirped, putting a little extra pep in the words. I wasn’t about to tell her what was going on in my personal life. We weren’t that close. Not to mention the conflict of interest with dating the man who was trying to get custody of Caitlyn.

“Good! I know it’s been an adjustment coming back and getting into the flow of things here.” She came over and set a file on my desk. “By the way, here’s the Mitchell file.”

My stomach knotted up as I stared down at it. Trepidation rose as I waited to hear the outcome.

“We’ve decided, based off the Aunt’s request, to grant custody of Caitlyn to Grant Mitchell. Despite his…friends, he has three children and not one indication of being a negligent father.”

The breath whooshed out of me and I had to fight back the urge to scream in excitement. This was the good news Priest needed right now. “That’s great, Rebecca. Caitlyn has really taken to him and his daughters. This is good for all of them.”

She nodded and we chatted for a few more minutes. As soon as she left I let out a little squeal. I buried myself in work for the rest of the day, looking forward to getting out of here so I could tell Priest the good news in person.

The clock finally hit five and I rushed out of the office and straight over to the clubhouse. Usually, I texted Priest first to make sure it was okay that I dropped by, but I was too excited to wait.

As soon as I pulled into their lot, Smokehouse walked up. He smiled at me and walked up to my car as I was texting Priest. “Hey there, Taz.”

“Hi Smokehouse. Is Priest here?”

One of his brows quirked up.

“I didn’t wait to be invited over,” I told him sheepishly. “I have some good news-”

“Taz,” he said, stopping me. “You’re his old lady. You don’t have to wait to be invited to stop by the clubhouse. Only time we’ll keep you waiting is if we’re in church. Come on, Beautiful. I’ll walk you in.”

“Thanks,” I replied, cheeks pinkening. He wasn’t flirting with me, per say. That was just Smokehouse. If it had two legs and was female, he flirted. Still, I frowned over at him when he wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

His chuckle was deep and rumbled within his chest. “Don’t worry, Taz. Just giving Priest a run for his money.”

I wasn’t sure what that meant exactly, but he’d already tossed open the front door to the clubhouse. My brows pinched together as I saw Priest sitting there talking to a couple of the sweet butts. The only one I knew was Pixie.

He glanced over and glowered at Smokehouse. Standing, he walked over and pulled me away from Smokehouse’s side. “Hey,” he said, tone soft despite the dark look he shot his MC brother.

“Hi.” It came out a bit more breathless than I’d intended, but this man set off a storm of butterflies in my belly every time I saw him. “I have great news.”

He folded his arms over his chest and stared down at me, his face a neutral mask. He was waiting patiently, reserving judgment on whether the news was going to be good or not. I understood it. He’d had a shitty couple of weeks.

“My bosses got back to me today. They’re letting you adopt Caitlyn!” My face hurt, that was how big my smile was. When the look on his face didn’t shift my grin faltered. “Um… Is everything alright?”

“Yeah. Sorry.” He scrubbed his hands over his face and suddenly looked exhausted. “That is great news. Thanks for letting me know, Taz. I needed that today.”

I blinked in confusion. He was saying all the right words, but he still looked…cautious. He wasn’t smiling at me, or hugging me. Heck he wasn’t even touching me. Other than to pull me away from Smokehouse he hadn’t touched me once since I walked in. “Is everything okay?” I asked again.

“Yeah. It’s fine. I just have a lot on my mind right now.”

I reached forward to touch his arm, to give him comfort, and he shifted out of the way. My eyes widened and then it was all I could do to keep from crying.

“Okay,” I said, my voice trembling a little. “Well, I’ll leave you to let Caitlyn know. She’ll be really excited.” I turned and walked out the door, ignoring him as he called my name.

I only made it a few steps before something massive clamped onto my arm and spun me around. His grip was firm, but it didn’t hurt. “Christ, Taz. I’m sorry. Seriously, I just have a lot on my mind. We’re about to have church and there’s been a break in The Silverbells mystery…”

Nodding, I swallowed hard. I refused to cry in front of him. I knew he’d been having a rough time and he was trying to juggle everything. I also knew that was when he tended to pull back and shut people out. It’s why he’d dumped me before. I was just worried that it was going to happen again. The last thing he needed was me pouring my worries onto his already full plate, however. As much as I needed to, I knew that doing so would make things worse, at least right now. “I understand, Priest. Really. I’ll see you later.”

With a curse under his breath, he dropped my arm and let me walk away from him. A tear tracked down my face. I was trying to pull myself together, but it was hard to imagine getting everything I ever wanted and then having it ripped away from me. This time I only made it as far as my car.

“Hey there.”

I glanced over and paused. “Hi, Riptide.” It was impossible to walk around this compound without running into at least a few of these guys. Even when I wanted to make a clean getaway they were here.

He frowned then looked over toward the clubhouse and swore when he saw Priest standing there. I followed his gaze and watched Priest turn and stomp inside.

Riptide’s warm blue eyes landed on me again. “Everything alright?”

“Yeah.” Even I heard the shakiness in my reply. Steeling my nerves, I nodded. “Everything is fine.” Now I sounded like Priest.

He searched my face for a minute then narrowed his eyes. “Want me to kick his ass for you?”

A laugh popped out before I could stop it. “You don’t even know why you’d be fighting him.”

“Ah, but there is a reason,” he pointed out.

I looked down and shrugged. “It’s nothing.”

“You’re a shitty liar.”

My eyes snapped up and I glared at him.

“There she is,” he said with a grin. “I prefer seeing you with a bit of fire in your eyes rather than sadness.” He pointed toward the clubhouse with his thumb. “Don’t mind him. We guys are clueless assholes half the time.”

“What are you the rest of the time?” I asked in a sugary sweet tone.

It was his turn to laugh. “I like you. He chose well.” He scratched his stubbled chin. “Horny assholes,” he answered.

I smiled and shook my head. “You would be easier to figure out if that were the case.”

“Oh we’re easy enough most of the time. He’s just had a bit of a rough patch.”

Guilt pierced my heart. “I know that. I’m doing my best to help him through it.”

“Sometimes there’s no helping. There’s just being there. Don’t worry,” he set his heavy hand on my shoulder in comfort, “he’ll pull his head out of his ass.”

“I hope so,” I whispered.

“If he doesn’t, we’ll do it for him,” he promised. “It’s what we’re here for. Meanwhile, if you need to talk, you come to me or Lock. We’re here for the old ladies as much as for our brothers.”

Patting his hand, I smiled. “Thanks, Riptide.”

He removed his hand from my shoulder and nodded. “My pleasure. Drive safe.”

I got into my car and headed home. It was past time to have a movie night with my mom. I’d been so caught up in everything we hadn’t seen each other much over the last week.

As soon as I walked in the house, my mom popped out from around a corner. “Honey!”

I lifted a hand to my chest, trying to ease my galloping heart. “Jeez, Mom. Don’t scare me like that.”

“Sorry,” she laughed. “I was just about to make some cookies. Do you have time to join me?”

“Do I ever,” I replied and followed her into the kitchen. “I thought you’d still be at work.” I made a straight line for the cookie dough and helped myself to a spoonful. The sweetness exploded on my tongue and I groaned in delight.

“Took a sick day,” she told me.

I moved over and laid the back of my hand on her forehead. “Are you not feeling well?”

She laughed and shooed my hand away. “I’m fine. I just needed a mental health day.”

Frowning, I folded my arms over my chest, giving her my best ‘Mom glare’. “The question still stands.”

“I’m fine,” she insisted. “You always were a mother hen, even as a kid.” She said it in a warm way, so I didn’t take offense.

“Need to talk?”

She studied me. “You seem to have forgotten that I’m the mom here. You look like you’ve been crying. Seems to me that maybe you need that talk.” That was Mom speak for, ‘tell me everything or no cookies for you’.

“Why don’t we both share?” I suggested, picking up a tray of cookie dough and depositing it inside the oven.

“Good idea. I’ll get more junk food.” Mom and I had a special arrangement at times like this. It was what she and Grams had always done together and now it was our tradition as well. Cookies took time to bake, so you had to have snacks on hand while you were waiting for more snacks.

“I’ll get the movie,” I told her with a grin. There was no need to ask what she wanted to watch. We always started each movie marathon off with our favorite.

We settled in on the couch and I laid my head on her shoulder. I was so grateful to have her. Even though not having Grams join us was like a missing piece to the puzzle, I knew I could always come to her for comfort.

We arranged the popcorn and snacks over our laps. It would take us a good thirty minutes or so before we’d end up pausing the show and start to talk. We had a rhythm. It was familiar and eased my mind. She’d know how to soothe the worry and hurt Priest had caused. He was the only one who could banish it fully, but for now, Mom would help me push it to the back of my mind. And just maybe give me some insight on how to deal with him.