Phoenix’s Plight by Tiffany Casper
“A man is measured by his heart.
Not his pride.”
- Heathen
Chapter 18
Heathen
Three days after she forced him from the hospital, he went and bought a truck. It was the safest, most durable Chevrolet on the lot in town and it would be better than the bike. He wasn’t putting June on the back of his bike with her being pregnant. It wasn’t safe.
He had wanted to go ahead and purchase a car seat, but he didn’t know what kind June would want them to have, so he waited.
What he did do was stroll through the baby department at the store and picked up what they called gender-neutral onesies and a few blankets. Too many of the workers had offered their help, but he glared at them.
He was not a free man.
If he had it his way, he would be off the market for the rest of his life.
He was going to talk to Rachel and see about having a tiny kutte made for his baby.
Five days later, he went on a week-long run to see about opening another chapter in Virginia.
Two weeks after that, he was working on his project. Skinner had come over and helped him around his house, neither of them saying a word.
Shocked as hell, in the room that Heathen had allocated as the nursery, Skinner had designed and painted a mural of a bike coming down asphalt in between a line of trees. The riders were Heathen and June. It was fucking badass.
He had yet to sleep. Coffee and energy drinks were keeping him awake.
Hell, he was afraid to close his eyes and see the pain on her face.
That was something he never wanted to experience again.
They had taken in two Doves and relocated them. Normally, he didn’t go on the rides, but knowing that her house was half an hour away from him, he had to do something about the pain that was eating him alive.
What hurt even worse had been the Thanksgiving dinner that Lil had thrown together. June had agreed to help cook, but because of what went down, she hadn’t shown. However, he had seen some of her dishes that she’d made for him there.
It had been a female-against-male event and even his brothers were looking at him like he was a traitor who had settled deep in their midst.
It had been so awful, he had left without eating and parked down the road from her house. He just wanted to be close to her.
All of his calls and texts were still going unanswered. However, since he had purchased a new phone that was like hers, instead of his texts being delivered, they were now being read.
At least she hadn’t blocked him yet. That was something, right?
For fucking four weeks, he felt like he was in pure and total hell, fucking agony. The one woman who had loved him unconditionally hadn’t spoken to him in four fucking weeks and he didn’t know what more he could do.
One more chance. He knew that she loved white roses, only white ones, so he placed an order with a flower company and prayed for the second time in his life that she would give him the time of day.
He sat on the edge of his bed and stared at the delivery tracker that he had paid for.
Heathen wanted to know the moment she got those flowers. He hoped that she would contact him, but anything from her would suffice.
Needing fresh air, and not the pillow that he hugged against his chest every night that he refused to wash because it smelled like her, he made his way to the courtyard and grabbed a couple of beers.
He saw the moment she had signed for the delivery and he stared at his phone, almost as if willing her to call.
“You alright, brother?” Cam asked as he sat down beside Heathen out in the courtyard.
“Yeah . . .” Just as he was about to say more, his phone rang in his hand.
June’s smiling face came across his screen.
“Hello?” He tried to instill happiness in his voice, but he hadn’t managed it.
Her voice was music to his ears.
She had thrown him a life jacket. And by god, he wasn’t going to fuck it up.
After she said what she needed to say, he nodded to Cam and then walked out of the clubhouse.
After all this, if she wanted him to leave the club for her and their baby, then he would. No question about it.
