“Maverick, we’ll want to adopt him if he stays with us. You gonna be okay with that?” Goliath asked. Lily looked over to him with surprise, and I could see the love and wonder in her eyes when she looked at him. A small smile spread across her face when she realized what he was saying. Now, I knew Goliath wanted him just as much as she did.
“I get that. Yeah, I’d be okay with that, but I still want to see him. I want him to know who I am, so that one day, when he’s older, he’ll understand why I did this,” I explained. I knew it was a lot to ask, but I couldn’t imagine never seeing him again. I needed to know that I could still have some kind of contact with him, or I wouldn’t be able to survive this.
“You will always be welcome here, Maverick. I want John Warren to know you, too. It takes a special kind of person to love someone enough to let them go,” Lily told me with tears in her eyes.
“I wish I could be more for him. I wish I could be the father that he needs, but I know you both love him. You’ll give him the kind of life I can’t.”
“We’ll do our best. I can promise you that,” Goliath said confidently.
“Thank you for trusting us with him. We’ll do everything we can to make him happy,” Lily promised. JW reached out his hands for Goliath. He walked over and took him from Lily’s arms. He rested his head against Goliath’s chest like he was meant to be there. Goliath ran his hand over his little head and down his back as he hugged him closer.
Goliath kissed JW on the head and said, “Glad you’re back Little Man. We’ve missed you.”
I couldn’t take it any longer. One more second of this, and I was going to fall apart. “I’m going to head back.”
“You can stay here tonight,” Lily offered.
“Thanks Lily, but I need to get back. We’ve got some shit going down back home, and my president needs me to get back. I’ll be in touch.”
“Okay, but you are more than welcome. The door is always open. Just let us know when you want to come back for a visit.”
“I’ll be back. You can count on that. If you ever need me, I’m just a phone call away. Thank you both. I know in my gut that this is the right thing to do.” I walked over to JW and kissed him on the side of his head. I laid my hand on his back and stared at him for a minute. I leaned over and whispered in his ear, “Don’t hate me for this. I wouldn’t do it if it wasn’t the right thing to do. I love you.” I couldn’t stop the tears from filling my eyes as I walked out to my car.
Chapter 2
Henley
?
Six Months Later
“Are you really going to keep your face buried in that book all night?” Cassidy asked.
“You know, I have my final tomorrow. I need to make an A in this class,” I told her without looking up from my book.
“You have to make an A in every class. It’s like you’ve forgotten how to have fun. I miss fun Henley. What happened to her?” she said as she looked in the mirror and played with her hair. “You need to go out with some friends and have a good time.”
“Yadda, yadda, yadda… I’ll go out and celebrate when I finish my finals.”
“Why don’t you come to the club with me tonight? The guys are having a party, and I know they’d love to see you. I miss hanging out with you. Let’s go out and have some fun like we used to.”
“Ummm… how about NO?” I answered sarcastically.
I had nothing against going to the clubhouse with Cassidy. I actually kind of liked going there from time to time. The guys were a little rough around the edges, but they all seemed like pretty decent guys. It didn’t go unnoticed however, that they all liked Cassidy… a lot. The way they pawed all over her, made me feel a little uncomfortable sometimes. But I’ve done my best to avoid asking her questions about it. She’s not one to talk about what really goes on at the club. Besides, I learned a long time ago that Cassidy has a mind of her own, and it’s best to just leave her to it. She was happy—that was all that mattered. The Satan’s Fury MC had become like a second family to her, and I knew she loved them… all of them. I’ll admit that I’ve even found myself a little jealous of the life she has created outside of ours, but I’d never tell her that.
“Oh… come on. Don’t be a ‘Debbie Downer’. It’ll be fun. We can have a few drinks and dance on my break…,” she encouraged as she shook her hips from side to side. The bangles on her wrist clanked together as she tugged at the hem of her mini skirt. As she looked in the mirror, Cassidy pulled her hair up in a messy bun, and touched up her make-up. She was club ready. I smiled to myself thinking how different she looked an hour ago when she was sprawled out in front of the TV eating potato chips and chocolate chip cookies in her pajamas. Her transformation was complete.
“Maybe some other time,” I told her as I flipped through the pages of my textbook. “I’m just not up to partying tonight. Besides, you know I’ve got to get up early in the morning.”