Rian cringes and looks down at herself. “Maybe I should change,” she mumbles.
I gasp and press my hand to my chest; the move has a smile breaking free on the pouting face of my girl. Good. Just what I was going for.
“Come on, get moving. I’m taking you to school this morning.”
Her eyes light up and she’s bouncing on her toes, “On the bike?”
Damn. I hate disappointing her.
“Not today.” When her mouth tips down in a frown, which I fucking despise, I’m quick to explain. “I need my truck for a few things today. We’ll take a ride on the bike this weekend,” I promise.
“Not this weekend.” When my eyebrows pull together in confusion, she explains, “This weekend we’re going to see Mimi and Papa, remember?”
“Fuck,” I bite out and Rian giggles.
She tried to get me to use a swear jar once. But it was futile. When she tried to institute it with the club? It was fucking hilarious.
And bless her sweet self for thinking it was going to fly.
It would have padded her college fund though.
“I forgot for a moment,” I admit and rub the back of my neck. “We’ll find the time.”
She nods and I breathe a sigh of relief because there’s no wariness in her expression with my promise. It tells me that she has no reason to believe I won’t follow through.
I might think I’m fucking up this father thing most of the time, but her believing my words are true, because I’ve shown her that they are, must count for something. Right?
I fucking hope so.
“Okay,” she chirps before brushing past me to go and brush her teeth.
We move with practiced efficiency until we’re in my truck and heading toward her school. I glance over at her and notice the look on her face is filled with concentration.
“You’re thinking awfully hard over there. Planning your time at Sagebrush?”
Rian glances my way and flashes me a brilliant smile, one that warms my heart and helps me remember that this has been all worth it. Because of her.
“You didn’t come home last night,” there’s no judgement or accusation in her words, only truth.
Still, I swallow hard, unsure of where this conversation is going and more than a little afraid at all the possibilities in terms of emotional destinations.
“You were at work?” She doesn’t ask like she’s curious to know the answer; she asks like she already knows it.
“Kind of.”
I could lie. I could tell her I was clocked in and working hard. But it wouldn’t be the truth. I wasn’t working. I was at where I work though.
But I’ve never lied to Rian and I’m not going to start now.
“And you weren’t on the club floors.” Again, she says it as a statement.
“Not at first.”
“Uh huh,” she huffs. When I glance at her, she’s pouting slightly. I can almost see her frustration rising. “Were you with Brielle?”
My hands jerk slightly, but I correct instantly and scowl. “You can’t just blurt out those kinds of questions, Rian,” I scold her, but there’s no real heat in my words.
The giggle that comes out of my daughter makes me question my status as a dangerous badass biker. I love to hear her laughter.