Falling For The Biker: The Vice President's Girl Chapter 88

Wren

"You always play rough, Noah. Now, look what you did!" Hannah scolds, crossing her arms as she glares at Noah who sits quietly at the corner.

"That's enough, sweetheart," I say softly. "Look, my arm's better now. Your daddy has sorted it out."

We both stare at my freshly bandaged arm as Ezra finishes. It still hurts, but at least it's not bleeding anymore.

Noah's lips wobble. "I'm s-sorry, aunt Wr-Wren."

A tear rolls down his face, and he wipes his nose with the back of his sleeves.

"Come here, love." I hold my good arm out.

He shakes his head.

Beth and Ezra exchange looks, sighing simultaneously.

"Go on," Beth says to him. "Aunt Wren isn't mad at you."

"Your mom's right. I'm not mad at you, Noah."

He sniffles and slowly, he makes his way over. I pull the dark-haired boy to me, rubbing his back gently as he hugs me.

"Did you want to hurt me?" I ask when I pull away.

"N-no."

"Then it was an accident. You didn't know I was injured, okay? I forgive you, sweetie."

That seems to set off another round of tears and he hugs me again, carefully this time. Hannah joins in seconds later, and I manage to rub both their backs with one arm.

When everyone feels better, and all the emotions are sorted out, Beth plates our food and invites us to the dining room to eat.

As we settle in, the kids engage us in a whole lot of conversation. From questions, to jokes, and even reporting Beth for sending them to bed earlier than normal on some nights.

"Yes, mom always does that when she has her boyfriend over." Noah nods, slurping a string of pasta as if he didn't just drop a bomb.

Ezra's eyes pop. "You have a boyfriend?"

"Noah!" Beth shrieks.

Hannah giggles into her palms. "Oh no, Noah's in trouble again."

"Beth?" Ezra prods.

When she ignores him, stuffing her face with food, I nearly choke on a chuckle.

"Elizabeth Jax, you seriously have a boyfriend? And you've been bringing him around the house? Do you know how unsafe that is?"

Beth sighs. "That's exactly why I didn't tell you."

"Because I care about your safety? You know either AJ or me is supposed to run background checks—"

"And you know that is ridiculous, Ezra. Besides, we're not official."

"So why is he around the kids?"

Beth frowns. "Oh my god, Ezra. He's not around them. Do I have to explain everything to you?"

"If my daughter is staying here, then yes."

"Oh please, she's not even your real—"

"Okay!" I cut in. "I think we all need some air."

Ezra shakes his head at Beth. The guilt in her eyes shines glaringly.

We both know what she wanted to say, and I can only hope smart little Hannah didn't catch on to it.

"Alright kids! Are we done eating?" I ask.

"Yes!" Noah screams.

"I have a great idea. Let's go to the yard, and I'll tell you all about it."

They jump down from their seats, and run out of the house through the back door.

"I didn't mean it like that Ezra," Beth says.

I sigh. "You both should sort this out. And Ezra?"

He looks at me.

"Cut your sister some slack. It's not easy having to take care of two kids by herself. Sometimes she needs company."

Giving both of them small smiles, I step out to join the kids at the yard.

I have no idea what I'll do with them, but I'm sure they'll help me figure it out.

Hannah runs up to me with my ringing phone.

"Aunt Wren, Judi is calling." She hands the phone to me.

"Thank you. You both go ahead, and I'll be with you in a minute, okay?" I wave to the blank canvases and bottles of paint.

Noah came up with the idea to paint, and when Hannah agreed, there was no finding my way out.

"Wren! Hi!" Judi squeals into the phone. "It's been a hot minute. Thought of you today, how're you?"

"Not so good," I reply. "How're you?"

"I'm good. I'm great actually...but what happened to you?"

"I got shot."

"WHAT?!!!"

I snort. "Relax. It's not that serious."

"You got shot and it's not that serious?" She gawks. "Does Ezra know you got shot?"

Nodding, I reply. "He was there. It's just a little graze."

"By a bullet, Wren. Jesus, this is crazy. How did that happen? When did this happen?"

And so I tell her everything.

Since I already told her about the brief move out of Ezra's house, it's not hard to catch her up on the events that led to me getting nicked.

"Oh my god," she whispers. "I don't even know what to say. I'm so sorry, honey. I'm glad Ezra beat him up, that man is crazy."

"Violence is never the answer, Judi."

"It is, Wren. Violence is always the answer to violence. But how's the arm?"

I try to lift said arm, wincing. "It could be better."

"Aunt Wren! Come and see this!" Noah yells, holding up a dripping paint brush.

"Coming, sweetie."

"I'm guessing you're with Ezra's family. Vacation on the way, yes?" Judi asks.

Heat licks up my cheeks, and I roll my lips between my teeth. "Yes. I'm not sure when we're leaving yet, but we will."

"I think you both should come to Seattle."

A laugh bursts from my lips. "Thanks for the offer, but it has too many memories I'm not ready to revisit."

"I understand. Anyways, I wanted to tell you that Andi and I have been talking."

I frown. "Who's Andi?"

"My boss," she whispers. "After our dinner, we've been talking and he's asking for a second date."

"Aww really? Do you like him?"

She laughs. "Hell yea—oops, I have to run now. I'll call you later. Bye honey, love you. Regards to Ezra and his family."

Judi hangs up before I can respond, and I smile.

When I head back to the kids, Ezra and Beth finally make their way out of the house. I raise a brow at Ezra and he gives me a subtle nod.

Relief washes through me, and I breathe.

I'd hate for them to be stuck fighting or quarreling while we're still here.

Ezra wraps an arm around my waist, his lips grazing my ear. "I want to take you somewhere tomorrow, don't know if you'd like to come."

My brows pinch together. "Of course, I'd go anywhere with you. Where are we going?"

"To see my mom."

Oh.

I swallow. "At the hospital?"

"Yes." He nods. "Does that make you uncomfortable?"

"No!" I blurt a little too quickly.

Slowly, his hand drops from my waist. "You don't have to come if you don't want to. I'm not trying to force you or compel you."

"I know you're not—"

"I just want to introduce you to my mom. But it's okay if you're not comfortable with it."

"I'm comfortable, babe." I sigh. "It's just unexpected, and I would love to meet your mom."

"You can think about it. It's not a big deal."

My frown deepens.

He's trying to play it off like he doesn't care if I decline or not, when in fact, he actually cares.

Slipping my fingers through his, he looks at me.

"I'm sure. I'd love to visit your mom, Ezra. Okay?"

He shrugs. "Okay. But—"

His phone beeps and he pulls it out.

When he stiffens, I know it can't be anything good.

"What's that?" I ask.

"Just a text from AJ. He has found out the name of the president of Tristan's MC."

I frown. "The woman?"

"Yes."

"Th-that's good, right?"

His shoulder lifts. "Honestly? I have no idea...yet."

What the hell does that mean?