of Shell’s kindness.
“Let them do this for you, Mak. You deserve some time to relax. You need it,” he said, as though the rest of them weren’t staring. He leaned in close. “Think about it. A whole night to yourself. You can eat whatever you want. You can drink an entire bottle of wine. You can sleep for twelve straight hours if it makes you happy.”
Mak groaned, and lust shot straight to his cock. Fuck, that was a sexy sound.
“All right.” She turned to Shell. “Thank you. Thank you so, so much.”
“It’s my pleasure. Trust me when I say we’ve all needed a little help from time to time.”
“Oh, and Thunder has something for you,” Copper said. “From the club.”
“Shit, that’s right.” He pulled the thick envelope out of his back pocket and pressed it into her hand. “Don’t even think about refusing this.”
Mak’s forehead scrunched in the most adorable way, and he had to clench his fists to resist rubbing a thumb across the lines. He’d already given the guys enough to interrogate him over the moment she left. No need to pour gas on the fire.
“What is it?”
“Open it.”
With a wrinkled nose, she opened the envelope and gasped at the sight of twenty-five crisp twenty-dollar bills. “What? No, I ca—”
He slid a palm over her mouth, shaking his head. “No. Just say thank you, Copper.”
Mak sagged, and he removed his hand. “Thank you, Copper,” she said, emotion bleeding through.
The big man nodded. “Trust me when I say it is the very least we can do. I wanted to put more in there, but Thunder told me you’d never accept it.”
Her cheeks flushed red. “He was right.”
Something about those three words had his chest filling with warmth. In the short time since he’d met her, he’d come to know her in a way he’d never bothered to understand other people. To predict how she’d respond to a gift showed a level of intimacy he didn’t let himself find with women.
But Mak was different.
“Okay, we’ll let you ladies finish closing up and Shell, you and Mak can work out the details. Rest of you need to be at the clubhouse for church tonight at six.”
“Mak, you’re done for the day. Go home and chill. That’s an order,” Toni said, pointing a finger at Mack.
Everyone fled the table, leaving him alone with Makenna. She turned to him with a troubled expression. “You shouldn’t have done that.”
How did he know this conversation was coming? “Done what?”
Her frown deepened. “Any of it. I could have made up the money with extra shifts here. And I’m used to being tired, Thunder. It’s just a fact of life.”
Christ, she broke his heart. “But you don’t have to be. You’re one of the crew here, Mak. And we take care of our own. Why suffer through it alone when we’re all willing to help?”
She didn’t so much as crack a smile. In fact, she looked utterly confused by the question. “Because I’ve always had to do it alone, and I will again, only next time, I’ll be so much worse off because I’ll know what I’m missing.” She shook her head. “I sound so ungrateful. Thank you, Thunder. Thank you for thinking of me.” She leaned in, pressed a chaste kiss to his cheek, then got up from the table, taking a large chunk of his heart with her as she went to gather her belongings.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
MAKENNA TRAILED HER hand along the wall as she strolled through the empty house. This was the first time since she’d moved in, hell, this was the first time since leaving the community, that she could remember being alone at home.
It was nice. The quiet, the peace, the…uncertainty as to what to do with herself. Sure, the laundry had backed up days ago, and there were those pictures she’d picked up at the thrift store she’d meant to hang, and the floor hadn’t been mopped in an embarrassingly long time, but those were all chores.
Using her precious and rare solo time on housework felt like a waste of a precious gift, but she had no idea what a prudent use of the time would be. In the hour since Copper and Shell had picked up the little kids, she’d realized one depressing fact.
I have no life.
She didn’t have hobbies.
She had no clue what music someone over the age of seven liked to listen to.
Hopes and dreams were a luxury she’d never indulged in, so she had nothing to strive for.
So