Page 15 of Riding Free

Then, without another word, as if she actually trusts me, Keely shifts the baby into my arms. She’s wearing little soft cotton shorts with a ruffle around each leg, and a tank top with ruffled straps. It’s got cream-and-white stripes with little sewn-on cherries. I don’t know why I’m so fucking focused on her clothes, but I’m trying not to panic.

“She’s light,” I murmur.

My body is stiff as I look down at her. My gaze searches this little baby. This creature that is half of myself. How in the fuck does this little beauty belong to me? How in the fuck did I make her? And how the hell is this real life?

I went from not a care in the goddamn world this morning, other than the breast pump I mistakenly bought Chassis and the reaction that Dare is no doubt going to have, to becoming a fucking father.

A dad.

Holy shit. I’m a dad.

Keely hands me the bottle. I curl my fingers around it, but I don’t know what the fuck to do with it. My mind is spinning a million miles a minute. What the fuck has just happened to me?

“Just hold it straight and put the nipple in her mouth,” Keely instructs.

I can’t keep my hands from trembling as I follow her directions. The moment she begins to drink, it happens instantly. I can’t stop my smile. I watch her, and the rest of the world disappears as I do.

Eventually, I begin to relax.

And then I feel Keely’s hand on my forearm. Turning my head, I look over to her. I’m overwhelmed. This situation seems to have happened in the span of what feels like seconds.

I’m a father.

I’m claiming this woman—and I don’t even fucking know her.

CHAPTER

ELEVEN

KEELY

I’m not sure what to say and even less sure of what to do.

Clearing my throat, I watch them and wonder what happens now. Sure, he’s said we’re his or something, but the reality is that we are strangers. This man and I, this man whose first name I didn’t even know until today, the father of my child, is now claiming we’re his… whatever that means.

“You’re freaking out,” Brock announces.

He’s holding Thea, feeding her, and I can’t stop staring. This moment means something monumental to me. Something completely out of this world and out of the realm of possibility, and yet, I’m looking at it right here and now. It’s happening. It’s real. And I’m in awe.

“Yes and no,” I say when I realize he’s still staring at me and waiting for me to respond.

I’m freaking out, but I don’t know if I should be or not. I’m confused, to say the least. There is a lot happening in this moment that I never imagined, so it’s hard for me to wrap my head around it all.

“I’m freaking out, too,” he murmurs before he shifts his gaze from mine to Thea. “She’s mine.” The words aren’t necessarily for me. They’re said in a whisper, as if in awe. Then he brings his gaze back to meet my own.

“And you’re mine, too, Keely.”

“What does that mean?” I ask, my voice barely above a whisper.

My breathing comes out deep and even—calming, as I attempt not to pass out, because honestly, I’m on the verge. But I’m really trying to stay present and in this moment instead of panicking.

Because I could seriously panic right about now.

Brock is holding our baby, a sight I thought I would never see in my lifetime. I didn’t think I would ever see him again, let alone see him with Thea. Still, I know Boulder City isn’t that big, so there could be a chance we’d run into one another again.

It’s not like we run in the same circles. The only reason I even ran into him the first time was because I was on a bad blind date, and he was the one who chose the biker bar. I’m not sure we ever would have met otherwise.

I know what his vest says. I know what the Iron Flame MC is. I’ve been warned to stay away from anything and everyone involved with them, yet here I am, sitting beside one, in his house, after a week of perfect bliss that created our perfect daughter.