Page 51 of Peer & Coco

Chapter 20

Peer unlocked the frontdoor of the house. Lullabies played softly in the other room, calming him down from his ride after disagreeing with Coco about how to handle Kelli.

He followed the music to Tyr's room, peeked in, and found Coco standing over the crib rubbing his son's back.

She raised her head and stepped away from the bed. He motioned for her to continue and she shook her head, walking to the door, and squeezing past him.

Tyr cried out. He wasn't asleep yet.

Taking Coco's place, he leaned over the crib and rubbed his son's back. Most of the time, a little soothing put him to sleep. But nothing about today had been normal.

Maybe Tyr sensed his mood.

He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, slowly, trying to mask the frustration and anger dwelling inside of him. The roughness of his hands like sandpaper caught on the softness of the sleeper. He lightened his touch without stopping the circular motions.

After ten minutes or so, he slowed to see if Tyr would protest. His son never noticed. He lifted his hand. Tyr continued to sleep.

Shutting off the music, he walked quietly out of the room, leaving the door halfway shut. Not ready to go into the bedroom and talk with Coco, he slipped into the bathroom and took a shower. Only then, he felt like he had some semblance of calmness inside of him.

He toweled off his hair, leaving it loose, and walked naked into the bedroom. Coco had shut off the light. He stood in the doorway, letting his eyes adjust to the darkness.

After thirty seconds, the light from the baby monitor was enough for him to see the furniture and Coco buried underneath the blanket with only her head sticking out.

He walked over to the bed, slid under the covers, and rolled to his side. Hooking her around the waist, he pulled her back against his chest.

Neither one of them said anything. He put his lips by her ear and whispered, "I'm sorry I left."

"You're mad," she whispered back. "I get it."

"Nei, I shouldn't have left you here to watch Tyr. He's my responsibility." He paused. "And, I'm not mad at you. You're one of the good things in my life, and I won't let Kelli come between us, and ruin our relationship."

"You know I will always, always take care of Tyr, no matter what." She rolled in his arms and faced him. "But I don't want to be involved or pushed between you and Kelli."

He played with the short hair around her ear. "If...and this is a big if, if Kelli contacts me again, I will talk to her. I will let her know she can't go to you with her problems."

"Are you going to let her see Tyr?"

He shook his head. "I don't trust her not to walk out of his life again."

Coco put her head on his chest, hiding her eyes from him. He tightened his arms around her. All he could do was promise to make sure Kelli stayed away from her. The decision whether to let Kelli be around Tyr came down to him, and he wasn't going to budge.

Several hours passed. Coco slept soundly in his arms.

He stayed wide awake.

Kelli had lived in the clubhouse, surrounded by Slag members. While he never gave her any knowledge of the things he and the others have done to keep money coming into the club, he couldn't swear that she hadn't put clues together or a timeline of their rides.

When they'd been together, he knew her temper got the best of her and had purposely kept her blinded to the activities.

Knowing her faults hadn't stopped him from sleeping with her. Even though he regretted keeping her around as long as he had, knowing they weren't meant for each other, he would never regret having Tyr. His son was the best thing he'd done in his life.

It bothered him that she'd shown up around the same time the Federal Agent started staking out the clubhouse again. He wasn't a believer of coincidence.

The more he thought of having her in Portland, the more he worried about what she would do to see her son. Would she turn him in to the Feds? Would she take the whole motorcycle club down to get her way?

It would be foolish to believe she was here as a mother interested in seeing her son. A son she gave away the first chance she got.

He slowly removed his arm from underneath Coco's head and inched off the bed without waking her. Grabbing his phone, he walked out into the hallway. He checked on Tyr and then quietly went into the living room.