The Thunder Wolves MC - Petal (Book #12)

8

Petal

Standing in my closet, I felt silly. I couldn't decide on what to wear. Finch texted five minutes ago, letting me know he was on his way and would be here in ten minutes. Meaning I only have five minutes left to get my s**t together and be ready to go. Why I was so nervous was honestly ridiculous. He was giving me a ride to the store so I could get a couple of things to hold me over until my car was out of the shop, which wouldn't be until Monday at the earliest. Jax called me an hour or so ago to let me know Gears had gotten a look at my car and that he was going to have to find the part I needed to get my car up and running. The problem was my car was a bit older, and the required part wasn't made anymore. So Gears was going to have to find the part another way. This meant he was going to search a couple of junkyards around and see if he could find a good part that he could take off another car and put into my car. In total, it would only cost a couple of hundred dollars. If it had ended up costing more than that, I would have told them not to bother and to work on getting a new car. However, to be honest, I didn't really want a new car. I liked my car and currently don't have a car p*****t. And if I decided to get a new one, I would have to budget for a car p*****t again. Not really the end of the world, but if I didn't have to have a car p*****t, why chose to have one?

Sighing, I shook my head at myself. Reaching out, I pulled the first top I could reach down from its hanger. Then, I went over and pulled the first pair of jeans out of their drawer that were on top. Not bothering to look at either one, I pulled them on along with a pair of socks and shoes. My phone dinged with a notification, a message from Finch letting me know he was outside whenever I was ready to go. Again, I shook my head at myself as the same butterflies from the night before took flight in my stomach. Taking only a second to make sure I looked alright, I chanced a glance in the mirror.

My outfit wasn't that bad. In fact, I thought it looked kind of cute. The pants I pulled from the drawer were a pair of light blue ripped jeans. The top was a light pink corset-style tank top. Then, to top off the outfit, I chose a pair of lady's biker boots that my mom had gifted me a couple of years ago. They were probably one of my top five favorite shoes because they went with everything in my closet. Frankly, I looked good. Maybe a little overdressed for just a trip to the store, but honestly, who said you couldn't look good while shopping?

After quickly checking my outfit, I grabbed my bag and checked to make sure my keys and wallet were in it before nearly running out the door and down the stairs. My feet stalled at the bottom of the steps as I scanned the parking lot for Finch. I don't know why I was expecting him to be on his motorcycle when we were going to the grocery store, but apparently, I was because I didn't see him at first standing next to a dark blue car. My eyes only focused on him as he pushed off the front end. Minus his cut, he was dressed in the same style of clothes he and all the other guys seemed to wear, jeans, a t-shirt, and boots.

Moving my feet, I made my way over to the car. Finch beat me to the passenger door, opening it for me. Climbing in, I thanked him, though I couldn't help but notice he had the same sour look on his face as he had the night before after Jax told him to take me home. Once I was all the way in, he closed the door for me, and my brain instantly took the opportunity to start overthinking the gesture. All thoughts were halted within seconds as a small voice from the back seat pulled my full attention.

"Hello, are you my daddy's friend?"

Spinning around in my seat, I am sure I gave myself whiplash. I stared back at possibly one of the cutest little girls I have ever seen. Her bright red hair was pulled up into pigtails, with green ribbons that matched her eyes tied in bows. Her rainbow tie-die shirt sported a unicorn on it. She paired that with a ballerina-style black skirt and black ballerina shoes. Absolutely freaking adorable.

"Well, hello, and I suppose you could say that."

Lifting one of her eyebrows, she looked me over. Her only response was, "Hmm," before Finch joined the two of us in the car.

"Petal, this is my daughter Anna. And Anna, this is Petal. I hope you are being nice."

Turning her attention away from me, a large smile spread across her face.

"Yes, daddy. I was saying hello."

Staring at Anna for a moment, he nodded before turning to me. It was hard not to keep a straight face and not smile at him the same way his daughter had. She wasn't lying. She was being nice, but at the same time, she was clearly looking out for her dad. She is definitely a daddy's girl.

"Do you have a preference for stores?"

I shook my head.

"Whichever one you want to go to is good with me."

Nodding, he put the car in gear, and we were off. In the back seat, Anna turned her attention to a tablet that sounded like she was playing some kind of learning game on it. In the front seat, the silence was a little uncomfortable. Finch had lost the sour look when he got in the car and had been addressing his daughter, but now it was back as he stared out the windshield. If I hadn't seen him with other looks on his face, I would easily believe that it was just the standard look on his face. But he didn't always have that look on his face last night, and he sure didn't have that look when he talked with his daughter. The look only returned to his face when he looked at me, and honestly, it was really starting to bother me. I didn't ask him to do this. He offered. I would have been fine, or I would have figured out another ride to the store.