White Lies

Chapter 8

Not long after Tig left Rory went up to bed. She wanted to wait up for him, excited by Tig's reassurances, but her exhaustion won with little effort. Throwing herself into bed, Rory was out within minutes only to awake to find Happy creeping around the bedroom with a towel around his waist.

"Hey," she said sleepily.

Turning quickly, Happy looked at her startled by her suddenly greeting, and forced a smile. "Hey."

"How was your night?"

"Fine. Go back to sleep, baby."

She grinned dopily, she mostly asleep, and wriggled closer to his side of the bed. "I don't want to yet. Come here, I missed you, Hap."

As her nimble little fingers pulled the towel from him Happy's only thought was how thankful he was to have been able to at least shower. "Whisky dick," he grumbled, kissing her. "It won't be quick." Although meant as a warning, it only turned Rory on more.

"Good." Her mischievous little grin prodded him along as she rolled over to make room on the mattress. "I'm feeling a little naughty." The words were peppered with flirty giggles as he moved over her.

"You're always naughty." He grunted, taking his guilt and anger out by slapping her ass harder than usual.

"Naughtier I should say." He could see her eyes were watery, a result the sting from the slap, and Happy hated her in that moment. It was projected from himself and easier to deal with than the actual self hatred and guilt he should have been feeling. Forcing her onto her stomach, Happy hooked his arm around her waist and pulled her up to kneel.

"I love it when you're rough." She said, backing up toward him eagerly. "Give it to me Hap."

"Shut up." He growled as he pulled her hair hard eliciting a yelp from Rory. "You're feeling naughty then this is your punishment. Don't fucking talk, little girl."

—

Chewing on her lip as she sat at the kitchen table, Rory replayed the night before. It was hot, the sex was physically better than usual but something lacked. It made her laugh to think that maybe she was more content with Happy and their more vanilla sex life after Emma than she ever thought she would be. For Rory, now it was about him and the emotional connection, it almost seemed impossible.

"Hey." She popped up happily and fixed Happy's coffee as soon as he entered the room. "Good morning."

"Hey," he said curtly.

"I have a consult with the surgeon today about my back. Do you want to come?" She was giddy, bouncing around the kitchen, and Happy felt his anger bubbling up

"No. I got shit to do. It ain't like you're sick again, this is cosmetic shit."

Stopping, she huffed and turned to face him. "You don't want me to get it fixed?"

"I didn't say that. Shit don't bother me so do what you want." Oh, it did, it was a reminder of how he'd let her and Emma down but in a way he felt it bonded her to him and the club in a dark and morbid way. "Just saying I can't be taking a day away from the lot like that."

"Oh. Okay." Clearly losing her pep, Rory slapped his breakfast on a plate and placed it in front of him. "So I ended shit with Parker, for good. You were right I think, guy isn't totally trust worthy."

"What happened?" Munching on his food, Happy barely looked at Rory as she spoke.

"Nothing. It just didn't feel right after all the shit that he said and what happened."

"Did it end smoothly? I'll go kick his ass if I have to."

"It's fine." Watching his reflection in the window Rory felt as if she wasn't the only one hiding something. "What was keeping you out last night?"

"What?" She usually never asked that, especially not after the fact, and Happy looked dumbfounded.

"Why were you so late last night?"

"Cara Cara wrap party. I had to make an appearance, you know how it is baby."

"I love you, Hap." The words were sad, begging him for something but neither of them knew what.

"I love you too. Give Ems a kiss for me when she's up, I gotta run."

—

The appointment hadn't exactly gone as she'd hoped but it was still good news. Slightly disappointed and lonely, Rory picked Emma up from daycare early and grabbed them lunch to take to TM. Making herself forget his odd behavior from that morning, Rory joined Emma in her excitement.

"He might be out," Rory warned the little girl and herself. "Try not to be too disappointed if Daddy isn't at work, okay?"

"Okay, Mama."

Happy was there, burying his head in a Ford, when the girls strutted up the parking lot with lunch in hand.

"Daddy!" Emma screamed as she launched herself into the garage and latched onto his leg. "Daddy, I missed you."

"Hey baby," he practically sang with his usually gravelly voice. "What are you doing here?" He asked, wiping his hands before touching her.

"Me and Mommy brought you lunch."

"My favorite girls." He said with a smile, scooping his daughter up as Rory caught up to them. "Hey, thanks."

"My pleasure. It's nice out, want to sit out here?"

Happy knew Jenna and a few of the other girls were in the clubhouse talking to Clay and Jax about an overnight threat so he nodded. "Yeah. Let's eat out here."

Despite the Cara Cara girls floating around Happy felt monumentally better than he had that morning. It was easy to compartmentalize when he didn't have Rory and Emma staring at him all morning. Rory beamed at him, their daughter swinging her feet between them, and he smiled back feeling more content with their relationship than he had in months.

"How'd it go?" He asked before taking a huge bite from his BLT.

"They doubt it can be fixed totally." She sounded as if she were in mourning. "But the doctor seems confident she can smooth it out considerably. I'm really happy about it."

"That's great," Happy smiled at her excitement. "Ah, shit."

The long line of half naked women passed them, Jenna stared toward TM for a second or two longer than the rest, and Rory laughed loudly.

"Skank parade." Rory clapped. "What are they doing here?"

"Some asshole is hustling them, trying to at least, they were scared."

"Isn't it nice having a girl who can take care of herself...for the most part?"

Happy genuinely agreed and reached over the table to kiss her. "Yeah, it is. Come on, Emma, let's get you on the swings baby girl." He was surprised how easily he forced himself to bury the negative but Happy wouldn't fight it. He wanted to be content, they were at one point, and somehow they found their way back he thought.

Rory stayed seated as Happy and Emma headed over to play. She smiled contentedly, watching them together, and forced herself to ignore his odd behavior from that morning. Happy was odd, it was just a part of who he was, she needed to remember that.

"Hey girl." Reaching over her to grab a potato chip, Tig pecked the top of her head sweetly, and popped the chip into his mouth. "How you doing?"

"Really great, Tig." Rory was sunny and smiling in a way she hadn't in months. Looking at her, Tig smiled, and winked as he stole more chips.

"I'm happy for you. Hope I helped."

"You did." Rory swore as she threw her arms around his neck. "Thank you. I may need more secret meetings in the future when I get all crazy like that."

With a raised eyebrow, Tig nodded and smiled mischievously. "That sounds dirtier than I know it was supposed to. You tell him about Parker?"

"I told him we're no longer working together."

"You gotta tell him the truth. If the club uses him for something Happy should know. Besides I can't lie and it'll be better coming from you."

"Yeah," she hung her head. "I'll tell him tonight."

"Good girl."