Tanner Tanner (Dirty Misfits MC #5) - Savannah Rylan

One

Tanner

“So, what does this mean?” Porter asked.

Archer scoffed. “It means we go after his fucking child, that’s what this means!”

“It could be a trap,” Brooks said.

“That’s true,” Cole said, “especially since he’s this blindsided about it.”

“Does he have any idea who the mother could be?” Finn asked.

“Summer,” I said flatly.

“Why does that name sound familiar?” Archer asked.

As I stood by the window gazing out at the ocean, I thought back to the strip club. To the first time I’d seen Summer since our high school days. I looked back down at the note that had been left behind for us and read the words over again since my clouded mind had a hard time adjusting.

It had been one thing for me to run into her in a strip club of all places.

But she had a child?

We have a child.

“Tanner,” Brooks said.

He placed his hand on my shoulder, but I shrugged it off. “Just give me a few minutes.”

“We’ve given you an hour.”

I glared at our President. “Then, give me a few minutes more than an hour, yeah?”

He patted my shoulder and cleared the room of the guys so I could breathe, but it didn’t help. Sure, I saw Summer at the club. Yes, we talked. But it hadn’t been anything important, and she sure as hell hadn’t mentioned anything about us sharing a child. I crumbled the note in my hand and shoved it in my back pocket. I turned away from the window and drew in a deep breath, relishing the silence of the room.

Then, I whistled at the top of my lungs and the guys trotted back in.

“Did you see her when we were undercover?” Brooks asked.

I nodded. “But before you ask, she didn’t mention a kid at all.”

“But you’re sure it’s her?” Finn asked.

I shrugged. “Has to be. She’s the only woman I ever…”

Porter’s eyes bulged. “That you’ve ever slept with?”

I rolled my eyes. “No, you asshole. She’s the only girl I’ve been with unprotected.”

“Ah,” Brooks said.

I groaned. “We were in high school and young and in love and stupid. We weren’t worried about protection. All we cared about was spending the rest of our lives together.”

“High school sweetheart,” Archer said.

I nodded slowly. “Yep.”

“Why didn’t you tell us you saw her? That you knew her?” Brooks asked.

I shrugged. “I mean, I kept it professional while we were on the job. We didn’t interact much, just a few stares here and there and some simple conversation. We both grew up on the outskirts of town in the poorer neighborhoods, so it doesn’t shock me that she’s still in town. It just didn’t cross my mind. For all I know, she never left.”

Cole clicked his tongue. “And you’re sure she’d be the one that has your daughter?”

I gazed off at the wall over his shoulder. “I’m not sure about anything right now, man.”

I hated how weak I felt. How vulnerable I felt. Summer was the only woman that had ever gotten me to drop my walls, and her only advantage was probably how young I was when we met.

“We were only seventeen,” I whispered.

Finn gripped my arm. “What happened between you two?”

“Jesus, Prospect. You don’t just ask a man that,” Brooks said breathlessly.

But I turned to face Finn instead. “Seriously, nothing. We just—had plans, and then we didn’t. High school love. That kind of thing. Why the fuck would the Black Flags care about some high school whatever?”

Then, Brooks growled behind me. “Because you knew damn good and well Chops was willing to do anything to hurt us.”

I whipped around on him. “Even digging up a past we didn’t know we had? I’m still not sure it’s even Summer that’s had my child! Maybe one of my condoms was compromised or some shit, I don’t know.”

Porter stepped up to the plate. “All the more reason to research this and figure it out. They’ve got someone, and that someone has had your child. It’s important.”

I slowly looked back over at Brooks. “What if you were in this position?”

He clenched his jaw. “I didn’t fail to inform my president that I saw my high school sweetheart stripping at a club our enemy owns.”

“And no one’s told you that you have a child you didn’t know about, either. Brooks, I haven’t talked to that woman in years. Almost a damn decade. How in the world was I supposed to inform you of a family if I honestly didn’t know I had one?”

Porter leaned into Brooks’ ear. “He’s got a point.”

“Yeah!” Brooks exclaimed. “I