Page 9 of The Prettiest Outlaw

“Hey. I want to look like I’m having a drink without having a drink.”

She gave me a wink before turning her back on me. I watched her grab a few things and add them to the shaker. She poured them into a glass, and topped everything off with ginger ale.

“Here you go.”

I took a sip and widened my eyes. “Oh, that’s good.” I gave her a genuine smile. “Thank you.”

“Are you flirting with the bartender? I thought you gave up chasing cat.” Ravyn made reference to my young adult days when I identified as a lesbian.

I wasn’t embarrassed about that period of my life, but I also didn’t need to be reminded. It was a tough period when I was still trying to find myself.

“I wasn’t flirting.” I was honest. “And I did give that up. I’m strictly dickly, boo. You know that. Let’s find our table.”

It wasn’t hard to find our table, because, as always, Brittanie had seated me with the family. The round table had seats for ten people, and since there were only two seats left, it seemed like Ravyn and I were the last to arrive. Ravyn took the empty seat next to my eldest sister, Jia, while I went around the table giving hugs to my family members. Once I had greeted and hugged everyone, I took the last empty seat, the one between Ravyn and Nico, the half-brother of Dominic, Dolton, and Dorien.

“Hey, Nico,” I told him as I dropped into my chair.

He gave me analmostsmile. I mean, the right side of his mouth lifted slightly.

“What’s good, Julianna?” His eyes canvassed the entire area around us.

That move reminded me of my father. He was the type who definitely kept his head on a swivel and constantly canvassed the area, keeping an eye out for the possibility of a situation.

“You met my sister before, right? Dominique?”

I wanted to be irritated by the fact that Briscoe Hill had insisted on naming all of his children with names so similar, but when I thought of my own father with his, Jia, Jianna, Julianna madness, I didn’t really have room to judge anybody else. Maybe that was just something they did in their circle. Whatever the case, I was glad that Dominique insisted that we call her by her nickname, which was Mique. That was a name that I could remember.

I’d met her before briefly a few times. From what I understood, the Hill brothers that I’d grown up with had only recently discovered that Dominique existed, so bringing her into the fold and building relationships was taking time.

I nodded before leaning around Nico. “Hey, girl.”

I gave her a smile because she always looked so damn mean. She was a beautiful girl, just as all of Briscoe’s children were attractive, but she wasn’t going to let you catch her without a frown or a scowl on her face.

“Hey.” She gave me an “almost” smile that was practically identical to Nico’s.

I didn’t have time for the angst of Hill family members. I had my own angst to deal with. I sat back in my chair and pretended to listen to the conversations going on around me.

“I’m going to refill my drink and mingle,” Ravyn whispered close to my ear before standing from the table.

I decided to go to the restroom so I wouldn’t have to get up during the presentations.

The restroom was clean and recently remodeled. I made quick work of using the facilities, washed my hands, dried them, and used the paper towel to open the door. I looked back to toss the paper towel in the trash before clearing the doorway. When I turned back around, both Langston and Dolton were standing in front of me.

“Hey,” I mumbled. I tried to walk around them when Langston caught my arm lightly.

“Aye, Short Cake, come here for a minute.” He called me by the nickname he’d given me when he came into my life all those years ago.

I allowed myself to be dragged along to a less populated area of the lobby by Langston. When we finally came to a stop, I looked up at both men, wondering why my sisters’ husbands were trying to get me alone.

“Listen, mama.” That was Langston. “We’re trying to figure out what you’re on.”

That caused me to twist my face up in confusion. I opened my mouth to respond, but Dolton jumped in before I could speak.

“What he’s trying to say…” He eyed Langston in exasperation. “…is that we’re worried about you.”

“Right.” Langston jumped back into the conversation. “We know you’re a grown woman and shit. We know you have your own life, but we can’t help but to wonder where the fuck you been.”

Again, my eyebrows slammed together in a frown. Langston had been my brother-in-law forever. He married Jia when I was still in elementary. He always had one foot in the streets and had the reputation to prove it. He had been handling me the exact same way since I was little, and it never bothered me. Actually, I loved Langston and looked at him in almost the same way that I would look at a biological brother. But for some reason, in that moment, his words were like sandpaper rubbing against an open wound.

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