Page 216 of Kentrell

Zoe jumped up first like she’d been waiting on it. “I’ll get it!”

Before she could even make it halfway across the foyer, I was already behind her, wrapping an arm around her waist and snatching her backward like she weighed nothing. “You ain’t opening no doors in this house.”

She looked over her shoulder at me with that half-annoyed, half-amused glare. “You got cameras. And a gate. And a guard, remember?”

“And you still not me.”

That earned me a big, dramatic eye roll, but she let me pass her and take care of it.

Food got passed around like communion after that. Bags of wings, fries drowning in lemon pepper seasoning, fried catfish sandwiches wrapped tight in foil, and a full tray of loaded nachos that had Oshon whispering thank-yous to whatever ancestors blessed Zoe’s taste buds.

We all ended up back in the living room—plates in laps, drinks in hand, stomachs full. Zoe started off sitting next to me on the couch, but the second she tried to lean forward to grab more napkins, I tugged her straight back into my lap without saying a word.

She looked over her shoulder, amused but not surprised. “Really?”

“Yep.”

She settled there easy, smiling against my chest while picking fries off my plate like it was hers now.

That’s when Wave started the clown session.

“So, Zoe…” he said, dragging the words out with a mouthful of food. “Tell us what it’s like dealing with this moody-ass nigga on a daily basis.”

Zoe blinked like she wasn’t sure she heard him right. “Moody?”

“I’d say he’s more… intense.” She said it like she was choosing her words carefully.

“Mmm, that’s the polite word,” Oshon nodded like he was a relationship expert.

“I call it focused,” I muttered, letting my hand rest low on her thigh, right where the curve met her hip.

“Focused on what? You be in all 28 of yo feelings. Have these hoes going for two weeks and kicking they ass to the curb.” Wani said through a mouthful of fries. “Now look at you. Domestic as hell.”

Zoe turned in my lap, worry flickering across her face. “Seriously?”

“For hoes, yeah,” I said, grinning because… yeah, it was true.

Kensei finally broke his quiet streak. “Don’t get in yo feelings, Zoe. A whore gon’ be a whore—you duke ‘em then boot ‘em.”

The whole room cracked up again.

Zoe gasped and slapped my chest. “You are evil.”

“Was,” I corrected, pulling her closer into me. “I’m healed.”

“Man, fuck outta here,” Wave coughed, laughing so hard he nearly dropped his plate.

Wani leaned forward, grinning like he’d been waiting for this moment all day. “He be sluttin’ you out, Zoe?”

The room erupted before she could even answer.

Her cheeks flushed deep, that soft pink blooming right up her neck as she turned fast and buried her face in my chest like she could hide there.

I smirked, rubbing her back slow while I cut my eyes at him. “Chill, bro.”

But that just made them all laugh harder.

Wani lifted his hands like he was innocent, but the grin on his face told a different story. “Oh, I get it now,” he said, nodding slow like he’d cracked some kind of code. Zoe peeked back up at him, cautious but curious.

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