Page 66 of Exile & Lula
“Insecure men turn sour if they don’t figure out their shit.”
“Are you talking about him or me?” Exile grumbled.
“Are you insecure?”
“No, but I feel like you’re hinting at something.”
Wrapping my arms around Exile’s waist, I smiled up at him and shook my head. “You’re riled up from wanting to protect your woman.”
“You are mine, aren’t you?” he murmured, now stroking my back.
Exile’s edginess dropped away, leaving him unguarded for a moment. Despite the people around us, I felt alone with this man. He kissed my forehead before noticing my dad inching closer.
“You should have kicked Tricky’s ass,” Pax told Exile. “Were you worried he’d knock off your hat?”
Zodiac chuckled at the man’s comment before shrugging at Exile’s frown.
“I was barely holding you back,” Zodiac insisted and zeroed in on Elle, who now headed inside my house. “You could have broken free if you really wanted to.”
While Zodiac stalked my cousin, Pax wrapped an arm around Bebe and crowded Exile and me.
“You were acting like a pussy!” Pax announced, nearly yelling. Lowering his voice, he added, “No, but it was good that you didn’t lay out Tricky. He’s a big baby and already crying over Cher. If you kicked his ass, he’d make himself the victim. I don’t need Joker telling me to keep you on a leash. This way, I get to tell Joker to get control of his boy.”
Exile exhaled hard and muttered, “I’m glad my inability to escape two men holding me worked out for you.”
Pax smiled at me. “You found a weak man willing to submit to my authority. I couldn’t have dreamed of anything better.”
Grinning at his taunt, I rested my head against Exile’s strong chest. He wrapped his arms around me. For a moment, we were alone again.
Bebe returned me to reality by asking about Exile’s nieces. I guided my parents inside, where we found Nova surrounded in the kitchen. Sabrina, Moe, Ivy, Xandy, and Vanessa were eating the snacks put out for my guests.
“Are you being nice?” I asked Sabrina.
She narrowed her dark eyes and shrugged. “I’ve been nicer.”
“They’re very friendly,” Nova assured me.
Exile smiled at his sister’s happy face. Yesterday, he mentioned Nova didn’t have any friends in Baton Rouge. If she stuck around Little Memphis, I imagined she’d quickly find herself wrapped into our world, much like Ivy was months ago.
EXILE
Inside Lula’s place, I stood in the family room next to her while everyone broke into groups. In the kitchen, Nova stared in awe at the people around her. I smiled at her opportunity to make friends.
My amusement faded when I noticed Rowdy standing next to her. Their gazes met, and he smiled in that “soft” way men do when they’re trying to get a woman to lower her guard.
“Is your brother flirting with my sister?” I asked Lula.
She glanced at Rowdy and shook her head. “No, that’s the way he looks when he’s being nice to a fox who isn’t related to him. Trust me that when he lays on the charm, he can set a woman’s panties on fire with just his gaze.”
“That was overly graphic.”
“Imaginemyhorror the first few times I witnessed Rowdy unleash his guy powers on an unsuspecting woman,” Lula said, grinning at the thought. Brushing her cheek against my arm, she murmured, “I know you’re worried about Nova, but she’s fine. Look at how happy she is surrounded by my people.”
Lula wasn’t wrong. My sister was giddy as she listened to Sabrina and Xandy tell a story about Tricky as a dumb kid.
“All the girls wanted to date him because he was hot and rich,” Sabrina explained. “Each dumbass thought she could fix his other problems.”
“Cher thought that, too,” Vanessa said, killing the fun.
