Ellie laughed as she began to undress Tessa.
“Is he your boyfriend?” Brooklyn asked.
“No, baby. He’s just a friend. I barely know him. He’s your uncle’s business partner,” Ellie stated.
“But he likes you, Mom. Like a lot,” Brooklyn stated.
Ellie didn’t know why that made her blush, and Brooklyn got hyped at her mother’s response.“You like him too, don’t you?!” she squealed loudly in excitement.
“Shh! Shh!” Ellie hushed.
“I mean, he is fine for an old head,” Brooklyn mumbled.
Ellie turned on Brooklyn so quick, Brooklyn caught whiplash.“Girl, get your ass in that shower and get to bed. Talking abouthe fine.”
Ellie put Tessa in the bath, waking her up briefly so that she could get her clean and changed, then she said her prayers with her daughters before returning down to the living room.
She was anticipating a full-on grill session, but instead, she found Loyal sitting at the kitchen table with a drink in his hand as they sat over a domino game.
“Well, what do we have here?” she asked, amused.
“I’m tapping this young boy’s ass, is what we have here,” Papa gloated. One thing about her daddy, he was going to talk shit while he won. Hell, when he was losing, too. Spades, dominos, andtunk were like Olympic games in this house, and there was always money on the floor.
Ellie couldn’t help but grin. She walked over to her dad and stood over his shoulders, massaging them as she stared at Loyal. This was as lighthearted as she had seen him all day. The laughs, banter, and smiles the men exchanged were reminiscent of a father and son. Loyal was comfortable with her father, and more importantly, her father was comfortable with Loyal. It was the relationship she had hoped her husband would have with her dad, but it had fallen flat.
“Thank you,” she mouthed at Loyal.
He simply nodded and kept his attention on her dad. She loved when a man showed interest in the people she loved. Cairo had never made the effort to get to know her father or any of her friends. He only wanted to isolate her, which is why he had moved her away from Michigan in the first place. Her own relationship with her loved ones had suffered because of the distance.
“Well, I’m going to head to bed,” she announced.
They barely heard her as they continued their conversation. She thought she was in the clear until Loyal called her name. She secretly loved that he noticed when her presence was diminished in the room.
“Yo, E,” he said.
She turned back to him and waited.
“Hey, Bishop, I don’t mean no disrespect in your house, but I’d very much like to kiss your daughter good night if that’s okay with you,” Loyal said.
Papa huffed and waved his hand.“Go’nabout it then, li’l nigga,” Papa stated.
Ellie melted when Loyal crossed the room and commanded her chin and kissed her softly on the lips. No tongue for the sake of her daddy’s watchful eyes. The forehead kiss that followed made her heart flutter.
It felt undone, like an“I love you” was supposed to come after affection like this, but she wasn’t delusional. They barely knew one another.
They stood there, forehead to forehead, for a full thirty seconds. Thank God for her daddy being there because Ellie would have fucked this man on the first night.
Papa cleared his throat, and Ellie couldn’t contain her grin as she said,“Goodnight, Loyal.”
“Thatain’t what you wanted to say, but I’m a patient man. I can wait for it,” he said.
“I have no idea what you talking about. You got something you want to say?” she asked.
“Yo, Bishop, you ever heard of meeting somebody and knowing right away that they belong to you?” Loyal asked.
Ellie’s eyes bugged in astonishment. This man was pulling her daddy into his antics.
“Mmmhmm; I felt that way about her mother. Told her she was going to be my wife the day I met her,” Papa said.
