Boone kept hugging his sister while explaining, “Elle’s in charge of the safehouses where we keep vulnerable people under the club’s protection. One of the locations is an apartment complex.”
“Don’t tell him shit,” Goldie scolded her brother. “He knocked up a drunk Elle.”
“I almost did that once,” Boone said, making her roll her eyes. “Elle was doing the chicken dance, and it was so damn sexy.”
Goldie started laughing and imitated Elle’s chicken dance. While they had a good laugh at my baby mama’s lackluster dance abilities, I considered whether I should ban Elle from her job. Putting her in a box felt like a smart move.
“If you’re not creaming your panties over me, who’s got you hot and bothered?” I asked Goldie. “I can give you the inside info on him.”
“Boone read the situation wrong,” Goldie said, shutting down her earlier amusement. “There’s no way I could be attracted to any of the grody Louisiana ding dongs that ride with your rude ass. In fact, I am never, ever hooking up with anyone. I plan to stay single until I die of an old person's disease. Diabetes, maybe. I do like my sugar.”
Boone stroked his sister’s head and looked at her with great affection. Exile often showed off with similar obnoxious displays with Nova.
“Do you like Elle?” Goldie asked me. “Or did you only show her interest as a way to get close to Clint?”
“Both.”
Goldie glanced up at me and twisted her lips into a disdainful snarl. I grinned at her anger. Boone watched us and revealed nothing.
“Did you know your brother is sniffing around Nova?” I asked, wanting to stir up trouble.
“That’s a big train wreck,” Goldie said and glanced at her brother. “I hope he keeps his ass far from Nova.”
“Hey,” Boone grumbled.
“Nova is delicate,” Goldie insisted. “Her daughters are clingy. You can’t handle all that drama after you grew up with our mom.”
“I can do whatever the fuck I want,” Boone insisted and squirmed out of her hug. “I’m not saying Iwantto do anything with Nova. She’s just hot.”
“Yes, she is, and I like her. That’s why I don’t want you to let her down, and I don’t want her to drag you down.”
Boone and Goldie stared at each other while I thanked the universe for never giving me any siblings worth loving.
“I’m hugging you now,” Goldie said and wrapped her arms around him. “One day, you’ll find a nice, happy, drama-free lady and make giant babies with her.”
Boone exhaled deeply, breathing hard on his sister’s upturned face. She snickered at his irritated response before letting him go and walking to the door.
“I’m off to Farley’s place for pizza and video games.”
Boone watched her go before shaking his head. “She’s overly protective of me, like Clint is with Elle. Good luck with that.”
As Boone returned to fucking around on his phone, I no longer had any drama to distract me from my thoughts of a pregnant Elle.
I imagined her at home with her boy. Sutter was a handsome little nerd. She babied him too much, and he gave her too much guff. But they were nice together.
Every time I saw Elle over the summer, I had imagined enjoying another taste. The entire time, she must have known she was carrying my kid. But she had played cold as if I were no one to her.
ELLE
Waiting for the test results left me restless. I already knew the answer to the paternity question, but I was very curious about the baby’s sex.
I hadn’t known Sutter was a boy until the very end of my pregnancy. The foxes and I painted the nursery a pale green. Once I learned I was having a boy, Vanessa created a solar system mural on the wall. Considering Sutter’s love of science and especially astronomy, I believed her artwork made an impression on my tiny genius.
“What if this baby doesn’t like me?” Sutter asked me that night while we sat in the basement and watched one of his science-themed shows. “What if the baby is mean?”
“We’ll teach it to be nice. You were a biter when you were little. I was, too. But Shay was patient with me, and I was the same way with you. Now, we rarely bite anyone.”
Sutter snorted. “I don’t need to bite. I know how to fight.”
