“No, you’re hiding in this house. Don’t get me wrong. This is a luxurious house, and Lula is a cool person to hang around with. But you need to get out more. Date guys and discover the beauty of orgasms.”
Nova shook her head. “I don’t want to date.”
“Neither do I. That’s why I have a vibrator for my orgasms.”
Nova startled me by bursting into rolling giggles. I smiled at how overheated she got at the thought of feeling good. Without a doubt, a wild fox was hiding under her “prim and proper” garbage.
“Do you like Zodiac?” she asked after her giggles ran dry.
“I find him interesting and sexy, but I don’t know him at all. I can’t even remember much about us hooking up. I do remember feeling good. Oh, and I know he smelled great.”
“He wears really expensive cologne,” Nova said as she began cutting faces again. “Zodiac once claimed he wanted to smell rich after spending most of his life poor.”
“Is he a deep person with feelings and stuff?”
Nova lifted her gaze and considered her answer before asking, “Do you want me to say yes?”
“Of course, but I mostly want you to tell me the truth. I used Sutter’s summer camp as an excuse to avoid dealing with Zodiac and the baby situation. Now, with everything out in the open, I can’t hide anymore. So, fess up your true feelings about him. I won’t tell him anything you say.”
Nova studied me and sighed. “He’s a very damaged person. His family failed him. The only person from his childhood is a foster mom that he hates. I thought maybe he did love her despite their fighting. I mean, why would they keep engaging with each other if there wasn’t any affection between them? But he said he knew his presence madeher miserable, and she knew her presence pissed him off. They were playing chicken to see who gave up first, and he couldn’t wait for her funeral.”
“Do you think he was lying to hide his feelings for her?”
“No, I think he really hates her and wants to punish her by showing up in her life. To be fair, his blood family is all dead. He has no one else to punish, so he chose Caren, who is awful and deserves the pain.”
“Have you met her?”
Frowning, Nova whispered, “She called my breasts saggy and said she could see why my husband left me.”
“I hope she dies from something painful.”
Nova offered a little smile at how I was angry in her defense. “Zodiac can’t love you like you want. But he can be sweet. Like how he stayed at the house with the girls and me. Though Zodiac got on my nerves, I was mostly upset about Dan leaving and worried my brother might not come back.”
“Lula’s a sexy fox. You can’t blame your brother for falling hard.”
“No, I can’t. And their relationship has made my life better. But I didn’t know any of that back then. I was afraid he would ditch the girls and me. Zodiac knew I was nervous, and he stuck around. However, he was a pain in the butt about it. Zodiac refuses to tone down his bad attitude, but he does care.”
“Do you think he’ll be mean to the baby?”
“I don’t know,” Nova said and glanced at her daughters. “He’s weird with the girls, acting both protective and overly honest. Like, when the girls became convinced a boogeyman monster was in their closet. Dan would order the thing to go away and threaten to kick its ass. Then, he’d show them nothing was in the closet anymore. They felt safe.”
Nova paused to roll her eyes. “When they got scared while Zodiac was there, he insisted a supernatural monster wouldn’t be scared of a biker. If the thing wanted to eat them, it would. Since it hadn’t, they should stop worrying.”
My hands went to my belly. “I’m overly protective of Sutter. I want him to enjoy being a little boy. I’ll do the same with this baby. But I don’t think Zodiac will be so kind.”
“Maybe not. But I honestly didn’t think Dan would ever settle down, and he immediately wanted to nest with Lula. I’ve occasionally wondered if Zodiac is only selfish because he’s never had any reason to act any other way. He wasn’t close to anyone in his life until he joined the club. Then, he pushed out the men who welcomed him because he felt they didn’t value his vision. I mean, that’s messed up, right? But he is protective of the remaining guys. I believe Zodiac came up with the idea of Dan staying here for the club as an excuse to let my brother be happy.”
Sighing, I cut two Eddie Murphy faces out before admitting, “You’ve been no help.”
“I’m sorry.”
“That’s okay. I told you to be honest, and the truth is, Zodiac isn’t an easy man to know.”
“I can tell you that he likes pasta dishes.”
Mood improving, I took another sheet and began cutting. “Anything in particular?”
“Stroganoff and spaghetti, but really any pasta. He doesn’t like casseroles. He doesn’t know how to grill meat, and he can’t cook at all.”
