“Are you sure, Letti?” Van asks me as soon as my man and I offered to watch the kids for Valentine’s Day.
“It’s a lot to take on,” Zoey states, glancing out the window at Elodie, Little G, and Icer.
“Icer doesn’t do Valentine’s Day, he’s made that clear,” I remind them. “In his opinion, it’s a Hallmark holiday and from what he’s said to me, he’d rather do things for me year round to show me how he feels about me then shove it all into one, singular day. And to be honest, I kinda like that.”
“You don’t care if you get a bouquet of flowers, boxes of chocolate, and get dressed up for him to take you out and show you off?” Zoey asks, her brows pinched.
“No, because he does those things for me anyway, and I don’t have to get excited about one day, like I stated, because I get those things weekly,” I admit.
“Weekly?” Van inquires, a slight squeak to her voice. “You lucky bitch.” We all laugh at that because my man comes across as if he doesn’t have a romantic bone in his body, and he doesn’t wear his emotions on his sleeve, but behind closed doors and away from prying eyes, he’s the most affectionate out of them all.
“Besides, keeping the kids is his love language,” I tack on. “And secretly, between us, it’s when I connect with him the most.”
“Elodie’s been acting out a lot lately,” Zoey confesses. “We’re petrified for Icer to find out the reason behind that.”
My spine stiffens and I sneer. “What’s the reason, Zoey?”
“I’m not sure if Icer’s the only one we need to be worried about,” Van says out the side of her mouth, bumping shoulders with Zoey.
“We’re handling it, Letti,” Zoey claims. “We’re going through the official channels.”
“Riptide may have a solution, and they’re working their way through it,” Van supplies.
“First off,” I snap, clicking my tongue. “Tell me where the issue stems from, then let’s talk about the solutions y’all’ve come up with.”
“Letti has a little bossy in her,” Van teases, winking at me.
“I think Icer and his protective nature is rubbing off on her,” Zoey surmises with a nod of her head.
“It’s a bit of both,” I say. “Now, tell me what the issue is?”
“She’s become the main target of bullying,” Zoey acknowledges. “It’s gotten to the point that she’s having nightmares and it takes me forever to coax her out of the house on school days.”
“What’s these kids’ issue?” I ask. “Because Elodie is the sweetest kid on the planet, a little boisterous and she has a bit of a prankster in her, but all kids her age are like that, they have no reason behind their actions and tauntings.”
“These kids hear their parents talking and act accordingly based on what they hear being said. Not everyone in town is overly thrilled about the Kings making this their base of operation,” Zoey explains.
Van clears her throat and says, “Those who are Maloney’s followers and advocates are pushing to have us removed. They don’t like the way the men police the streets.”
“They keep the town from falling into anarchy,” I defend, “fuck knows the ones voted in aren’t doing it. They sit back and turn a blind eye to the Onyx wannabes causing havoc and bullying the small business owners into paying fees for having their shops opened on the main strip.”
“We know all of this, and we agree with you, Letti,” Van conveys. “One hundred percent. We’re on the fast track of homeschoolingElodie, we just need a few extra days to get everything in order. For now, we’ve decided that I’ll take over her schooling while the transfer processes. You can watch over Gagey while I work with Elodie. That’d be more helpful than you’ll ever know. I need her entire attention on her work and my teaching, and if my boy is around, she’ll be distracted.”
I agree by bobbing my head. “I can do that, I love keeping him. He’s so full of smiles and giggles that it’s addictive and catchy. I always find that I laugh alongside him. It’s that contagious. There are things I like about what you’ve said except one thing–” I leave my sentence open, narrowing my eyes at Van.
“What’s that?” she asks, her lips tilted upward, finding me amusing.
“When are you going to stop calling that poor kid, Gagey? It gives me a case of the ickies,” I state, sending her a snarl. “You’re opening up a can of worms with that and giving kids a reason to persecute him.”
“I do it because it riles the guys up,” she admits with a shrug of her shoulders. “I find their reactions comical.”
“You have to admit, Letti. It’s pretty funny when all of their chests puff out and they get green around the gills,” Zoey inserts, grinning.
Van high fives Zoey before continuing, “I won’t do it forever. When it’s just me and my boy, I call him little man like his dad does.”
“You’re riling the guys up on purpose?” I ask, but I have to admit, even if it’s just to myself, that it is pretty amusing. “Girl, you like to gamble or something?”
“This is a group game of solitaire,” Van says, a twinkle of mischief in her eyes. “When we’re done, I’ll have an empty hand and they’ll still be holding onto cards.”
