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“I don’t know.”
“Don’t let him fool you,” Exile said as we walked to the porch. “York saved Goldie.”
“She’s our friend,” Lyric said.
“And our aunt,” Skylar added, making Lyric think before nodding. “We know her.”
“Is Goldie at the hospital?” Lyric asked, seeming grumpy now.
“Yes, but she’ll go home soon.”
The girls lost their friendly vibe and started whispering to each other. Exile grinned at their reaction before his dark gaze landed on me.
“A secret girlfriend,” he taunted. “I never thought you’d be the type to sneak around.”
Shrugging, I admitted, “Goldie lives here. I live in Baton Rouge. Neither one of us wanted to give up anything. Letting people know about our relationship would apply pressure.”
“That pressure is no doubt high now.”
I considered how Boone and Blackjack were eyeballing me back at the hospital. Nodding, I wasn’t in the mood to talk about relationships.
“Goldie will be in surgery soon. They’ll release her later in the afternoon. I need to be rested by then. Can I crash somewhere?”
“Sure, but you should eat something first. We have leftover breakfast wraps. You can crash in my room.”
“Think I can wear some of your clothes?” I asked, following him into the house, where the girls ran to the back door to let the dogs inside.
“We’ll get you set up,” Exile said as he opened the fridge. “How long do you plan to stick around?”
“I don’t know. I’ll get a hotel room since your place is cramped right now.”
“There’s space at the condos with the Crimson Guard.”
“I’ll wait to see what Goldie says when she’s more alert.”
Though Exile clearly wanted to hit me up for gossip, he kept his mouth zipped while I ate breakfast at the kitchen island. The girls sat on each side of me and talked about the fun stuff they planned to do this summer.
“We were visiting our grandma and grandpa again,” Lyric announced.
Considering the fates of Nova’s parents, I assumed the girl meant Blackjack and Yarrow.
“I saw them at the hospital with your mom,” I said, and the girls began bouncing.
“Can we see them?” Skylar asked Exile.
He stopped fiddling with his phone and nodded. “They’re planning to stay at the Sorority House tonight. We’ll head over there for dinner.”
The girls jumped off the stools and began whispering again. When I was a kid, I used to want a sibling so badly. I’d beg my parents for a brother or sister, but they always claimed it was too late for them.
“You were a miracle, and people only get one miracle per life,” Jessica claimed every time I asked.
When I was in the fifth grade, I finally caught on to how much older my parents were than everyone else’s. Jessica had been forty-five when she got pregnant. When she missed a few periods in a row, she thought she was starting perimenopause rather than pregnant. Laurence had been nearly fifty when they welcomed their only child.
I never asked my parents if I was a mistake. I also stopped requesting a sibling, but that old longing hit me from time to time. I’d seen how close Exile and Nova were. Her daughters were pals, too, always plotting together.
The girls escorted me to their uncle’s room and showed me the ensuite bathroom.
“I stacked clean clothes for you on the dresser,” Exile said as I stood in the bathroom. “I’ll close the shades and door. The girls will make sure the dogs stay quiet while you sleep.”
