Page 26 of Love’s Strongest Soldier

“I really thought he was gon’ be my out.”

“He’s protecting someone powerful. Him not giving you anything is information. Let’s get you out of here.”

I removed my gun from her clutches and walked her toward the front door. When we stepped outside, I noticed a police truck leaving the parking lot. Someone probably reported that first gunshot but didn’t know exactly where it came from.

Luxe made it back down to my car. I handed over her shotgun and told her, “Go straight back to the house. I’ll follow you.”

Her facial expression told it all. She was disappointed as hell, but we were gon’ figure this shit out.

“I have to text Grim to come clean this mess up.”

Normally, we took care of our own shit, but I didn’t protest and allowed her to handle it this time. I followed Luxe back to the house. She parked the car and got out. We went inside, and she headed straight for the kitchen soon as we made it into the house. “You need to get some food in here,” she said and then shut the refrigerator.

“I’ll place an order. Just let me know if there’s anything that you want or need from the store.”

“Fruit for starters.” I made a mental note in my mind to add fruit to the grocery list. “Let’s just order food for the night. I think I have a taste for Koren barbecue.”

“Okay.” I flopped on the sofa and removed my phone to see if I could find her some Koren barbecue. “Have you had this place before? They’re rated four point nine stars.” I handed her over my phone, and she looked at it as she eased down on the couch alongside me.

“No, I haven’t. They might be good if they’re rated so high.”

“Just put whatever you want in the cart, and then I’ll order me something.”

Picking up the remote, I turned on the television. I wasn’t the TV watching type, but lately I’d found myself stuck inside more than normal. It was cool to pass time.

“Here.” Luxe dropped my phone in my lap and got up from the sofa. I can sense that she was still in her feelings, but I didn’t know what to say about it. She left out the living room, and then I heard her bedroom door shut behind her.

By the time the food arrived, Luxe emerged from the bedroom in an over-sized graphic T-shirt and a pair of shorts. From the dampness of her hair, I could tell that she’d taken a shower.

“The food came yet?” she asked as she stepped into the kitchen. I hadn’t too long set it on the counter. “Never mind.”

I heard her fumbling through the bag, and then she made her way over to the sofa and sat down with a bit of space in between us.

“What are you watching?”

“I don’t know. I just put something on,” I told her and got up to get my food.

She’d grown accustomed to me letting her eat alone, but this time, I just felt the need to eat with her.

We both sat there on the sofa, eating our food and watching TV. Surprisingly, she got all into this movie I put on. Luxe finished up her food and set her plate on the coffee table. She then grabbed the throw blanket and got comfortable on the couch.

It didn’t take long for me to hear her snoring. I glanced over and saw that the blanket was falling off her, so I grabbed it and fully covered her. She stretched out further. Her feet landed in my lap. I just couldn’t see myself removing them. I stared down at her French tip toes. One thing about Luxe, she was gon’ keep her toes done. Most of the time, they were either white or French tip. It was safe to say white was her go-to color.

Once the movie was over, I slipped from underneath her, turned the television off, and cleaned off the coffee table. Luxe was still knocked out on the sofa, so I scooped her up into my arms and carried her into her bedroom. I laid her in bed and made sure to cover her up before slipping out of the room.

When I made it to my bedroom, my phone vibrated.

Chris: That old lady still over there or do you want me to come?

After Luxe broke her finger, one would think that Chris wouldn’t even want to look my way. This damn fool was prepared to risk it all just to get back over here to me. To keep from anything else happening, I just blocked her and laid my phone on the nightstand.

A few days later

I sat there, drumming my fingertips against the end table, staring into space. Why was I this drawn to this man? After not even wanting to deal with a man, I’d gone to wanting to drink every bit of this man’s bath water, and for what? It was driving me insane how much I wanted to be around him. The care he showed for me when dealing with me didn’t make it no better. I couldn’t read him.

It was fucking with me because I didn’t know if he felt the same way about me, or if any of this was even real in the first place. Maybe I’d been around Ghost for so long that I assumed I was developing feelings for him. Was my mind playing tricks on me?

My ringing phone is what brought me from my thoughts. Grabbing it off the sofa alongside me, I saw that it was Wren calling. Swiping, I placed it on speaker.