Page 48 of Old Flame

“You lose your shirt?”

A familiar voice set off havoc in my stomach. I’d hoped he wouldn’t come in here. I didn’t think I could look at him after witnessing his nudity this morning and knowing that the sex sounds I’d heard last night came from his room.

Lick’s gaze didn’t leave me immediately to shift toward Rome, but rather lazily, as if he had better things to do and couldn’t be bothered. I dropped my attention to my plate as if it were the most fascinating thing I’d ever seen.

“No,” he replied. “Gave it to your bitch since she seemed to have lost hers.”

Pepper choked, and my eyes flew up to her to see she had covered her mouth with one hand as her eyes danced with amusement.

“Oh damn,” Nina muttered under her breath as she walked back to the counter, her gaze shifting back and forth between the two men.

“I don’t have a bitch.” Rome’s response sounded tense.

I saw Lick shrug nonchalantly out of the corner of my eye.

“My mistake. The one you fuck more than the others then. That better?”

Please stop talking, Lick.

I did not need this information. I knew it, but I didn’t want to be around when Rome’s sex life was being discussed.

“Church is in ten minutes.” Rome’s response sounded like an order.

Lick reached over to the tray with fresh berries that Goldie had brought over and grabbed a strawberry. “I can tell time, brother,” he said, sounding amused.

Then he put the strawberry between his front teeth, biting down on it as I glanced at him.

He winked at me, then stood up. “Try the casserole. It’s good shit.”

I licked my lips that felt suddenly dry before replying, “I will.”

He walked behind me, and I looked from my plate of food and up at the other three women. They were all watching Lick and Rome. Pepper seemed entertained while Nina appeared ready to step in and break them up if needed. She might weigh no more than a feather, but I had a feeling she could handle both of them.

“I’ll just go find me a shirt,” I heard Lick say before the sound of the door opening and swinging closed signaled he’d left.

“Crazy fucker,” Rome muttered.

“You sure woke up in a foul mood,” Goldie told him in a scolding tone while tossing a dish towel over her right shoulder.

He appeared in my peripheral vision, and I tried hard to focus on my food. It was pointless. The farther into the kitchen he came, the more I could see. Giving in, I glanced up as he opened the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water.

“Water before coffee?” Nina asked him.

“Fucking dehydrated,” he replied in a husky voice.

“Drinking a handle will do that to ya,” Goldie said.

He grunted and opened the water, then placed it to his lips as his eyes met mine. Frozen, I stared at him for a moment, then snapped my focus off him drinking water to Pepper, who was watching me. I could see her curiosity about the momentary stare-off we’d had, and she did not need to get the wrong idea.

“You good?” he asked.

My eyes swung back to him. He was talking to me.

I nodded, but said nothing. He’d ignored me, and he was now asking if I was good?

No, Rome, I am not good. I had a nightmare, reliving yesterday, every time I closed my eyes last night.

Pepper had woken me up twice because she said I had been whimpering in my sleep.

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