Page 65 of Old Flame

“Thank you, Lick,” Goldie chirped.

He grunted in acknowledgment and headed for the door we’d only come in minutes ago.

Nina leaned her elbows on the counter, looking from that door to me. “Someone has warned you to be careful with that one, right? Because Lick is a crazy MFer.”

Goldie slapped Nina’s arm with a hand towel. “Don’t be mean. He’s just…unpredictable, and he makes poor choices.”

Nina glanced up at her. “He shipped a man’s balls to his wife.”

She winced and blew out a breath. “Okay, yeah, he did do that. But that’s one of the poor choices I was talking about.”

Nina rolled her eyes as I stared at both of them in horror. I was scared to ask for more of the story on that.

“Besides, I’ve never seen him act around a female like he does with this one. I’d say she’s safe,” Goldie told her.

“Eh,” Nina replied, cutting her eyes at me. “Depends on how much she cares about Tex’s health and safety.”

“He wouldn’t cut off Tex’s balls,” Goldie replied, rolling her eyes.

“Are we one hundred percent sure about that?” Nina asked.

“Y’all, please,” Pepper interrupted them. “She is almost as white as the flour you got all over the counter. Stop talking about shit like that. Besides, my buck would be on Tex. He ain’t crazy, but he is packing more muscle.”

Goldie and Nina looked at each other, and Nina shrugged as ifmaybe Pepper was right.

“Anyway, back to what we want to know. Where did you go yesterday? What happened?” Goldie asked me.

“Is his cock really pierced?” Nina added.

My eyes went wide as I stared at her.

“Wh-what?” I asked.

She looked let down. “So, you didn’t see his cock. Well, that’s okay. Plenty of time for that.”

“She’s not a club slut. Jesus, Nina,” Goldie scolded her.

“I know that, and that wouldn’t make her a slut. She said that he took her virginity twenty years ago. They aren’t strangers,” she shot back at her just as the door to the kitchen opened again.

I glanced back at the door and then froze in horror. Rome came strolling in, his eyes glancing over the others, then locking on me. I couldn’t read his expression to know if he’d heard any of that, but he didn’t say anything. Turning back around, I let out the breath I’d been holding.

The stool that Lick had just left was being moved once again as Rome came to sit beside me. The other women said nothing, and that made us all look guilty.

“What? Don’t let me stop you. So, you know I took Salem’s virginity. Please continue. I’m fascinated to know where this conversation was headed.”

My entire body flushed, and I closed my eyes tightly. He had heard her. Crap. Why had I told them anything? Now he would think I had gone around spewing out our past to everyone. Was he mad? He hadn’t sounded like it, but he had to be. Right?

“If I’d thought she was a slut, then I’d have had her straddling me on my bike yesterday, but, no, that didn’t happen. I know her too well. She’d never have done that.”

My eyes flew open, and I saw Goldie biting back a grin and Nina smirking at him before I turned to look at him. Had he really just said that?

He was watching me. Waiting for me to react. The teasing glint in his eyes sent a tiny shiver through me.

“You look surprised, Angel Face,” he said.

I blinked and said nothing. He’d called me Angel Face in front of the other women.

“Angel Face, huh? I take it, that’s not a new endearment?” Nina said.

---