Page 96 of Body Language
Before I could process that, Hux jumped up, hollering, “LET’S GO!” at the top of his lungs. He’d apparently just won the game and turned to dap Kendrix up like they’d been boys for years.
I just stood there, watching all of them like a stranger in my own living room. They weren’t used to interacting with people like this. Especially not men. And I wasn’t used to seeing them look at someone like that.
“It’s late,” I finally said, breaking up the cozy little family picture before it went too far. “Y’all have things to do in the morning, so get to bed.”
Zejah started gathering up the snack wrappers and nail polish bottles from the floor, but Kendrix stopped her with a shake of his head.
“Don’t worry about it, just get some rest. I’ll clean and get everything squared away.”
That was exactly what Hux wanted to hear. His whole face broke into a grin. He stood, dapped Kendrix up, and said, “Nice to meet you, man. Can’t wait to play you again.”
“Bet,” Kendrix said with that easy smile, like I was the one to personally introduce them.
Zejah gave him a quick hug. “Thanks for the snacks.”
He smirked. “Those were for the baby.”
She laughed, rolling her eyes before heading toward her room.
Heidi was the last one lingering, dragging her feet like bedtime was the end of the world. She wrapped her little arms around him, face buried in his shoulder.
“Can you come back tomorrow?” she asked in a tiny voice.
“I’ll have to ask Niv first,” he told her, glancing at me with that smug look like he knew exactly what he was doing. “But if she says yes, then of course, and we can play dolls.”
Her eyes lit up instantly. “Yay!”
Then she whipped her head toward me. “Niv, please say yes!”
Before I could even respond, she kissed his cheek, grinned, and skipped off to her room, leaving me standing there with my arms crossed, staring at the man who’d just walked all up into my space and got my people loving him in a matter of hours.
The second Heidi’s bedroom door clicked shut, I turned toward Kendrix, ready to start in on him. He was still sitting there on my couch, looking way too comfortable like it was his spot. One arm stretched across the back cushion, legs spread, the faintest smirk pulling at his mouth like he’d just won something.
“What the fuck was that?” I asked, my voice low so the kids wouldn’t hear.
He just shrugged. “What was what?”
“Walking in here like you pay bills and getting them all up under you like that?”
“I didn’t know I wasn’t allowed to meet your family,” he said, leaning forward, elbows on his knees. “They like me. You like me. Feels like we’re already halfway there.”
I laughed once. “Halfway where? You really think you can just show up at my house, charm my people, and that’s gonna get you in good with me?”
“Looks like it’s working.”
The nerve.
I crossed my arms, holding my ground. “Kendrix, you got lucky tonight. That’s all. Don’t make this into something it’s not.”
He tilted his head, eyes locked on mine in that way that made my stomach flip, no matter how much I hated it. “See, that’s the thing, Niv. You talk like I’m trying to pull something, when all I’m doing is showing you where I fit. And I do fit, here. With them. With you.”
For a second, I didn’t even have a comeback. I hated that he could do that—slip under my skin and settle in before I even realized it.
I broke eye contact first, walking past him toward the kitchen like I needed a drink, when really I just needed space.
“You should go,” I said over my shoulder.
He didn’t even flinch. “Come home with me.”
