Page 133 of Oblivion

“Ahshit,I’d forgotten about that. Still fucking funny, Lote.”

There was no point trying to hide my snicker. It was going to escape no matter how hard I tried to lock it down. Over and above the mystery, itwashilarious. Stupid, but hilarious.

“My pointis,”I emphasized after I coughed away the amusement, “…is that it’s too coincidental for both Forrest and I to be targeted randomly. Have you or any of the other guys received threats?”

Jenny shook his head. “No. We haven’t. It’s all been quiet up until this week. So, you think Ward took my phone, hacked it, and kept the video to use against you months down the road?”

I stared blankly. “Well, when you put it like that, it makes me sound fucking crazy.”

“You’re not crazy, Lotus,” he muttered. “Shit, it’s too early for all of this. I haven’t even gotten one cup of coffee under my belt yet.”

He reached for the coffee pot as I snorted. “You could at least put some damn pants on first. Seeing your skinny legs this early is making me want to stab my eyes out.”

“Good, because seeing you get head in the middle of my living room makes me want to pour acid into mine,” he snapped. “How ‘bout this, though?”

“What?” I glanced at Chen, then looked away so fast my head spun. “Christ, man, I don’t need to see your goddamn ballsack,ever!”

Chen roared with laughter and adjusted the leg hole of his underwear, mercifully tucking his scrotum away.

Shuffling in the living room caught my hearing, and Mei’s appearance brought fresh sobriety to our rowdy hooting and hollering.

“What are you two laughing about?” she deadpanned, arriving into the kitchen with suspicion already narrowing her eyes.

“Nothin’, baby. Just showing Lotus a thing or two.”

Jenny reached for his wife, rubbed her rounded belly, and kissed her forehead. I, however, had yet to look her in the eye.

“Mornin’, Mei,” I mumbled before chancing a quick glance.

She watched me closely while hugging her husband, then arched one eyebrow expectantly.

My pulse kicked with disappointment. “I’m sorry about earlier. It was extremely disrespectful and I shouldn’t have brought that drama to your home, especially when we’re all going through hell at the moment.”

She slid from Chen’s arms and opened hers to me. I engulfed her tiny stature in my embrace, accepting her peace offering and exhaling with relief.

“It’s okay, Lotus. It won’t happen again, though, will it?”

Mei was the queen of passive-aggressive warnings. This was one I chose to heed out of mild fear over how the sweet-looking woman could turn scary-savage in a blink.

“No, ma’am, it won’t. You have my word.”

Mei smiled, and affectionately double-tapped my cheek. “Then it’s forgiven.”

“Why doesheget away with this when you would have buried me in the backyard already?” Chen complained.

“Because I like Dante,” Mei sassed, and plucked the freshly poured coffee from his grasp.

He threw up his hands. “Women, I tell ya. And you know you shouldn’t be drinking coffee! Love you,” he hastily added the millisecond his wife gave him a sharp look.

Satisfied enough, she sashayed over to the dining table and called, “Eggs bene, please,” over her shoulder. “And it’s just a sip.”

Chen rolled his eyes, though failed to hide the adorning smile. “What did your last slave die of?”

“Receiving blow jobs in my living room,” she deadpanned.

I coughed to hide my laughter. Chen and I were walking the fine line of riling her up and creating a storm in a teacup.

“Jeez, Lote, she’sforgivenyou, but she ain’t forgotten,” Chen murmured out the side of his mouth.

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