Total pages in book: 176
Estimated words: 167257 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 836(@200wpm)___ 669(@250wpm)___ 558(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 167257 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 836(@200wpm)___ 669(@250wpm)___ 558(@300wpm)
“What else?” Rowdy returned sarcastically, gesturing to a passed-out Joren.
Jada’s gaze barely flicked in his direction before she waved Rowdy off. “He’ll be fine. Let him sleep it off, and he should be awake in a couple of hours.” Her attention shifted to me, and she smiled. “You must be Atlas. I’ve heard a lot about you. I’m Jada. Joren’s wife.”
My smile wavered.
Wife.
I’d known Joren was married, but I hadn’t known it was to the girl in the photo. He barely mentioned her—none of them did—and she never came by the shop. She hadn’t even shown her face all weekend until now.
“Nice to meet you,” I forced out with a strained smile. It wasn’t a lie per se. There were just too many warring emotions rioting inside my head to focus on anything but quieting them.
Even now, I could see the curiosity in Jada’s gaze as she tried to keep her own polite smile on her face.
For fuck’s sake.
I hoped Rowdy hadn’t fucked her too.
No.
That would be too trifling—even for him.
I started to excuse myself under the guise of getting a drink when an argument nearby delayed my quick exit.
“How many times do I have to tell you? Stop following me, stalker.”
I spotted Demi strutting through the sliding door with Halo riding her hip and Roc hot on her heels like a puppy eager for any ounce of affection from its owner. He was wearing one of those plastic crowns on his head and a T-shirt that read Birthday Boy on the front.
Roc sucked his teeth at Demi and threw his arms up in mock defeat. “How you gonna tell me I can’t follow you when you got my damn daughter, Demetria? Anywhere she goes, I’m going.”
“Try again, loser. If you didn’t want to grow up, then you should have worn a condom. Your daughter had no business being here in the first place. There’s not one other child around. Why? Because this is a grown folks’ party. You didn’t even invite half these people, yet you had the nerve to have her sleeping in that room alone with the door unlocked.”
“I told you I thought I locked it!”
“And I told you to do better.”
Well, damn.
It was hard to believe that Demi and Roc hadn’t created Halo together. They weren’t even dating, fucking, or anything in between, yet they insisted on upholding this weird dynamic where they argued incessantly to hide the sexual tension so thick it was almost stifling.
Unfortunately, Demi was loyal to the bone, and Roc had fucked up any chance they might have had when he knocked up her best friend. Now, I think the two of them punished one another for the other’s perceived mutual transgressions by constantly finding a reason to stay in each other’s orbit.
The way Demi told it, she hated the air Roc breathed yet never balked at stepping in whenever he fell short as a parent. Meanwhile, Roc, who was a great father and a single one at that, constantly placed himself in her path and even resorted to using his daughter as a pawn.
Halo, who was still rubbing the sleep from her eyes, must have grown tired of listening to their bickering because she started looking around until her sleepy gaze traveled in our direction, and she began squirming to get down.
Demi let her down when she started to whine, and before either of them could tell her to stay put, Halo darted away.
“Uncle O! Uncle O!” she screamed right before colliding into his legs.
Rowdy pretended to almost fall over before scooping her up and tickling her belly through her jumper, making her laugh uncontrollably.
“Aye,” he said once she quieted down. He was frowning deeply now as he held her up by her armpits until she was at eye level. “You still owe me six lollipops for that race I won last week.”
“Uh-uh! You cheated!” Halo shouted back.
“I what?” He darted to the railing before flipping Halo upside down and holding her over it. “Let’s try that again, you little gremlin. I gave you a week and not a day more to pay up. Where’s my candy, Killa?”
“Daddy!” Halo could barely call out for her father from laughing so hard. She looked so comical with her long curly ponytail damn near touching the ground.
“You better stop,” Rowdy warned when she started to wiggle around. “I might drop you.” The asshole pretended to let her slip, making her shriek and call for her father again.
“Okay! Okay!” she finally agreed when she realized her father was still too preoccupied with Demi to pay his daughter any mind.
Rowdy lifted her back over the railing before setting her on her feet. “I’m waiting,” he told her when all she gave him was a playful pout.
“Um…I don’t have any candy. Not really,” she confessed with a shrug. Rowdy reached for her again, but Halo shrieked, darting out of the way and running to me, of all people, for protection before wrapping her little arms around my leg. “Atlas, help me!”