Page 57 of Riding Dirty

Alex nods once, his gaze never leaving mine. “But now you want something different?”

Having a serious conversation this early in the morning should be fucking illegal, is what it should be, but I know it’s a necessity. And I want it out of the way now so it doesn’t turn into a problem.

“And you’ll communicate more… better?” he asks.

I dip my chin in a single nod. “I will.”

“Then if she’s cool, I’m cool.”

The bathroom door opens, and I watch as Elodie emerges. She’s got on her tight shorts and an oversized shirt, her hair is pulled up into a messy bun on top of her head, and she shuffles toward us, ignoring both Alex and me as she makes her way over to the coffee situation.

“Babe,” I call out.

She doesn’t even look over to me and Alex, she’s so focused on pouring her hot water over whatever the fuck contraption she’s got going on. I can’t help but laugh because this whole thing is so fucking ridiculous.

“Elodie,” I repeat.

She turns her head, her eyes flicking up to meet mine. “Yes?” she asks. Though she isn’t chipper, she sounds tired.

“You need a real coffee maker, especially since there’re three of us here now.”

She stares at me, blinking a couple of times, then her lips twitch into a smirk. “Three of us here now?” she asks.

“Yeah,” I say. “Even in your new place, there will be the three of us.”

Alex and Elodie stare at me in silence, and as much as I want to laugh at their response, I don’t. I told them all of this, that I would get them into a different place. Alex flicks his gaze down to his feet, but it’s Elodie who speaks first. She doesn’t look away. She’s focused even in her sleepy state.

“New place. That’s not something we can afford. Not even if Alex and I pool together what we pay for rent, it wouldn’t be enough to get anything better than what we have here.”

“Babe,” I begin again. “I’m putting you both up in a better place. There’s no fucking reason to be split up in these little shitholes. Plus, this is the bad side of town.”

“While I agree this is the hood,” Alex states, sounding much more awake and alert as his gaze searches mine while his lips curve up into a smile, “it’s your hood. You’re known at Fat Boys.”

It’s my turn to smile. “Yeah,” I say on a laugh. “Which is why neither of you should be living here. If it’s somewhere I’m known, it’s not for you. Plus, a little more room will give us the space we need.”

I hold his gaze for a moment. He smirks, jerking his chin in my direction. “The space,” he mutters.

“The space,” I confirm. Then I shift my attention over to Elodie. “Let me take care of my woman, babe.”

Conversation done.

And over.

We part ways, but only after I give Elodie a long, wet, deep kiss. I’ve made my decision. I’m moving them into a better place, safer, with more room. Plus, I’m ready to invest in myself.

In my future.

And now that I have a plan for the future, it seems like the right time.

And that plan is Elodie, however that looks, which I’m not quite sure of yet, but I am going all in with her. And there is no way I can be all in if I’m not taking care of her. From what I know about her past, just the things I discovered and the few things she’s told me, she deserves to be taken care of a bit, as does Alex.

They’ve been through enough, and now it’s time for them to breathe a bit easier in life.

The conversation of the morning ended better than I thought. Once Elodie started bringing up clubwhores, I thought for sure it was going to turn into a fight.

I might not know much about women, but what I do know is that I don’t want another man even looking at Elodie, and if they came up to me and started talking about how they fucked her… the fuck wouldn’t be breathing.

So shit is going to go my way, and that is the only fucking thing I give a shit about at this point. I’m going to have a conversation with Velvet, because I’m fairly fucking positive that’s who cornered Elodie on Monday. Velvet better watch her fucking self, or she’s going to end up on her ass.