Page 18 of The Queen's Joker
I let them have their moment and return to Joker. My twin gives me a look I cannot decipher, and I don’t like it. His eyes narrow, and he shakes his head before looking down. I know we will have a conversation soon. I hope he will not have a hard time with this relationship. The vibe in the living room is weird, but honestly, I couldn’t care less about that. Ash looks super uncomfortable, and I tilt my head. She and I have become closer, and while I wouldn’t say we are girlfriends yet, we are friendly, at least. “You okay, Ash?”
She almost jumps before blinking a few times before focusing on me. “Yeah… Everything’s fine.” She nibbles at her bottom lip.
Letha scoffs. “That’s now the third person to see something is wrong. Now, spill.”
Their relationship is interesting to me. They are close like siblings, but more of a friendship that has me scratching my head. They are an unlikely duo. Letha is bold, slightly loud, and confident, yet has that same thing I see in Jack. Unsettled, they don’t quite know exactly what side of themselves they want to show people. They both need a self-reflection class of who they exactly want to be. Just like I can see through Letha’s extreme hair colors, wanting to control something but never truly happy with the results. Ash, on the other hand, knows exactly what she is. Girl has been through some therapy or something. She knows herself and would prefer to sit on the sidelines and let anyone else have the spotlight. Even though, in her own right, her talent outshines everyone else. Being around Ash is like finding a magnificent shade tree in the heat of summer. Calming, soothing, and gentle, you cannot help but relax around her.
Ash sighs as she throws her straight hair over her shoulder. “I got back to my shop and apartment yesterday. The pipes must have busted, and it’s unlivable. I have someone coming today to look at it.”
“You can stay with me,” Letha pipes up. We just set her up with a one-bedroom apartment with a nice living area.
King clears his throat. “You have a room, and your studio is still set up in mine. It’s no trouble. You can stay there.” I eye King. Sure, he is the peacemaker and always putting too much on his shoulders, but I’m unsure if he wants to do this. I slightly elbow Joker and his eyes meet mine before accessing my face with his ‘what did I do now’ face. He is paying attention, but he isn’t usually a team player.
“Oh, you can come stay at my place,” Joker says and gives me a look that says, See? Helpful. Reward me with your vagina later, please.
I almost open my mouth to berate him, but then I shake that off when King looks gobsmacked. Then anger flashes over his face, and he flexes his fist; I didn’t know breakfast would come with a show. “Why the hell would she come stay at your place?” His jaw is tight, and it seems he is fighting to keep his mouth shut from saying more.
Joker raises his hands. “Excuse the fuck out of me. I am moving my stuff into Queen’s, and it will sit there.” He gives me a look as his nostrils flare. “I fucking tried, and I hated it. Being nice can be your thing now.” With that, he leans back onto the couch and pulls me into him.
I can’t help the giggle that escapes my mouth. I kiss his cheek, and he grumbles before getting comfortable. Jack scoffs slightly. “You’re already moving in—”
“Congratulations, you two,” King interrupts my twin, thankfully cutting him off from trying to ruin this morning. He looks back to Ash. “You have options, but your stuff is already at mine.”
“Thanks, Joker. I appreciate the gesture and will keep that in mind. I don’t want to make you rush to get your stuff out. King’s right. It’s probably easier this way.” She bites her lip once more, looking mildly unsettled.
Winnie takes this time to run over to Letha, landing in her lap and not giving her a choice. “Bear says he is going to come visit me! He also told me to tell you to teach me to play something other than Go Fish.”
Letha laughs. “What’s wrong with Go Fish?” Winnie throws her head back and huffs like the world’s weight is on her tiny shoulders. Her eyes roll dramatically.
Winnie throws her hands out dramatically before groaning like she has heard this a million times. “He can’t win against a fucking almost five-year-old. Bear is not as lucky with cards as with women.” The entire room goes silent before busting out laughing.
I look at Tess, who seems mortified, before putting her hand to her face to compose herself. “Winnie, everything you just said, never say it again.”
Her bottom lip pouts, and she crosses her arms at her chest and huffs. I think she opens her mouth to argue when Ace snaps his fingers. Her eyes look up at her dad, and she settles back into Letha’s lap. Letha hugs her against her. “My brother and the rest of the Fallen Sons need to have a lesson on what is appropriate to talk about in front of little ears. Since you have been hanging out with them too much, I can teach you other games to beat Bear when he visits.” Winnie’s smile slightly disappears, and she gets quiet.
“Maybe we can learn one he is good at. Bear’s my friend, and he might stop playing with me if he doesn’t win, too.” King pulls Winnie to him and wraps his arms around her, hugging her before helping the tension in the room by tickling her into giggles. A few minutes later, breakfast arrives with enough to feed a small army. The teams will love the spread down in the cafeteria this morning. Joker and I usually go down after a mission to eat with everyone. I think, though, that I am where I am supposed to be. When I look over at Winnie, a laugh escapes as I watch her attack her waffle like her nickname suggests, and I couldn’t be happier.
Chapter twenty-four
“Alright, of course. I will let him know. I am sure we will keep her busy between all of us.” Joker’s eyes meet mine in question, and I smile at him. When I hang up, I say, “I suppose we can think of it as a special mission. Tess keeps having Braxton-Hick’s contractions. The doctor wants her to take it easy and not lift it. Ace wants Winnie to spend time with each of us daily. Keep her busy, for Tess’s sake and Winnie’s.”
Joker stands, his eyes widening. “Tess is fine, seriously,” I say. He continues to move toward the door and then moves his hands down his body, searching for something. A smile breaks out on his face as he looks around, his eyes darting, looking for whatever he needs. “You’re slightly freaking me out right now.”
He runs back into our room before emerging quickly. “I know she is fine. I just had an idea, and this moves the timeline up.” He puts his wallet in his back pocket, grabs his phone, and begins typing on it. “I’ll be back in like three or four hours. Maybe longer if Ace lets me take Winnie with me.” He bends down and kisses me. “Ready your surprise face because it’s happening.” He kisses me once more and smiles at me, and I don’t know if I should be scared.
I grab his hand as he pulls away, stopping him from moving. I have questions and the man had better answer them. “Whoa. Wait. Where are you taking Winnie? Do you know how to work a car seat?” She is still in her booster harness-type seat. They are slightly tricky; you must adjust the sternum piece just right. I know Tess is very strict about the whole thing, which she has every right to be.
His face scrunches and his eyes narrow as he looks at me as if I underestimate him. “Ace can show me. I will have to take his car, anyway. I do not know how to get that tank of a car seat into my car. But seriously, we are going to kick so much ass in aunt and uncle points.” He kisses me. I open my mouth to speak, and his finger stops my lips from moving. “Shhh, I will text you when we’re on the way home.” He waves as he walks out of the door. I would question things more, but seeing him so excited is nice.
He takes being the fun uncle to heart; I think part of it is the competition and the fact that he wants to be the favorite. Jack would be hard to beat in the fun category. Jack. The very thought of him makes my eye twitch. He has avoided me at every turn, and I suppose he has had many of my secrets come out rather quickly. The Randall situation and now, I think the Joker situation has been a lot for him to stomach. I didn’t even see that one coming. What did Jack expect? To read my childhood diary while eating ice cream and braiding each other’s hair? I am not someone who is a sharer of my feelings. Nobody knew my feelings for Joker because I could keep my mouth shut.
That didn’t mean I didn’t enjoy talking to Jack when the occasion happened. Jack is usually my person, but he is acting so weird, and I don’t want to push him until he is ready to talk. Instead, I go toward King’s wing. I want to check on Ash to see how repairs are going in her shop. I can’t wait till the grand re-opening. My eyes look down at my inked skin, and I’m sure there is space for more ink. Even though I want to buy one of her paintings for my living room, I can’t tell her that. The woman would give it to me. I want to pay for it.
When I knock at the door, King comes barreling out, closing the door behind him and keeping me from going inside. “Ash is in pure concentration mode. Her paintings are due at a show in Chicago in a week and she has had some inspiration. I was getting ready to come see you.”
“Great minds. Do you want to come over for drinks?” It is only 10:30 a.m., but drinking with one of my brothers sounds fun. Day drinking has a certain appeal.
He pauses before nodding his head. “I’m in. What kind of drinks do you have?” We walk back toward my apartment; it’s now mine and Joker’s. “None of those girly drinks that you have two and feel tipsy.”