Page 35 of A Hood Wife And A Rich Goon 2

Bull and Toni could only laugh at their banter. They’d closed on their house about a month and a half ago and were living together. Separate rooms, for now, but still. Rhema was in denial because she did love Jewel, and he’d been on his shit lately. Not just with the girls but showing up for her too. Nursing school was kicking her ass. She didn’t even have time to work now with clinicals, so she was allowing Jewel to take care of everything financially. He’d been coming through, too. Originally she’d just wanted to go for her ADN, but she’d been considering going for her BSN, which meant at least another thousand clinical hours.

“I really can’t stand you most of the time,” she declared.

“That’s alright. That little thirty percent means everything, baby.” Jewel winked, leaned in, and Rhema kissed him, then mushed his face away.

Their relationship in a nutshell. Jewel wasn’t the only one responsible for the back and forth. She’d backslid more than once, telling herself it was the last time. After two kids and a whole lot of work, she realized nobody could love or understand her like Jasiel Bailey. The nigga owned a piece of her soul and she didn’t see ever getting that back.

“There is something wrong with you.”

“I might have dropped him once or twice.” Lotus snickered, but Jewel didn’t find it funny as he inhaled the last of his taco and mugged her.

“Fuck you, Lo. Don’t be coming over here all hugged up either. I still ain’t used to that shit.” He peeped Eazy’s arm around her waist. Her very pregnant waist, and Jewel shook his head.

“Jewel, grow up! You ain’t never liked change.”

“She ain’t told a lie,” Rhema co-signed.

“You know what? I’m finna go get in the Puff line before it gets stupid.” Jewel pulled himself to his feet.

“Good luck.” Lotus huffed. “That line looks like it’s about forty-five minutes long now.”

“So?” Jewel shrugged.

“I heard Liora say they was already running low on the original. She already put an order up for me, though.” Lotus gloated, flashing a petty smile at him.

“Move…” Jewel damn near knocked her over sprinting toward the Pointe Puff stand.

“Don’t forget my order of Puffs, Jewel! I want the original and strawberry cheesecake!” Rhema yelled after him, then jumped up in pursuit. “This nigga ain’t gon’ remember or he gon’ eat my shit, and Imma kill ’em.”

Decades ago, Liora Singer invented the Pointe Puff, and it became a staple at market nights. It wasn’t a funnel cake. Not quite a beignet, but not a hand pie either. Pillowy soft, with a golden-brown fried pastry pocket filled with warm brown-sugar cinnamon peaches and cream-cheese cobbler filling, it was like a bite of heaven. Then she had the audacity to lightly toss them in vanilla-cinnamon sugar and finish them off with a warm butter-pecan praline drizzle. Served three to a paper boat, usually piping hot with a tiny cup of vanilla bean cream for dipping. Some next-level sorcery is what Jewel called it, and it was served only at the night market. Over the years, she’d developed other flavors, strawberry shortcake, banana pudding, sweet potato praline, and after dark, which was a chocolate brownie filled with salted caramel and only sold after sunset.

“What you want first, Lo?” Eazy looked around and viewed his options.

After going to pound town with her at the house, he was starving, and he knew she was too.

“I don’t know. Those damn Puffs in the air over everything. I want Golden Dragon, though.”

“I think a nigga want some tacos.” He rubbed his stomach and paused before squinting at something near the entrance.

Sure enough, Essence sauntered in, holding Midas’s hand and laughing at something he said with a serious face. . She was in no way dressed for this kind of event in heels and a tight red dress, but she looked good. He hated to say, she actually looked fucking happy, which pissed him off even more.

“Ain’t this ’bout a bitch,” Eazy grumbled.

“What?” Lotus turned just in time to see what he saw right along with Toni and a suddenly taut Bull.

When Niva walked up to his sister and threw her arms around her in a hug then spoke to Midas, Eazy’s jaw tightened. When the fuck did that happen?

“Come on, let’s go grab our food.” Eazy nudged Lotus along by the small of her back as soon as Essence spotted the familiar group posted up together.

Deciding to avoid the inevitable, she looked up at her husband, and he encouraged her to walk with him. Bull wanted to go for the heat on his hip so bad in that moment. He knew this wasn’t the time nor place for it, though.

“What’s up, Bull? Hi, Toni, right?” Essence spoke with her arm around her husband’s waist and Niva hovering in the background.

“Right. Hello.” Toni put on a tight smile.

She understood that Essence was Eazy’s sister, but there was no way the two of them would ever be friends. Cordial was the best she could offer considering who she was standing next to. Toni’s eyes lingered on Midas, standing there all smug with his hands locked together in front of him.

“Bull already knows Marchonne, but I don’t think you know⁠—”