Page 250 of When a Soul Cries

She crossed her arms.

I grinned.

“Girl, the three of y’all been walking around that big-ass house looking like the new-age Huxtables.”

“Zari!”

“What?” I dodged the hand she swung toward me. “You do!”

“We do not.”

“Okay, Claire.”

She stared at me for two seconds before both of us cracked up.

Even Halo started laughing because we were laughing.

I pointed toward her.

“See? Rudy agrees.”

Sol laughed harder.

But underneath the joke, I meant some of it.

Rome cared about them.

That much was obvious.

And as protective as I was over Sol, I hadn’t seen anything yet that made me feel like I needed to pull her away from him.

I was still watching.

Always.

But I liked the way he treated Halo.

I liked that he didn’t make Sol feel small for needing help.

And most importantly, I liked the way Sol seemed to relax around him.

She deserved somebody who didn’t make love—or whatever the hell they were building—feel like another thing she had to survive.

My phone buzzed in my pocket.

I pulled it out.

**Kai.**

Of course.

I stared at his name half a second too long.

Sol noticed.

“Ooh.”

“Don’t.”