Page 72 of Crave

“Nothing else! Let’s go.”

“She steals socks!” Tash yells.

“Oh, and she never has any gas in her car. I don’t know how it’s possible for a person not to ever have gas in their car, but our Dee pulls it off. I’ll bet my next paycheck that if we check her car now, she’s on empty.”

Jake turns to face me, disbelief written on his face.

“Sandra, tell me he’s lying. Please, tell me you’re not driving your car just on fumes.”

“You’re in trouble. He called you Sandra,” Tash teases.

“Chris doesn’t know what he’s talking about. I haven’t run out of gas in months.”

“Sandra!” I turn towards Jake, whose face has turned red.

“Two months. It’s only been two months.”

I turn to Chris and stick my tongue out at him. “Just remember snitches get stitches, Christopher.”

“And that’s another thing, Jake. These Etienne women are tough. Tash scares the shit out of me most days. Don’t let her size fool you, man.”

“I know. I met their mom. I’ve never been so scared of a woman before in my life.”

“Oh, please,” Tash says, finally leaving the kitchen counter and walking over to Chris. “Our mother is barely five feet tall. She doesn’t scare anybody. And she’s known you your entire life, Chris. She loves you.”

“She loves me now, but she didn’t think I was good enough for you.” Chris turns to Jake. “I was married to someone else before Tash, and her mother did not want me for her daughter, and she wasn’t shy about letting me know it.”

“Well, she thinks I’m a troublemaker and ordered me to stay away from her daughter the first time I went into the bakery. And that was after she threatened my life. I’m glad to know she’s not just hostile towards me.”

“You’re so dramatic. She didn’t threaten your life. And youaretrouble.” He smiles so deep that his dimple shows through his scruff.

“You like my kind of trouble.” And right in my sister’s kitchen, he gives me a kiss that makes me want to forget all about work and drag him back to my house. Lost in the kiss, I drop my coffee cup on the table and slide my hands into his hair. It’s not until I hear a loud whistle that I remember where I am. I pull away, embarrassed by the display. Tash arches her eyebrows at me and Chris proceeds to look anywhere but at us.

“I’m going to be late for work,” I say quickly, picking up my coffee. I grab Jake’s hand and pull him towards the front door.

“Yeah, me too. Anything else I need to know about Deedee?” he asks over his shoulder.

“Don’t ever call her that in front of our mother,” Tash warns me.

“He already did. She was not impressed,” I respond.

Chris laughs as they both follow us outside. Jake walks me to my car and opens the door for me when I unlock it.

“Start it. I want to see this for myself.”

“I have a quarter tank.” I roll my eyes and start the car and cringe when I see I only have nine miles until empty.

“Unbelievable,” I hear him say. Chris walks by and lays his hand on Jake’s shoulder.

“I told you. Your problem now, man.”

“The gas station is less than half a mile away,” I say as an explanation. Tash and Chris stand there watching the exchange.

“I’ll follow you there and fill it up for you.” I open my mouth to argue, but Jake keeps talking. “No arguments. I’ll lose my shit if I get a call from you telling me you’re stuck on the side of the road because you ran out of gas. Lose. My. Shit.”

“Chris doesn’t mind,” I say, my defense weak even to my own ears.

“Yes, he does,” Chris says.

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