Page 87 of Crave

“I’ll tell her you had to leave, so you can go now.” Jake gets up and waits for Troy to do the same.

“Mrs. Etienne invited me. It would be rude of me to leave while her back is turned.”

“Look, Troy,” Jake begins, standing from the table, getting ready to do battle. I stand up and stand between him and Troy. I take both of his hands in mine.

“Baby, it’s okay. The kids are watching, so relax. Let’s just enjoy the beautiful weather. Troy, would you like a drink?” Jake is about to respond, but Tristan is running towards us. Luke has Nia on his back and Emma holding onto one of his legs.

“Just a water, please, Sandy,” Troy says, politely.

“Uncle Jake, uncle Luke told me about Brother’s Day. I want to have Brother’s Day. Can we, please!”

“What’s Brother’s Day?” I ask.

“It’s this ridiculous holiday Troy made up when Luke was younger.”

“He used to have a fit whenever I’d leave the house. I was trying to leave for a date one night, and he kept crying because he knew I was going out. So, I told him if he stopped, the three of us would have Brother’s Day that following Sunday. It became our annual thing. We’d give each other presents and we’d spend the day together, just us brothers,” Troy tells us fondly, smiling at the memory.

“Can we do it, Daddy?”

“Sure. I’d love to, but it might just be you, me, Luke and Emma.”

“I don’t want to be with a bunch of boys.” Emma lets go of Luke’s leg and runs back to the bouncy house.

Undeterred, Tristan turns to Jake. “Can we, Uncle Jake? Please?”

Jake’s nostrils flare as he fixes his gaze on Luke, who only shrugs and smiles guiltily.

“Let me talk to your dad for a minute, Tristan.”

Tristan looks from his father to his uncle, trepidation on his face. “Okay,” he says, but his little shoulders sag. “Please, be my daddy’s friend again, Uncle Jake.”

Jake ruffles his hair, as he grabs Troy by the elbow and walks him to the other side of the house, away from our eyes.

Thankfully, Noah distracts Tristan by asking him inside to play video games. Tristan forgets all the tension as he runs inside, sidestepping around my mother, who’s coming back out.

“Damn, that was tense?” Chris remarks. “We’ve never had this many white people here before.” I roll my eyes at him and punch his arm. “I’m going to set up the tables, so we can eat. You should probably go make sure those two don’t come to blows. We don’t need any white on white crime in our neighborhood.”

Tash lets out a loud laugh at her husband’s joke. “Seriously, Dee,” she says between giggles. “Go!”

When I get to the side of the house, I slow down to the sound of their voices.

“What the fuck are you still so angry about? Looks to me like you have it all, Jake. Enjoy it.”

“I don’t need you to make commentary on my relationship. I need you to leave. I told you before I don’t want you around Sandy. Stay the fuck out of my life.”

I hear a long expel of breath.

“You’re being ridiculous. You’re the one who called me.”

I make myself known before Jake can respond. “Hey, baby.” He turns around and sees me standing there. The tension from his body melts away and he walks over to me and pulls my body into his, his big hands cupping my ass. “Everything okay? The sooner we eat, the sooner we can go back to your place.”

He runs his nose along my neck.

“Sounds good, princess. Have I told you how gorgeous you look in that dress?” A kiss on my lips is followed by one on my nose. “I love you,” he whispers.

Troy clearing his throat reminds us that we’re not alone, but Jake only presses me closer into his body.

“Let’s go eat before my mother comes looking for us. I’d love to hear more about Brother’s Day. I’ll get you a real drink, Troy.”

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