Page 21 of Keeping Busy
“Ugghhhh.” I said, holding up my free hand, the one that wasn’t encased in Maddox’s massive paw. “Can we let it go? What’s done is done. It’s the past. Busy messed up.” I cut my eyes at him. “I think he gets it. You’re not about to keep riding his ass about it, Clarke.”
She eyed me. “Why? Is it your turn to ride his ass, Mecca?”
Again, catcalls and shouts came from every corner of the room. But this is what we did. This was what it looked like when the Watson girls got together.
“Not this very second.” I said, once the chatter had died down. “But maybe when we leave here. Meanwhile, get off my man.”
“Your man?” That was my cousin, Reign.
“I said what I said.” I assured her, as British caught my eye and gave me an almost imperceptible nod. I looked up at Maddox, who was surprisingly, looking down at me. “Let’s get food.”
He followed me into the kitchen. There were people in there, so we couldn’t talk, and I really wanted to talk to him. I quickly fixed him a plate containing everything he pointed at, then threw about two things on a plate to call my own. I led him to a semi-hidden alcove under the stairs, that the Payne family clearly used as a mud-room area. I sat down on the built-in bench, that doubled as a place for the family to store shoes and boots and such.
“How do you feel?”
He looked over at me in confusion. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, with Clarke coming for you.”
“Pssshhhtttt.” He was dismissive. “You do know that I’m familiar with Clarke, right? Actually, I’m kinda more concerned with them coming for you.”
“For me? My cousins? Nah, that’s not gonna happen. Yeah, they’re gonna tease me about you, then act like they’re jealous that after all of these years, I was the one tofinallypull you, but they’re not gonna like, come for me for real or nothing.” I paused. “They love me.”
“I knew you would drag Busy over here to hide from the crowd.” British said dipping into the alcove to join us.
I shrugged my shoulders as I took a tiny bite of potato salad.
“You okay?” She asked gently. “Clarke’s ass.”
“No, I expected that.” I admitted. “Especially from Clarke.”
“What about you, Busy? You get what you expected?” She smirked.
“Actually, I got less than I expected. I expected to be roasted all night.”
“With Mecca standing there?” She rolled her eyes. “No way that was happening. If you wanna pull this thing off, especially in front of my family, you need to learn your girl.”
“You the tough guy in the family,Pudding?”
I looked over at him. Apparently, teasing me tickled him, because he was grinning and showing me the dimples that caused panties to moisten from coast to coast.
“I thought that was Clarke.” He continued, before I could answer the original question.
“Clarke is the toughest talker, but when it comes to fisticuffs, it’s Joya and Reign that bring that heat.” British cut her eyes at me. “AndPudding. Trust me, your girl is nice with her hands. Plus, she got that mama bear thing happening. You know, from always having to take up for me, Clarke, Indigo, River and Reign growing up.”
“You a street brawler?” He asked, biting into his brisket sandwich. I didn’t get how he could possibly still be hungry after slamming like, at least 10 tacos at my parents’ house, but he was eating again.
“I’m a boxer. Took it up to help build strength. Dancers tend to have extremely strong legs, I wanted to have...good arms.”
“Sexy arms.” British corrected. “Tell the truth, and shame the devil. After she saw some old school movie with Angela Bassett playing some chick named Tina something…”
“Tina Turner?” Maddox couldn’t stop laughing. “How old are you, British?”
“Leave me alone, Busy.”
“She’s 25. That’s why her age is showing.” I said.
“Anyway, your girl wanted sexy arms like that.” She continued.
