Page 28 of Crazy In Love

She pats my back. “Sorry, little buddy. I didn’t mean to upset you. Seventy-two hours,” she concludes, grabbing my fork and her knife, and cutting into her steak. “It was the longest three days of my life, but it turned out alright, since we got the cutest little purple alien baby ever at the end of it. Tommy’s in for a hell of a night, but he’ll come out better for it.”

“Why’d you take my fork?”

Unbothered, she cuts a chunk of steak and places the morsel on her tongue. “What?”

“My fork.” I look down at where itshouldbe, then up to where itis. “Franky set out the utensils.”

“Okay…”

“So that was my fork. Was there a problem with the one he gave you?”

“Uh… no. Here.” She elbows her unused fork in my direction. “Use this one.”

“If I wanted that one, I’d have grabbed that one.” I hate that my chest tightens. That my arms flex. My stomach hardens, and my jaw sets. “That’s my fork. You took my fork when you had your own.”

She chews and swallows, grinning around her meal. “It’s just a fork.”

“It’s not just a fork,” Franky rumbles, clinging to his like he’s terrified he’ll lose it. “These ones have a diamond design on the end, see?Diamonds.”

“And this one—” I don’t even touch the offending utensil—“It has no diamonds.”

“You realize the pattern is not what makes the fork, right? The pokers are.”

“They’re called tines!” It’s like The Hulk lives inside me, readying to explode. Waiting to spew green all over the place. And Fox is completely fucking incapable of not enraging me.

Luckily for her, I’ve had nearly three decades of practice keeping that fucker under control. So I breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth. Just like we teach at the gym.

Then I swallow and meet her eyes. “They’re called tines. And I like the fork with the diamonds on it. It doesn’t have to make sense to you. You just have to respect the way we do things around here.”

Her eyes glitter with taunting, dancing menace. And since she’s a cold-hearted, callous monster, she stabs her steak and cuts a little more off. “Why don’t you ask Franky for his fork?”

Startled, he slips his hands beneath the table and hides the cutlery with them.

“I don’t want his fork,” I grit out. “I want mine.”

“This one?” She drags her tongue along the silver, trapping the morsel of steak between her teeth and pulling it off to chew. “You’ll ruin a perfectly good dinner because of a fork, when you have a suitable alternative sitting right there?”

I drop my gaze to the offending fork and sneer. I don’t mean for my lips to peel back or for rage to build and bubble in my stomach, but when Fox breaks out in irritating little giggles, I know she knows she’s fucking with me.

“I’ve already slobbered on this one.” She lowers her lips into a fake pout. “And sharing spit germs is just… it’s way too friendly for a couple of people who don’t know each other, ya know?” She cuts a little more and stares straight into my fucking eyes as she places the tines between her lips. “Don’t wait too long. This steak is delicious, but it won’t be nearly as nice once it’s cold.”

It’s a standoff. Her looking at me, and me looking at her.Myfork, pinched between her fingers, while her fork sits unused between us.

Teasing.Useless!

“Why even have forks that you don’t like to use? Seems kind of odd, don’t you think?”

“Because this is not my house.” My stomach grumbles with hunger, and my hands wrap around the armrests of my chair. If I squeeze, I mightjust snap the wood and stab someone with it. “There are appropriate forks at my house. While I’m here, everyone has the good fucking manners to let me use the one I want.”

She scrunches her nose and leans just a little closer. “You’re not supposed to sayfuckingin front of Franky. You’re gonna get in trouble for that.”

“If you wait a few minutes, you can use my fork.” Franky pushes his glasses up his nose. “Wait till I’m finished.”

“Fuck’s sake.” I grab my steak in my fist, like a common fucking neanderthal, and chew off a chunk using the teeth my cave dweller ancestors gave me. And when Fox throws her head back, laughing, I glower out at the lake andchew, chew, chewwith the rage of a thousand angry little men. “Truce was fun while it lasted.”

“Aww, don’t get it all twisted.” She sets my fork down and pats my shoulder instead. “You’re gonna be okay, little buddy. You’re gonna be just fine.”

ROUND NINE