Page 7 of Crazy In Love

“Dance?”

“Mmm.” He purses his lips. “I don’t even mean, like, dancing at a party or whatever. I mean, when I would get mad and wanted to be left alone, she’d grab my hands and tell me todance it out.” He sighs up at the ceiling. “I don’t even wanna dance when I’m happy. Iespeciallydon’t want to dance when I’m mad.”

“That would make meextramad. If I’m already pissed about something, dancing ain’t gonna simmer shit down.”

“Christian Watkins!” Alana growls. “Stop swearing in front of him! He’s ten. He isnotyour twenty-five-year-old best friend.”

“You don’t get to dictate how I interact with my own brother.” I wink for the boy and push up to sit, the slurping release of my back traveling all the way across the gym—and probably into the next building, too. “I know it’s all a bit confusing, considering blood relations and all that mess, but you never hissed at me for swearing in front of Tommy when he was ten.”

“Because you were ten, too!”

“A mess is a mess is a mess.” I climb to my feet and meet Tommy’s watchful gaze. Our silent observer. Our loud protector. “Franky said you’re gonna drive over and get that chick from the airport in a couple of hours. You should stay with Alana. I’ll go get her.”

“That chick?” Alana cuts in. “That chickis my best friend. She has a name.”

“Yeah, but it’s kinda weird.Fox. Fox.” Done for today, I bend and scoop up a towel to mop the sweat from my face. “It’s not even short for anything. It’s just… Fox. I don’t get it.”

“You don’t have to get it. You only have to respect it.”

“Fox.” I roll her name over my tongue, testing each sound while I wipe the sweat from my chest. “I’ll drive over and getFox, since you need to keep your backside at home. Forty weeks is not the time to screw around with travel.”

“I wasn’t going. Tommy was.”

“Forty weeks isn’t the right time forhimto be traveling, either. You know McMaster’s Bridge is finicky as hell, and we had all that rain last week. We’ve got more forecast for tonight, so sending him to the other side while the river level is already high is not smart. You three stay here. I’ll go get her.”

“You only wanna do it so you can lecture her on the way back and set down your rules.” Tommy, that traitorous bastard, laughs. “She can’t come over to the house too often. Can’t be loud. Can’t demand too much of anyone’s attention. Can’t come into the gym.” He slides his tongue acrosss the front of his teeth. “Did I miss any?”

“I’ve never said any of that!”

Out loud.

“You don’t have to say it for us to know.” Alana snickers. “You feel a certain way about me and Franky—me, because of our history, and Franky, because of blood—but Fox matters, too. She’s been with us since the day he came home from the hospital. Since before then, really. It bothers you that she’s our family, even if we don’t share blood.”

“She’s not your family! She’s a friend. And she lives on the other side of the country. Honestly? You should let her go. She’s not a part of your life anymore.”

With a shake of his head, Tommy moves to stand in front of her. Because she’s the type to try out the superman dive her son is so fond of. “Ignore him. Relax your face. The baby feels your stress.” He cups her cheeks and draws her to her toes. “Caaaaaaaalm. Happpppppy. Kumbaya and all that shit.”

“You’re lucky she’s weighed down by that bowling ball.” Franky’s cheeks burn red over the laughter he swallows down. “You don’t get to say bad things about Fox and live to talk about it.”

I toss my towel and snatch up my water bottle. I have new plans for today that include a shower, a drive, and an airport. And if I’m lucky, I might convince our guest to turn her ass around and fly east, all before bedtime. “I didn’t say bad things about her. I just said she was unneeded.”

“Unneeded is mean.”

“It’s not mean! It’s facts. Tommy’s gonna help Alana with whatever she needs. I’ll help you. And Caroline has offered a million times to run the shop while your mom is off. Fox being in a town she doesn’t wanna be in, to run a shop she doesn’t wanna run, is dumb.”

“You wanna hear a new fun fact?” He crawls to his feet and stares up at me through eyes that match mine damn near exactly. “Did you know a hundred and fifty thousand people die every single day all over the world?” His lips curl into a devious grin. “If you keep this up, you might be one of them.”

“Yeah? Well, fun fact, kiddo. Shut the hell up.”

“Christian!”

ROUND THREE

FOX

Anyone would think I’d get used to a tiny ass airport by the second or third time I flew into it. The single runway, the Lego-sized building. Lord, the luggage buggy—not a carousel, like we have literally everywhere else—but a golf-buggy-looking thing that zooms around like ice-cream trucks in suburban neighborhoods.

Instead of slinging dessert, it slings suitcases.