Page 4 of Crazy In Love (Love & War #2)

“Christian Watkins!” Alana snaps. “Don’t say ass while talking with my son.”

“Yeah. Don’t say ass to me.” Taking his chance, Franky superman jumps and snakes around my arm, throwing his weight backward in what I know he means to be an arm-bar.

I outweigh him by a long shot, so he couldn’t actually pull me down, but he’s learning, so I fall to the ground and give him a chance to inch closer to my shoulder.

“I’m getting better at this, don’t you think?”

Better? Sure .

Good? Not really.

“You sure are. Move closer on this side.” I grab his leg to show him. “You wanna have your butt touching me,” then I tap his ankle, “and lock these in. You gotta cross your feet.”

He unhooks his ankles, then re-links them again and scoots toward my shoulder. In a competition, he would’ve already lost his position. But this is practice, so I become one with the floor.

I’ll be his training dummy.

“Fun fact.” Grunting, he folds my arm back against his chest and digs his heels into my ribs. “Forty-three percent of airbus pilots admit to falling asleep while flying long haul.”

“Really? That’s kinda terrifying.” I turn my hand to remind him which way my thumb should point: upwards . “Probably why I never wanna fly anywhere.”

“Also, you know how airplane food sometimes tastes bland?” He yanks on my arm with the viciousness of a dozen angry kittens.

“Well, cabin humidity and high-altitude pressure hamper our sensitivity to flavors by up to thirty percent. So maybe the food isn’t actually gross.

Maybe your tastebuds are just not doing their job. ”

“And now I know.” I wait… wait… wait… for him to drag my arm over his shoulder and complete the bar, and when I figure it’s as close as it’s gonna get, I pat his thigh, proud as he rolls out of his lock.

Victorious.

“I’m getting better, Mom!” He spins toward her and Tommy, wrapped in each other’s arms while they whisper things we don’t need to hear. “I got him in an arm bar. Did you see?”

She turns and leans against Tommy’s side, forcing him to hold her weight. “Great job, honey. That basically makes you the world champ, huh? Chris trained Tommy. So that’s pretty much the same thing.”

He spins back to face me. “I’m not even close to being the world champ. She’s just saying that because she’s my mom.”

“Moms sometimes do that.” Not my mom . Mine preferred to beat the shit out of me and Tommy for fun, and only when we weren’t busy getting the shit beat out of us by our dad. “She likes to build you up because that’s what people do for those they love.”

He resets his stance, widening his legs and bending at the knees. Then he extends his hand, ready for me to bump it. “I know. Did you know my Aunty Fox is flying in tonight?”

“Hmm?”

He throws himself at me— same move, same battle cry, same arm —and falls backward, tugging me to the floor and locking me exactly how he did the first time.

“That’s why I was saying about the plane food and stuff. She already texted my mom and said she was at the airport and getting ready to board.”

“Yeah?”

“Mmhm.” He wriggles closer and twists my wrist into place. “She’ll land after dinnertime. Tommy said he’ll drive to the airport and get her so Mom can stay home and rest.”

“You excited to see her?”

“Uh-huh.” He squeezes my hand and tries to hyperextend my elbow.

But his grip isn’t right, and his hips are too far from my body, which makes his lock as weak as my brother’s ‘ oops, I forgot to mention my plans’ attempt at shielding me from something uncomfortable .

“I miss her,” he explains. “Haven’t seen her since Vegas.

And that was a fast visit, ‘cos we had to rush back here for Mom’s baby appointments.

But she’s staying for six weeks this time. ”

I tap and let him win, but when he bounds to his feet, ready for a third round, I stay on the canvas and stare up at the cobwebbed ceiling instead. “She staying at the house with you guys? ”

Game over . He drops to the floor beside me, arms and legs splayed wide, while his chest lifts and falls in search of air.

“For tonight. But she’s staying at the apartment above the bookstore most of the time ‘cos she’s gonna run the shop while Mom’s at home with the baby.

She promised to stay at the house on the days we need her. ”

“Like the day your sister’s born?”

“Right.” He peeks across with glittering, fearful eyes. “Having a baby is dangerous, ya know? There are a lot of things that can go wrong.”

“True. But science and medicine are pretty good nowadays. And Ollie will be there, since he’s the doctor. Tommy won’t leave her side because besides you, who on the planet is the most protective of your mom?”

Apprehensive, his brows pinch closer, and his teeth come forward to nibble on his bottom lip. “He’s protective of her. And you.”

“And me,” I accept with a smile. “But since I’m not the one having a baby this month, why don’t you let Tommy take care of the Alana stuff, and I’ll take care of the Franky stuff? Fox could probably even stay at the bookstore and not worry, since I’ll hang with you. We don’t need her.”

“But she’s coming to visit for exactly this.” Like me, Franklin Page relies on rules and expectations. On fulfilling the roles we’re supposed to fulfill and abiding by the rules set down around us. “She flew all the way from New York because Mom asked her to help.”

“Sure. And she can help with the shop.” I tilt my head to the side and glimpse Tommy and Alana whispering again.

Smirking. Flirting. His hands on her body, and her belly pressed snugly against his.

He’s shirtless and sweaty, and she’s as professional as a woman can be while elastic bands keep her pants up.

“The shop will need someone to run it, and the apartment above sounds like the perfect place for her to stay. It’s convenient.

And since you and your mom moved out to Tommy’s place a few months back, and I live right next door, that means I can hang out with you while she and your sister are in the hospital. Convenient again.”

He shakes his head. Though shaking is actually rolling . “Aunty Fox wants to hang out with me, too. She already said so.” He brings his eyes back around. “Did you know she has a magic ability to make people happy?”

“You think?” Sweat creates a vacuum seal between my back and the canvas, so each time I move, the slurping release is audible. “I wouldn’t know about that, kid. She’s yet to use that magic in front of me.”

“It’s her actual job. And she’s really good at it, except when she wants me to dance.”

“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 to dance it out .

” He sighs up at the ceiling. “I don’t even wanna dance when I’m happy.

I especially don’t want to dance when I’m mad. ”

“That would make me extra mad. 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 is not your 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 chick is 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 get Fox , 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 for him to 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!”