I look over my shoulder at Paige, who is staring between me and Blakely while B talks with Amari. I clear my throat. “Give me a minute. I’m sure I can stare harder.” I dramatically squint my eyes, directing them at Blakely.
Paige chuckles. “You look like a creep.”
“She’s my daughter’s mother,” I say knitting my brows together.
Paige cocks her head. “That doesn’t give you the right to stare at her like that.”
"Mmm, I think it does.”
Paige bumps shoulders with me. “You’re an idiot.”
“Takes one to know one.” I bump her shoulder back.
Paige huffs and shoves me harder with her shoulder. We both start chuckling. Paige has only liked me when B has liked me. Which is understandable since they’re best friends. Every time B was upset with me, Paige was upset. Now that we’ve been in a good position, Paige has liked me more consistently. It’s like that with everyone, actually. Even Kevin. That one used to hurt me a lot. When B and I used to argue, he tended to choose her side. Since he’s my brother, I felt he needed to be on my side more, but he always said he wasn’t actually choosing sides—he was choosing what’s right. Thank God that part of our lives is over, and Blakely and I don’t argue like that anymore.
Around ten o’clock, I get Amari and Emma down for bed in Amari’s old room that Brooke has kept for her. B and Paige have been having a good time, so I didn’t bother asking B what her plans are. Amari and Emma were getting tired, so I asked Brooke if they could sleep here.
I notice B sitting at the table, shivering. Her arms are crossed like she’s trying to keep her core warm. It’s the end of May. The warmer months are ahead of us, but at night, it still gets a little chilly. I pull my sweater off and hand it to her. “Here.”
She looks up with a wide grin on her face, laughing at whatever she was just talking to Paige and Kevin about.
"Aww, my little bro. You’re her knight in shining armor.”
I sit down next to B and laugh at Kevin’s comment. I can’t help but feel the déjà vu of us four sitting around the table laughing and having a good time. It brings back all the old times we used to have. “Are all three of you drunk?” I ask.
"Yes,” Kevin says, leaning backward in his chair. “It’s your turn to take care of us.”
I ignore his comment, knowing exactly what he means. Even though it’s been four years since I’ve been black-out drunk. I’ll have a couple of drinks sometimes, but I control it now.
“What are you guys whispering about?” B asks, staring at Kevin and Paige.
I glance over at the two of them sitting across from us. They’re hunched over, their hands covering their mouths. Then, they howl in laughter.
“Paige, when are you going to give it up to Kevin? You know he’s been waiting for years,” I say.
B giggles. We’ve always wondered if they would ever do something together. They have this love-hate relationship and are always giving each other shit, like maybe they like each other—deep down, that is.
“Ew! Never!” Paige says with her face crinkled up.
Kevin's shoulders slump, and the corners of his mouth tug downward.
"Why, ew?” B asks.
“Because it’s Kevin,” Paige says, avoiding eye contact with him as he stares at her.
“What’s wrong with me?” he asks.
“It’s not like that between us,” she says, looking at him with something that resembles sympathy.
Kevin sings the lyrics to “I Can Tell” by 504 Boyz.
“Shut up.” Paige slaps Kevin’s arm, effectively stopping him from singing.
“We had no business singing that song back in the day,” B says.
I glance over at her. “What are you talking about? You used to always sing that song.”
"Yeah, and look where it got me. Sixteen and pregnant.” She giggles.
