A pair of hands grab me under my arms to pull me up and away, and I see Mr. Harlow doing the same to Kinley.
“Let me go,” Kinley yells, pulling away from her dad.
I look over my shoulder and see Mason behind me with a smirk of amusement on his face. I jerk my shoulders to the side out of his grasp and stand to his side.
Mr. Harlow looks between us and then lands on Kinley, “What the hell‘s going on.”
Kinley looks at me and I wonder if I also look like I just came out of a pudding-lined wrestling ring. We stare at each other for a moment before she looks to the side and I lower my eyes to the floor.
We made quite a mess.
One that I’ll have to clean up.
“Nothing, it was nothing.” She says, crossing her arms over her chest.
Mr. Harlow chuckles and says, “It looks like a little more than just nothing.” Then he looks at me.
I shake my head and glance at Kinely before I look at him, “It was an accident, I’ll get it cleaned up.”
His hand sweeps across the floor and he says, “Well, it looks like this mess was made by two people, so you’ll both clean it up.”
Kinley’s head swivels to look at her dad, a look of disbelief on her face, “What?”
He puts his hands on his hips and all trace of humor falls away, “You heard me, help her clean it up.”
She actually growls like a teenager as she turns to the pantry to get the cleaning supplies, “Fine.”
All of my anger has drained away and now all I feel is shame, “It’s okay, I’ll clean it up, Mr. Harlow.” I look down at the floor and wish they would all leave before it starts to dry, making it harder to get out of the grout.
When he doesn’t answer, I look up at him and he’s looking at me like he was just looking at Kinley, “I want you both to do it, when I come back in here this kitchen had better be clean.”
It’s not lost on me that the tone he’s using with me is the same tone I hear him use with his children and I suppress the smile that is trying to tip my lips.
He turns on his heel and walks out of the room, I turn to look at Mason and he’s still smirking.
“Get out,” I say softly, my cheeks are crimson after getting in trouble with Mr. Harlow.
“Is it safe to leave? ‘Cause if there is going to be any more rolling around in the floor in batter, I wanna watch.” He drawls, laying his accent on thick, as he leans on the island with one hand and hooks the thumb of his other hand in his pocket.
I turn from him and grab the towel from the sink as I turn the hot water on, my hair is sticking to my face where Kinley slapped the side of my head and everything is sticky. He is standing so close to me that I can feel the heat from his cheston my back.
“Get away,” I whisper as I look in the direction of the pantry.
His voice is low and next to my ear, “Does this have anything to do with me?”
Tears of humiliation are threatening, making me scrub my hands harder in the water. All I can do is shake my head, “Get away,” I whisper again around the lump in my throat.
He steps away just as Kinley comes around the corner holding the mop in one hand and the bucket in the other. She sees Mason still in the kitchen and her lips tip up as she looks between us.
Closing the distance between them in two steps, he points his finger in her face, “Be nice or we’re going to have a chat about the weed you keep in your bathroom behind the toilet.”
The smile falls and she narrows her eyes to glare at him for a moment, “I’ll be nice.”
Mason leaves the kitchen without a look back and we start to clean in silence.
I drop the wet rag on the floor next to the island to wipe the splatters off the baseboard but when I squat down I feel like I’m going to throw up. I shouldn’t have taken that powder on an empty stomach, I sit back against the cabinet and close my eyes, waiting for the feeling to pass.
“If you think I’m cleaning most of this while you recline on the floor, you’ve got another thing coming.” Kinley’s angry voice snaps my eyes open.
