Georgie burst out laughing.
Archie laughed too, but low.
Carolyn finally got some of the Carolyn Jag liked back,grinned unrepentantly at Dutch, and said, “You can’t stop us.”
“Girl, that was not the response,” Archie chided.“You justgave it all away.You should have said, ‘This is not all about you,’ when itwould totally be all about them.”
More woman laughter.
Dutch looked at Jagger.“You got anything to say?”
He did.
“I have nothing to hide.”
“Do you have something to hide, darlin’?”Georgie asked herman.
Dutch made his point.
“If I did, it’d be only you I’d tell.”
“Right,” Georgie replied, giving the other women big eyes.
“Well, Archie’s cool, and obviously Georgie and I are cool,so can we have your permission to get together andnottalk about theBlack Brothers?”Carolyn requested.
“Knock yourselves out,” Dutch granted.
“Thank you, oh master, my master,” Georgie teased.
“That’s for later,” Dutch returned.
Georgie burst out laughing again.
Archie leaned further into him even as she reached for herwine again.
He couldn’t see her face, but he knew she wasn’t laughingthis time, so he gave her a squeeze.
She glanced up at him.
“Family,” she said softly.
She didn’t have this.
Not with her brother.
He gave her another squeeze and mouthed, “Later.”
She nodded, looked away and took a sip of her wine.
They were on her fire escape.
She had a bunch of pillows on the ground by the window to itthat she tossed out so they could sit on them and lean against them.
It was late September, nights getting darker earlier, butregardless, it was late, dark, and they were outside, sitting and leaning.
Jagger against the building.
Archie, between his legs and against him.
