“Why are you all of a sudden having to help my brother? Has something happened to one of the crew?” I asked.
“No,” he said with a shake of his head.
“So my brother’s all right?”
“Yes.”
“Then why do you have to help?”
And again, silence.
“Bee.”
He chuckled. “Anna-mine.”
I sighed. “Stop it.”
“Never.”
I groaned, and it made him smile. Really genuinely smile. It peeled back and crinkled his eyes closed, and for a moment, he almost looked boyish. I studied his smile like it was a final test for a class, and I noticed that he had a bit of a snaggle tooth.
I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my own face before I dipped down and took another bite of breakfast.
I heard my brother bark out.
“Anna!”
“In here!” I called out.
Brutus’s head snapped to the door like the damn thing was on a hairpin trigger. I saw my brother’s shadow beneath the door before he charged through it, the door practically slamming against the wall.
“I need your?—”
He paused, his gaze flitting between my food, me, and Brutus.
Fuck.
“Could you have been any louder?” I asked as I took a bite.
He narrowed his eyes at Brutus before slowly sliding his attention to me. “I need your help today.”
That made Brutus stand. “No.”
“What?” King and I asked in unison.
Brutus glared at my brother. “I know what you’re about to ask. The answer is no.”
I scoffed. “Was he talking to you?”
King just folded his arms across his chest. “What she said.”
Bee’s shoulders rolled back. “She’s not helping you. She’s staying here where she’s safe.”
My brother scoffed. “And here I thought you were trying to convince her yesterday that she wasn’t safe anywhere.”
When Bee took a step toward him, I placed the tray to the side and stood. “All right, before we try to slug one another again, Kay,” I said as I looked over at my brother, “what do you need my help with?”
“Nothing,” Bee said.
