Real Men Knit(45)

Lucas ran a hand across his forehead while Jesse shook his head and let out a breath. Kerry didn’t know if it was in anger or awe over his brother’s whacky reversal. Either way it was probably not supposed to be as sexy a gesture as it turned out to be, but still it was a lot to take in.

Lucas spoke, his words bringing Kerry’s gaze from Jesse. “You sure you’re okay getting your things on your own?”

Kerry blinked, trying to get a handle on herself. “I’m fine,” she answered, knowing it was maybe three-quarters of the truth.

His smile was only slightly reassuring. “Good luck, then. Give a shout if you need anything. It looks like my workout is going to be here, refereeing.”

“I’m sure she’ll be fine,” Jesse said sharply, catching a frown from both his brothers.

But Kerry could do nothing but agree. “Yes, I’ll be fine,” she said, and headed for the door.

“Of course she will,” Val said. “She has me!”

Now it was Kerry’s turn to dole out the hard glares.



* * *





As they hit the pavement, Kerry fought hard to hold on to her swirling emotions. She looked up Seventh Avenue at the tall NYCHA projects and the clear blue sky that framed the rooftop water towers. It was way too lovely a day for this much turmoil to be going on in her life. Then she turned and looked at Val, no longer able to hold back the words that had been champing to come up. “What the hell was that all about? You were supposed to have my back in there and yet you were practically throwing me to the lions.”

“Hmph,” Val countered. “If you’re lucky, you’ll be eaten by dinnertime.”

She shot Val a look that said she didn’t think she was even close to being funny. “Cut it out with that. I don’t need those kinds of complications in my life. It’s bad enough with this whole Mama Joy thing and the shop and me trying to figure out my job situation, and now I’ve got this apartment situation on top of it. What if it goes on indefinitely? I can’t afford rent anywhere else—hell, I can barely afford paying what I’m paying there now, which is why I’m looking for other positions.”

Val paused in her stride and looked at Kerry. “I thought you were looking for another job because you’d gotten your degree and were ready to move on.”

Kerry waved her off, not liking where this was going. Her friend was getting dangerously close to a place she wasn’t sure she was mentally or emotionally in the mood to visit. “Yeah, that too. But I do like working with the children at the center, and working at the shop makes me happy too.” The shop part she purposely tried to downplay.

“Oh, I’m sure it does.” Kerry didn’t like the smug look in Val’s eyes, but then her friend’s eyes softened and she gave Kerry’s arm a soothing rub. “Come on. Don’t. It won’t go on indefinitely. This is just one of those things that happens, and thank goodness it isn’t worse. If it was, you could have been hurt in that explosion.” She grinned. “And the best part of it all is you have the Harlem Knights, as they are all ready and willing to come to your rescue.” She thumbed her fist down the avenue toward Strong Knits. “Listen, there are plenty of worse situations to be in. The way both Jesse and Lucas were rushing to your side . . .” Val fanned herself with a wave of her hand. “Lucas with all that swagger, plus his smile and those firefighter muscles, and Jesse and his too-fine, sexy ass. Even the hard-ass demon Damian himself was swayed to your side. I almost peed myself right there.”

Kerry pulled a face. “Ugh. Thank goodness for small miracles.”

Val rolled her eyes and shrugged her shoulders. “Well, the fact remains: I don’t know what you’re complaining about.”

“That’s it,” Kerry countered, “you don’t know. I’ve known those guys practically forever, and sexiness or swagger, it all means nothing. They think of me as nothing more than family. Their Kerry Girl.”

“Sure, Jan. You keep telling yourself that. Not one of them looked at you like any sort of girl.”

Kerry didn’t dare go where Val was headed. “No. You’re wrong. Well, maybe not all that wrong. I could have been overstepping with the family talk.”

Val looked skeptical but nodded.

“They probably only think of me as at most a very distant cousin, or the tagalong friend of that cousin. Tolerated at family gatherings, but nothing more than that.”

“Fine, but we’ll see how distant you stay now that you’re under the same roof. I mean, you’ve got Lucas on the one hand and Jesse on the other. And then there is the wild card—smoldering.” She fanned herself again, first by her chest, then her crotch area. “Damian. Wait. You’re out of hands. Not to mention Noah too. I tell you, favor surely ain’t fair.”

Kerry couldn’t help but laugh at that, and it got stuck in her throat, turning to a cough. She looked up at the clear blue sky again and realized that she hadn’t laughed in too long. She missed the feeling. Maybe favor wasn’t fair, and maybe she should just take it where she could get it and be grateful.

At her apartment, Val proceeded to pare down Kerry’s wardrobe to the barest of necessities—which, in Val’s opinion, meant the most provocative clothing she owned. Anything deemed appropriate for Sunday service at Shiloh Baptist was out. Kerry should have felt flattered over all the hand knits she was rolling into her bag, but these were things that she had made without ever planning to actually wear them. At least not out in public. The couple of sleeveless sweaters were fine, but the knitted tank tops with crochet details were pushing it.