Real Men Knit(75)
* * *
Kerry turned on the shower, looked around as if she was a spy on a covert mission and then quickly hit the button on her cell, dialing up Val. It was still early and Val was probably asleep, but she’d forgive her once she knew what the call was about.
“This had better be good,” came Val’s groggy and deadly sounding greeting.
“I did it,” Kerry whispered. “I mean, we did it?”
“Well then, explain to me why either A) you are not still doing it or B) not sleeping it off?” Val said, clearly annoyed over the wake-up—but come on, she should be shouting over it.
“For the record,” Kerry said, starting in on her explanation, “I was sleeping it off—I mean, me and Jesse were still sleeping, but got woken up and caught by first Damian and then Lucas and Noah. Hell, the whole crew of them caught me practically naked in the bed.”
That news finally woke Val up. “You lucky freaking duck!” her friend yelled in her ear, causing her to wince. “What is this life you’re living? Who wakes up like this? Did you flash them? I know you didn’t, but I sure would have! Just a little bit to see who reacted how. You didn’t flash them, did you?”
Kerry sighed but couldn’t help smiling. “Of course I didn’t.”
“I knew it. But shit, a girl can dream. Damn! So what are you doing now? Where are your four Harlem knights?”
“I’m in the bathroom. Jesse went to get dressed and the others are downstairs. I stupidly asked them to come over this morning to help out and take some more promo photos, but now I just want to get out of here and hide. It was all so awkward. Damian and Lucas looked horrified. Noah was practically ready to marry me off and start calling me sister-in-law. I’m sure that must have scared Jesse to death.”
“Why would it scare him?” Val asked.
“Why would it not?” Kerry said. “The last thing he wants is a woman clinging to him, and I’d be the worst possible one. It was hard enough getting him to sleep with me. I know he wanted to, but getting him past the whole not-wanting-to-hurt-me, good-girl, settle-down thoughts he had about me were hard.”
Val was quiet.
“Are you still there?” Kerry finally asked. “Did you doze back off?”
“I’m here. Just thinking. Are you sure he’s having the thoughts you think he is?”
“Why are you asking me that? Of course. I know him.”
“Okay, if you say so,” Val said, then brightened her tone. “Do you need me to come over there today? Handle a little crowd control with all those men? I have a hair appointment at ten, but I could come over when I’m done?”
“No thanks,” Kerry said, now more stuck in her head on Val’s words. “I’ll be fine. I can handle them.”
“I’m sure you can,” Val said, then hung up.
* * *
The morning was awkward as hell, and Jesse could feel the eyes of his brothers on his and Kerry’s every move. Still, they got a lot of the finishing touches done on the shop and even agreed on the TV idea and where it should be put without too much of an argument.
After color-coordinating the fall sets of wools and cottons in the bins where they would best be shown off with the new wall colors, Kerry took more promotional photos of them, hashtagging to her heart’s content, and then they decided on where to put the new yarn tree.
“Ma Joy would love this,” Lucas said as he anchored the tree securely to be sure it wouldn’t fall if knocked into by a passing customer. “This was a great idea, Jesse.”
Jesse was surprised by the compliment. “It wasn’t much.”
“No, he’s right, she would love it. And it turned out beautifully.”
Jesse turned around when he heard Kerry sniff. She was blinking.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
She wiped quickly at a tear before it could fall. “I’m fine. I’m getting hungry, how about you all? I’m going to head up and make some sandwiches. I’ll let you know when they are ready.”
As soon as Kerry hit the top of the landing, all three of his brothers pounced on him quick as flash.
“What the fuck did you and your randy ass do?” Damian yelled before looking around and lowering his voice to a hiss. “I mean, seriously, with Kerry.”
“Our Kerry!” Lucas added.
Jesse’s head swiveled Lucas’s way. “How is she our Kerry? You all saw her—she was sleeping with me last night.”
“Yeah, but in my bed,” Damian said. “On my good sheets.”
“Once again, fuck you and those cheap-assed sheets. You know those sheets are from TJ Maxx at best, so stop going on about it.”
“Fuck you right back. Don’t put down the Maxx!” Damian countered.
“Are we really on the damned sheets right now?” Lucas said. “We need to talk about Kerry and what you plan on doing about her.”
“Also we need to talk about how you’d better not mess shit up before we get this shop up and running.” Damian said. “Don’t forget how much we need Kerry. Now you owe us for the loan and my fucking sheets. Shit, I should charge you for the whole damned bed.”
“Could you not right now, Dame? Just for a minute?”