Page 20 of The Prez

When Brock focuses on her, she smiles sweetly and says, “Hey, dude bro.” Brock’s face pinches, and I stifle a laugh. He does look like one of those men that has a podcast, sitting in the house degrading all women while unable to get one, with his messy blond hair, backward cap, and his fucking collar popped. What is it, 2006?

When she knows she has his attention, Hazel says, “I don’t know who you are, but I’d advise you to get the fuck away from us before I reach into my purse.” For good measure, she plops her heavy bag onto the table and pats it.

Brock stares at her for a moment, lip curling like he wants to call her bluff. When Hazel makes a move to open the bag, he holds up his hands with a chuckle. “Momma bear protective of her cub.”

“Oh no,” Hazel singsongs. “He can take care of himself. But it’s been a while since I’ve been to the range and I think you make a pretty good target.”

Brock backs away from the table, nodding at Hazel. He looks at me and says, “Three days,” before he walks out quickly, peeking over his shoulder at Hazel to see if she’s really reaching for a gun. I fucking love my sister.

Well, until she turns her inquiring gaze on me. I pretend I don’t know what she’s about to say, but I know I’m going to get questions. “Mari, what was that about?” she asks.

Knowing she’ll keep asking until I give her answers, I tell her about selling drugs for Brock when I lost my job. Then I tell her the drugs were stolen from me but not by who. She’d try to convince me to quit working for Big Raf if she knew what he did. The gig is too good for me to quit after only a few days.

She groans, putting her head in her hands. “Why didn’tyou come stay with me and the kids? You know we love having you.”

“I know, Hazel, but I wanted a place of my own. I wanted to get back on my feet on my own. I didn’t …” I pause and lower my head, deciding to be honest with her. “I didn’t want you to be disappointed in me.”

“Oh Mari.” She reaches for my hand and I grasp hers. “I could never be disappointed in you. You’re my baby brother. I’ll always be there to help you. Please, promise me you won’t put yourself in that position again.”

“I won’t. I’ve learned my lesson. I plan to ask my boss tonight for an advance. It’s not ideal, but it’s better than having Brock on my back.”

“How much do you owe?”

“Two thousand dollars.” She winces. “It’s fine. It won’t be a full month’s pay, so I just have to survive for a few weeks.”

“I can give you a few hundred dollars to hold you over if you need it.”

Little Raf starts to squirm and whine. “Nah,” I say, gathering his items to slide into his baby bag. “I’ll be fine. My boss is leaving me money for groceries and I already have all the toiletries I need. I’ll be fine. Thanks though. I love you.”

“Love you too.”

I give her a hug and hurry to the car so I can get Little Raf down for a nap.

By the time I pull up to the house, Little Raf is asleep, which is perfect. I still have to unload the trunk of his haul and it’ll be much easier if he’s lying down so I can move more freely.

I’m shocked to see Big Raf in the kitchen when I come in. I didn’t see his motorcycle out front; then again, the garage door was down and I parked in the driveway.

I’ve never seen a biker dress the way Prez does. Button up shirt, slacks, and dress shoes shouldn’t be fitting on a big,dangerous biker, but on Big Raf, it is. Not to mention that he looks fucking hot. I’ll have to add this to my spank bank catalog.

Not that I need more material when it comes to my boss.

“Oh. Hi,” I murmur, shaking myself as he stares at me eye fucking him. I make my way into the kitchen. “Here, he’s sleeping, so you can hold him without fear that he’ll cry.” I try to pass Little Raf over to Big Raf, but he puts a hand up, backing away, almost bumping into the refrigerator.

Sighing, I step back and point to the nursery. “I’m going to put Little Raf down and then I’ll get all of his bags from the car.”

Big Raf stares at me like he doesn’t give a fuck what I do as long as I take the baby away, so I shake my head and head to the nursery. I lay the baby down and strip him of his shoes and socks. After I drag a blanket over him, I stare at him for a moment, smiling as he lets out a cute little baby sigh. I love watching him sleep, he looks so peaceful and carefree. I envy him that.

Realizing I’m being a creep and staring at a baby while he’s asleep, I inch out of the room and go to the car to bring in the bags and boxes.

On my third trip, I come back inside to see Big Raf looking in the bags, his eyebrow raised. “The fuck is all this?”

I stop to catch my breath after bringing in three bags and a box for his diaper genie. The diaper genie is one hundred percent about convenience, not necessity.

I walk over to the bag he’s looking through and smile. Bending over, I pull out some books and the little caterpillar toy I picked up for Little Raf. “He needs to stimulate his mind. And have some fun. He has no toys, Big Raf. He can’t sit and look at the walls all day. He needs to be challenged and learn new skills. Like dexterity and whatnot.”

He looks at me like I’m crazy. “Did you just call me Big Raf?”

I shrug, even though my cheeks heat. “I could use some help putting all of this away.”

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