Page 71 of Stay Toxic

“Is that where your conference is?” He jerked his chin toward the building that had official-looking people all over.

“Yes,” I said.

“Fuck,” he grumbled. “Let’s go.”

“I can’t go far,” I said. “I have to be back in thirtyish minutes.” I paused. “And I really need to find a bathroom. There are certain things that are leaking out of me that I’d rather not get all over my new dress.”

Shasha’s eyes scanned me from head to toe, taking in my dress, my thighs, and my hair.

“There’s a restaurant down the road that’s pretty good,” he said. “And they’re fast.”

I fell into step beside him and couldn’t stop myself from reaching for his hand.

He tensed, and I just knew he was about to pull away from me, but I leaned into him and said, “All these cops. I wonder if they’d be interested in knowing what you were just doing in there.”

He turned only his face toward me and said, “Are you blackmailing me to continue holding your hand?”

I shrugged, neither confirming nor denying. “Is it working?”

He tightened his hold on my hand, and I noticed, didn’t let it go.

I loved it.

The place he decided to take me was just down the street. Maybe about four blocks away.

I saw the line of people around the second block and groaned when I saw the sheer amount of people that would be ahead of us. “Shasha…”

Shasha ignored me and passed every single person that was standing there waiting.

Shasha held my hand and guided me to the front of the line, his chin jerking up toward the man in the back.

The man was in his late forties, early fifties, and had a scowl on his face that could rival Shasha’s. He came up to the front and grinned, completely transforming his face. “Hello, boy.”

Shasha shook the man’s hand and said, “Hello, old man. Miss me?”

The crowd behind us started murmuring in low voices, obviously wondering how the hell we’d been able to bypass a line that wrapped around the block.

The man rolled his eyes, then focused on me. “Who’s this?”

Shasha instinctively started to let my hand go, but I held on for dear life and said, “We’re engaged to be married.”

Shasha stiffened.

The old man’s eyes went from me to Shasha and back before he said, “I’m guessing it’s arranged based on how he’s acting right now. Don’t worry, he’s a good kid once you get past all the crust.”

My lips twitched. “I’ll remember that.”

“His mom tried to raise him correctly, but my sister could only handle so much,” the man continued. “Who are you?”

I held out my free hand to the man and said, “My name is Brecken.”

“Brecken,” he said. “Unusual name.”

“It’s actually the more tame of my siblings’ names, to be honest. My daddy is a rodeo man. All of his kids have a Western theme to their names. Mine, Brecken, is actually named after the town of Breckenridge, Colorado. Daddy tried to add the ‘ridge’ to my name, but Mom wouldn’t let him,” I announced.

His lips twitched as he shook my hand and said, “My name is Akim.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Akim,” I replied.

---