Page 6 of Flame
Bianca smiles sheepishly. “It’s for charity, right?”
Marla flops in her chair, defeated.
Applause breaks out as Gloria struggles through her shock, her gaze switching between Bianca and me. I feel like Gloria expects me to say something, but I have nothing to say other thanwhat the fuck just happened?
My head spins.
I exit the stage, ignoring curious looks from the audience as everyone gets up to leave.
I came for pie.
Pie.
What went so wrong?
My feet falter, and I stop just short of where my brother and I stood only minutes ago.
Banks.
Banks is what went wrong.
I growl into the air.
Today can’t possibly get any worse.
CHAPTER2
Bianca
“What part oflet's slip in here quietlydid you not understand?” Jason asks, still holding his forehead as the locals exit the building.
I bat his hand away. “Stop doing that. You’re going to get wrinkles.”
He sighs, ignoring my suggestion and wrinkling his brow even more.
“Do you think I’ll have bad karma for outbidding that sweet old lady?” I ask.
“It’s a little too late to worry about that now. You just took her hopes and dreams and shredded them in front of the whole town.”
“It’s not my fault. She got my competitive juices flowing. I feel bad now that I—ow!”
I’m thrust forward by a metal rod bumping the back of my knee. I catch myself on Jason’s arm.
“I hope you’re proud of yourself, you little hussy.” Thesweet old ladysneers, scooting toward the door. “Kids these days.”
“It’s a charity auction.” I shove off my brother. “There’s no reason to be upset.”
“You have no shame,” she says. “No shame at all.”
A part of me wants to tell Marla that I’m sorry—that this has nothing to do with her and everything to do with my unresolved feelings for Foxx. But the saucy part of me wants to tell her how shameless I can really be—which just might be the catalyst for my unresolved feelings for Foxx.
“Only you, Bianca,” Jason says, shaking his head. “Only you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
He sighs, frustration etched in the deep,wrinklylines on his forehead.
Jason is my favorite out of my five brothers. He’s not the most fun. He won’t talk freely about anything personal, and he’s not the one I’d call to gossip with about the others. But what he lacks in relatability, he makes up for with a laser-focused sense of loyalty and duty.
