Page 7 of Nothing Without You

She was one of my favorite cousins. Her younger sister, Capri, was the other one. Those two and my sister and I were thick as thieves, which was why I currently wondered why the hell I didn’t have one of them . . . literally, any one of them, come with me to speak with Mr. Chang about the damage to my home. Icelynn was the only hothead out of us. She knew how to take an escalated situation to the damn heavens. There was zero chill that resided in her.

“Icelynn, please.” I groaned as I rubbed my temples. “Mr. Chang, I can’t pay for these damages. I can’t afford it.”

“You break pipe. You pay for it,” he argued.

I shook my head. “I didn’t break it, though. Everything was fine when I left this morning. I wasn’t even home when it broke.”

“You break pipe! You pay for it!” he shouted. For such a little man, his temper sure seemed to be big as hell.

“I didn’t break it!” I shouted right back at his ass, which wasn’t even in my character, but this was some true bullshit.

Out of the corner of my eye, I vaguely registered Keegan’s car pulling behind mine, but my headache and the irritation flooding through me didn’t allow me to process much besides what Mr. Chang said.

“You did! You break it. I won’t pay for it. You pay for it,” he said with his arms folded over his chest.

“Look, lil man, my cousin said she ain’t about to pay for shit, so come up with something else,” Icelynn snapped.

“You no pay, you have to get out,” Mr. Chang said.

Get out.

The words echoed in my mind.

“Get out? That definitely has to be illegal. She has a son, you heartless bastard,” Icelynn argued. I watched as she pulled her braids up at the top of her head. When I saw her reaching for her earrings to take them out, I knew I needed to put a stop to this entire conversation. My cousin wasn’t above fighting a man—old or young. Hell, her and Liam got into it more than anyone else.

“Icelynn, it’s fine. I’ll figure it out. It ain’t like this place is worth fighting over. It’s a dump, really.” My words came out in a confident tone, but tears clouded my vision as I spoke.

“No the fuck it ain’t okay, Chy. Ain’t nothing about this okay,” Icelynn said, but we were interrupted by a deep voice that sent vibrations right to my heart, no matter the situation.

“Fuck goin’ on here?” Keegan asked as he strode over to us. He stepped right in between me and Icelynn and Mr. Chang. His eyes met mine, and his jaw clenched before he asked, “You good?”

Before I could think better of it, I shook my head. I wished I hadn’t done that. I knew how Keegan could get, and if Icelynn was bad, he took the title for certified crashout.

“Tell me what the fuck goin’ on,” he demanded, but his voice remained soft as he spoke to me.

“And who are you?” Icelynn asked as she looked up at him with both curiosity and a mug twisting her beautiful features.

Keegan glanced at her. “You her cousin?”

“Is,” Icelynn replied.

“I’m Keegan.” He hesitated for a second before he said, “Her boss?”

It came out like a question, and my heart softened from the tsunami of emotions.

“My friend,” I corrected. We had known each other too long and gotten too personal to be considered boss and employee, even though I tried to fight that fact. Something about him being unsure of how to introduce himself to my cousin made me protective of him. It forced me to admit that Keegan had long ago become more than just my boss.

Icelynn peered up at him with full interest as she leaned over to me and loudly muttered, “Damn, girl. You told me he was fine, but you ain’t ever say he was that fine. Shit.”

“Ice, shut the hell up,” I hissed. I knew my brown skin had a hue of red to it now.

I swore I saw a ghost of a smile as I glanced back up at Keegan nervously.

“Someone tell me what’s goin’ on, man,” he said, patiently looking between us.

“I tell you what go on! She need to pay for damage she do to my duplex,” Mr. Chang said.

I knew that was a mistake as soon as the first syllable left his mouth. Keegan stiffened. He peered down at me, his jaw clenching and unclenching, before he squared his shoulders and turned around to address the older man.