Page 17 of Nothing Without You

CHAPTER 6

KEEGAN

Ihad satiated my appetite earlier when I had my first real taste of Chyna. Still, I knew I needed to feed my family, so here we were at Dough Boyz Pizza after a long day at work.

My family.

How did that happen so quickly?

I guessed I knew the answer to that. From the moment I saw Chyna, I liked her more than I should. When I got to know her, I looked at her as family. I saw the quiet ways she struggled and the softness of her, and it made me want to protect her and give her an easy life.

She had no idea that her annual raises were larger than her co-workers and that I had been trying to get the head of HR retired for the past two years so she could step into that role. I wanted . . . no, needed Chyna to be financially secure and to not have to work so hard. Really, if I had it my way, I would have told her to quit her job and I’d take care of her, but I knew she wouldn’t go for that. At least not as my friend, or whatever it was we were doing prior to last night. Now, though, maybe she would. I wanted nothing more than to see her relaxing on a day-to-day basis, reading, watching TV, hell, knitting . . . whatever her heart desired. I made more than enough money for both of us . . .

“Daddy?”

KJ’s little voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

“Yeah, Junior? What’s up?” I asked.

“You’re not eating.” He pointed at my plate where a full slice of pizza sat.

“Observant lil nigga,” I mumbled. Chyna elbowed me. I glanced at her. “What?”

“Watch your mouth.”

I frowned. “I ain’t know my mama was at the table.”

“Her not your mama. Her my mama,” Liam said. I glanced at him and saw that both the boys had sauce all over their face.

“Tell her, not me,” I said as I jammed my thumb in Chyna’s direction.

The boys insisted on sitting by each other, which left me and Chyna in a booth, side by side.

Chyna rolled her eyes and continued to eat. I took a bite of my pepperoni pizza as my hand slid down and landed on Chyna’s thigh. I felt her stiffen next to me. She tried prying my hand off her. Not a chance.

I massaged up her thigh, close to her pussy, when KJ interrupted me once again.

“Daddy?”

“Yes, Son?” I asked, trying not to catch an attitude with him.

“You smiled a lot today.”

My brows furrowed. “I did?”

KJ nodded. “You not smile normallally.”

“You mean normally. And yes, I do.”

KJ shook his head adamantly. “Not with your eyeballs.”

Chyna giggled, and I mugged her. “Fuck he mean?”

“Language, Kee. Seriously. These two will be cursing in day care in no time, listening to you.”

“Aight, man, my bad, but what he mean?”

She shrugged. “He’s really observant. Maybe he just means that when you normally smile, you don’t really mean it. You never heard of a smile reaching your eyes?”