The Squad

I should’ve been prepared, but somehow it went right over my head that I would walk into something like this. The first song had been something tame, but it never entered my mind that I’d find what I did when I walked into the upstairs gallery with the glass walls overlooking the gym. My eyes went to the men who were whispering amongst each other as they avoided looking down at the scene, except for Lyon’s twins who were taking in the show.

And what a show it was. I’d seen the video only once, but from what I remember, she had the moves down. My throat closed up with rage, and I had to shake my head to clear it. “Get out!” I imagined myself knocking everyone back and away from the glass and had to calm the urge to do just that. For some reason, instead of leaving, the men all seemed to gather around me, and it took a second for me to understand what they were saying.

“I don’t think she knew we were here; I doubt she meant anything by it.” Seemed to be the gist of what they were trying to tell me. Lyon was starting to corral his boys, who seemed glued to the show she was putting on down below. “No, wait, dad, listen, she’s taking the challenge.”

“What challenge, Aiden, what’re you talking about?” His son explained to him while showing him his phone, where he was supposedly recording what was going on in the gym and what was going on was my woman shaking her ass and gyrating all over the place.

“Erase that.” My mind was going in a million different directions at once as I tried to make sense of what had just happened. Since my mind can sometimes move faster than I can hold a thought, I had to pace myself.

“Okay!” One of the boys agreed and rushed his brother from the room after playing around on his phone, most likely deleting the footage. The guys hadn’t left, but they all had their backs turned to her as they tried talking me down. For some reason, I didn’t find it the least bit strange that they all seemed aware without being told that she’s mine.

I got even more confused when I watched over their shoulders as my two nieces joined by Lyon’s kid, and the Flanagan girl entered the gym, clapping and rushing Roxana. Wait, I hadn’t seen them down there when I walked in; what the hell is going on? Surely, she wouldn’t have had the kids around if she was trying to entice the men, then the women joined in, and I was left even more confused.

ROXY

What the hell? This isn’t how this was supposed to go. I for damn sure didn’t know the little girls were around, or I’d have come up with something else or found some other way to get my point across. Shame burned a hole in my cheeks, and it only got worst when the women came in. “You were right Catalina, that was really good Roxy, where did you learn to dance like that?”

What did Cierra mean that the kid was right, right about what? I hadn’t seen her around when I talked to her brothers, and not even they knew what I was up to. When I looked at her, all I saw was an innocent little girl with a pleasing smile on her face, but her eyes… what just happened?

I looked around at all of them, trying to make sense of all this, and when I glanced upstairs, I was surprised to see a line of backs. What kind of men are these anyway? I put on one hell of a show, and not one of them made a move? And what about their wives? Why are they all smiling at me like that? Didn’t they know what I was trying to do?

I felt suddenly ill to my stomach in the face of their behavior. I got the feeling that the kid knew what I was up to, but how? And why had she gone to such lengths to change the situation? I was even more confused when a very pregnant Ariel piped up with, “I want to learn how to do that dance; I’m pretty sure I can still get down on the floor, belly and all.”

“Sure, but Devon might pop a gasket and put you on house arrest again.” Danielle laughed, and the others joined in, leaving me to feel like I’d fallen down the rabbit hole as they went off on a tangent about their men’s antics. For some odd reason, I felt relief that my plan hadn’t worked. Not sure why; it’s not like I could stay here or anything.

LYON

“Okay, you two, what was that about?” I followed them from the room once I was sure that Thorpe had the kid under control.