“Pfft. As if.” I round the shelves. “You can’t disrupt my candy shopping with all that ruckus and not expect me to look.”
He jerks his chin at my loaded shopping basket. “All that for you?”
I’m suddenly defensive. “What if it is?”
“Nothing.” He shrugs. “Just seems like a lot for one person. Either Halloween came early, or you’ve got one hell of a sweet tooth.”
“You mean it seems like a lot forme,right?”
What the hell’s wrong with me?!True, my confidence is unshakable, but whenever he’s around, my insecurities tend to jut out like thorns. I mean, why do I give a damn what he thinks of me?
Onyx shifts on his feet, visibly irritated. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure, why not.”
“Why do you always get so crabby, bite-y, defensive whenever I—”
“Uncle Nyx, can I have this one?” One of the twins comes sprinting back with a ginormous lollipop. “Please can I have it.”
Onyx chuckles. “Pretty sure that’s fake, buddy.”
“I told him so,” Twin Two says as he shuffles down the aisle with his arms full of sour patch kids, skittles, and M&Ms. “I told him that it’s a trick. No one has a mouth big enough to fit that lolly. They want to trick us because they think we're stupid babies.’”
“You’re a stupid baby!” Twin One yells at his brother before hitting him on the head with the giant lollipop.
In response, Twin Two throws all his candies in Twin One’s face and all hell breaks loose again.
In no time, Onyx has them apart by the necks of their shirts. “What did I just tell you, huh?”
Once again, he forces them to apologize to each other and they obediently comply before scampering off again. It’s so strange seeing him like this.
“Uncle Nyx?” I ask.
He rubs his hands down his face with a sigh. “They’re my buddy’s kids. Rude little shits. I’m on babysitting duty.”
“I have two nieces about their age,” I tell him. “They can be little terrorists when they’re ready.”
“Yeah. I usually babysit for a tolerable hour or two, but today I’m stuck with ’em for the whole fucking day. We’re barely halfway through the day and I’m already stressed as hell. I’ve run out of ways to keep their wild asses entertained.”
“Well, feeding them sugar certainly won’t make things easier,” I say through a laugh. “That’s a hyperactive disaster waiting to happen.”
Just then, the twins come bounding back with a bunch of candy necklaces around their necks. “Look, Uncle Nyx. We’re like Kanye and Fiddy!” Twin One lilts.
“Bling bling,” pipes Twin Two. “Bling bling bling!”
Onyx makes a face and suggests, “How about Kendrick Lamar and 2-Pac?”
“Amen to Kendrick,” I agree. Then move closer to him and lower my voice, “Hey, it’s my niece's seventh birthday and we’re throwing her a party. That’s one way to keep them entertained for the next few hours at least.”
Girl, what are you doing? Why are you inviting this man into your life? You hate him, remember?
Still, my mouth keeps going. “There’s a bouncy house that’ll for sure burn all that sugar out of them. There’ll also be a Spiderman and a Thor.”
You couldn’t sell it any better if you tried, you idiot.
Onyx looks uncertain. “Not sure that’s a—”
“Will there be icing cake?” Twin Two asks. This eavesdropping little shit!
