Free Dare to Dance: The Maxwell Series by S.B. Alexander Page A

snarled. “Don’t you dare.” Knowing Kross, he would give her his puppy dog eyes or his sad face like he used to do to me when he wanted to know what was bothering me.
    “I was kidding. I promise.”
    I jumped up. “Let’s go.” My butt was frozen from sitting on the cold concrete. I had twenty dollars in my pocket. Any hot meal would thaw me out and get rid of my hunger pangs.
    “We should hang for another hour. We only have a couple of dollars in the cup.”
    I pulled out the wadded-up ten-dollar bills.
    She scowled. “You didn’t pickpocket some dude, did you?”
    I was good at stealing, but it wasn’t something I was proud of, and I only stole when we were desperate. “That little girl’s mom gave it to me.”
    She plastered on a hungry smile. “Where to?”
    We started walking. “Tommy’s place.”
    “Are you crazy?” she asked. “That place is a dive. Unless you have something else up your sleeve.”
    “Hear me out. No one is going to hire us. But Tommy owns Firefly. Maybe he’ll give us a shot at a waitressing or let us work in the kitchen.” I knew my way around a kitchen. My mom had taught me to cook when I was twelve. Actually, I loved to bake. But I would clean the bathrooms if it meant a steady job and money in my pocket.
    “Fine.” Norma eyed me. “As long as you don’t fight.”
    “Yeah, well, I wouldn’t mind another shot at Mel.” Even with all the pain that came from fighting, I did get a high out of the adrenaline rush. Not that I would sign up today, but a part of me still hungered for the big money.
    She punched me lightly on the arm. “I’ll kill you myself if you fight again.”
    I dipped my chin inside my new scarf as we walked the five blocks toward Firefly.
    “So, aren’t you afraid that Kross will show up at Firefly?” Norma asked.
    I shrugged. In the back of my mind, I always knew that one day Kross and I would run into each other. I just wanted that time to be on my terms when I was ready. “We need a job.” I didn’t know if Tommy would hire us, particularly since I had lost the fight and caused trouble the first night I met him. Still, I had to try. “If Kross does show up, then I’ll deal.”
    “You said Kross had brothers. Triplets, huh?” Norma asked.
    “Seriously? We’re trying to survive, and you’re thinking of men?” After I had bolted out of Firefly as if my life depended on it, Norma and I had found a secluded spot in an abandoned warehouse not far from Tommy’s place. I had spent the night in her arms, crying and telling her all about Kross and his brothers. I couldn’t blame her too much for asking about the triplets. After all, Kross times three would make any woman do crazy things to get their attention. I’d witnessed it firsthand at the academy when the girls would giggle and squeal every time the triplets were together in the halls. A couple of those same girls had snarled at me when they found out I was dating Kross, although most of them had doted on Kelton. He’d been the one brother who hadn’t seemed to brood or sneer at someone if they looked at him the wrong way.
    Fast forward four years, and wow. I couldn’t shake the image of Kross. I hadn’t had a date, sex, or someone to hold me since him. I wasn’t sure I even knew how to kiss anymore.
    Norma hooked her arm with mine as we crossed over streets and fought pedestrian traffic. “We’re human, Ruby. I’m sure you have sexual urges. Sometimes, I miss being a lady of the night. I had some badass men who were great in bed.”
    With Raven and my pathetic life, sex was the last thing on my mind. But I had pleasured myself a time or two. “I’ll kill you if you start selling yourself.”
    The large Firefly sign came into view, jutting out from the two-story brick building. As we approached, a patron walked out of the main entrance, bringing with him the smell of grease and a reminder of the fat, juicy hamburger Tommy had given me the night I’d met him. “Let’s eat