Page 93 of The Love of Priest

"Absolutely. It's like after her unsuccessful pregnancy, she's been horrible. Everyone grieves and copes with loss differently, so I bit my tongue, but I don't think she should rain on everyone else like life has rained on her," Caroline shrugged. "Besides, we told her to put that child first during her pregnancy, and she didn't. Selfish," Caroline scoffed lightly as she folded her arms across her chest.

Priest kept his face unmoved and his demeanor unbothered. He knew if he reacted too suddenly and abruptly, things would be obvious. He simply nodded and remained silent. On the outside, he was as solid as a rock, but on the inside, there were a thousand questions brewing inside of him that only Britain and a proper conversation could answer.Jadey finally called a wrap on rehearsal, causing Priest to immediately unhook his arm from Caroline's.

She was a messy female who ran her mouth about the next person’s business to pretty much anyone. That made her even more unpleasant and unattractive.Priest didn't even utter a goodbye in Caroline's direction as he drifted away from her.

As Britain gathered her bags to leave, she felt a hand at the small of her back. Her body didn't instantly fall into a state of comfort, so she was certain it wasn't Priest. Turning around, she rolled her eyes with a laugh once she noticed it was Kobe.

"Boy, if you don't move your hand," she warned him jokingly.

Kobe retracted his hand before deciding that wrapping his arm around her shoulders would be more suiting. "Need me to walk you to your car?" he asked, not even giving her a second to respond. "Good thing we're already walking," he teased, causing them both to laugh.

"How have you been, Brit? You're always urging me to tell you what's been going on with me, but you never wanna talk about yourself," Kobe said.

Britain shrugged with a light smile. Prior to this, Britain never found it necessary to fill people in on her life. It was always the same old, same old. Plus, she was almost never in a position to tell anyone how well she was doing. "Uh," she stretched out with a sigh. "Things have been good as of lately. I can't complain."

"Heard you were front-paging." He smiled down at her.

Britain nodded. "Yeah, I have. Three weeks in the making, actually." She jokingly dusted her shoulder off in an arrogant manner.

Kobe playfully nudged her. "Gas yourself, Brit. That’s amazing."

Britain shrugged. "I know, but I don't want to get too excited. The same way it was given to me is the same way it could be taken from me. I'm trying to dot my I's and cross my T's," she explained to him as they approached her car.

"Let me take you out to celebrate," Kobe offered with a charming smile.

Britain chuckled. The boy just never knew how to quit. "That sounds lovely, but I have plans Ko. Maybe some other time?"

"Fine by me." Kobe shrugged as he opened the door for Britain to get into her car.

"Thanks, Kobe. I was happy to see you, superstar," she teased him about his upcoming acting career.

Kobe laughed. "Good to see you too,Ms. New York Times," he followed up before shutting her door for her.Britain chuckled as she started up her vehicle, reversing out of her parking spot. She glanced to the right to see Priest leaned against his car with a smirk and his arms folded across his chest. Amused by the shaken facial expression etched on her face, Priest laughed before getting into his own vehicle.

As she drove, she looked through her rear-view mirror, only to catch sight of the grill of Priest's Bentley Bentayga. "Fuck," Britain mumbled. The sinister look in his eye let her know that whatever he intended on doing was going to be pure amusement for him.

Only a few minutes away from the venue, Britain felt her phone vibrate beside her. She took her eyes off the road briefly to answer the call from Priest.

"Preying on the young isn't the right thing to do, Gioia. I heard that nigga fresh out of high school or some shit," Priest teased her in laughter.

Britain rolled her eyes. "Screw you. Kobe has been wanting me to give him a chance for years. I'm just not interested." She shrugged her shoulders.

Priest nodded, satisfied with the fact that she openly admitted she didn't want any dealings with Kobe. Priest didn't feel threatened in any way, but Britain clarifying that she wasn't interested was nice. "Fucked up about me?" He smirked.

The butterflies in her stomach forced involuntary laughter out of her. "I am actually," she admitted, not sugar coating a thing.

Priest licked his lips before they curled into a smile. Her admission of her feelings was heartwarming, but Priest wouldn't have been Priest if he didn't give her a hard time about Kobe. "The way you were cheesing with your little play date buddy had me thinking otherwise," he scoffed jokingly.

Britain smacked her lips with a stale face. "How long are you gonna keep this up?"

Priest sighed. "Until it's not funny anymore," he settled with a shrug.

"Bye, P," she urged the end of the phone call, only to hear Priest's obnoxious laughter on the other end.

Britain ended the call with a light laugh of her own. She should have known there would have been no way she could have intimidated Priest. He was far too secure with himself to ever feel as though someone could outdo him.Eventually, the two arrived at her apartment. Britain rushed inside, trying to get away from Priest, and he found it amusing.

"Why you being extra for?" He chuckled as he entered her apartment, making sure to lock up right behind himself.

Britain shrugged as she eyed him. "Are you trying to prove a point or something?" She raised a brow, her hand fixed on her hip.

---