Page 34 of Can I?

“Rub him, baby,” I said.

She did as I said and smiled. “Horsey.”

“Yep. We’re about to make him walk, okay?”

“Okay.”

I gave him a kick, and when he started walking, she started clapping in excitement. I chuckled as the horse walked. Seeing all the kids out here having a good time was really cool. Mr. Red had chickens, goats, cattle, lambs,— all that shit for the kids to see and touch if they wanted to. It looked like most of Nome was out here, even the Hendersons. They had probably contributed in some way.

When I saw Mrs. Tiffany out here, I took a deep breath, preparing myself to possibly see Milana. Carter said she’d been at home depressed, so maybe she wouldn’t show up. After waving to my nieces and nephew on the other horses, I made the turn to head back to the barn. When I saw the other twin andRed Squared talking, I knew that was probably the source of his frustration. He wanted Noni so bad, but she wasn’t giving him the time of day.

Once we got off the horse with Asad’s assistance, he said, “You know Mila wouldn’t let my son come out here today?”

“I was about to ask you where he was. Why not?”

“She claimed that she knew I wouldn’t be watching him. Someone told her I was chasing after Ashanni.” He slowly shook his head. “If people would mind their fucking business, the world would be a better place. People irritate me at times. I almost didn’t come out here.”

“Is it your weekend?”

“No. That’s why she got away with that shit. I don’t know why she’s so fucking bitter. Shit didn’t work out between us. It was both our decisions to go our separate ways. We parted amicably. But now she got a muthafucka in her ear, making her think I’m the enemy all of a sudden. I’m so sick of her shit, man. We ain’t even a couple. I tried my hardest to make shit work with her.”

I felt sorry for him. Asad loved his son. He had him whenever he was supposed to and even when it wasn’t his weekend at times. “Have you talked to Mister Red about it?”

“Naw, not yet. I probably will tonight. My mama didn’t give him those kinds of problems. I spent almost as much time with him as I did with my mama. When he had a rodeo and couldn’t get me, sometimes my mama took me to the rodeo just so we could see him and Mama Shana compete. This shit is foreign to me.”

I nodded then looked down at Loren. “Well, let me take these kids to pet animals. We’ll talk later.”

“A’ight.”

I was hoping to have his help with these kids, but his mind was occupied. I totally understood that. It was hell keeping up with all four of them, but I was somehow managing. When wegot to the lambs, I was helping Loren pet them, but out of the corners of my eyes, I could see Kohl trying to get in the pin with the goats. I huffed then quickly went over there.

“Man, those goats will beat the shit out of you. What did I say before we got out of the car?”

He lowered his head and followed me back to the lambs. What I saw nearly took my breath away though. Milana was stooped next to the girls, holding a lamb in her arms for them to pet. She had on a Stetson, shorts, cowboy boots, and a vest. She looked so beautiful. When she looked up at me, I could see just how puffy her eyes were.

“I’m sorry. I just saw them trying to pet the lambs, and they’d retreated to the back of the pin.”

She stood and put the lamb back in the pin.

“It’s okay,” I said as I stared at her.

She nodded and was about to walk away. I gently grabbed her arm. “Can we talk later?”

She glanced down at the kids then asked, “In person or by phone? I have to practice later.”

“When will you have free time?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “I try not to have any. Just call or text when you have time.”

She walked away as I stared at her back. When I’d seen she’d only worn a tube top under her vest, I wanted to pull her in my arms. When I saw her, the last thing I thought about was her drama. I just wanted to make everything wrong in her life right. Maybe this was the wake-up call I needed. I just wanted to be with her at this point. Glancing down at my nieces and nephew, I took a deep breath and continued showing them a good time so I could get them back to their parents.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

MILANA

“Since this nigga is back out in the wild, I bet a muthafucka won’t be running up in here no more,” PJ said.

I slightly rolled my eyes. Ace was no longer on house arrest and could go and come as he pleased within the state. He had to get permission if he wanted to go out of state. Being that we were so close to Louisiana, less than an hour away, Uncle Marcus said they usually approved that. The only time we really frequented Louisiana was for rodeos anyway. We didn’t really do too many trail rides anymore.

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