Page 107 of Are You Going to Love Me

“You’ll be cool, I got something for you to put on. Not that I think you’ll need it,” he joked in her ear, checking her temperature.

“You get on my nerves, Max.”

The ride to Cashmere Lakes was quiet. Getting ready for bed was quiet until Eden huffed. “Dammit, I need a bonnet.”

She’d managed to wrap her silkened tresses with a fine-tooth comb he had lying around for his beard.

“This is why you need to go ahead and move in.”

“I got six months left on my lease. I will not pay those people a titty and a kneecap to break it,” she replied, holding her hands against her wrapped hair. “I don’t care how much money I have.”

Maximus finished rubbing the oil from Eden’s gift basket into his beard and roamed into his closet. Returning with a ski mask, he directed her to turn around.

“You’re not putting a shiesty on my head. Why do you even have this?”

“Why not? Your hair looks good, and I know it took them forever, all that hair you got. Just trust me,” he said. “Turn around, E.”

She spun on the balls of her feet and allowed him to pull the mask down over her face and fold it back up to securely rest around the dome of her head. She slid her hands out and smirked.

“Okay, you might’ve been right about that.”

“Ain’t too bad being with a street nigga, huh?” Maximus asked, cupping her chin. “I keep that shit on standby just in case a nigga wants to see the doors slide on a minivan.”

“Reformed,” she corrected. “You’re a reformed street nigga. And no, it isn’t. Although…”

“Although what?” he questioned, following her out of the bathroom into the bedroom.

Eden pulled back the covers and yawned. “Although you let Peezy bait you tonight.”

Maximus removed the covers from his side and climbed his tired body underneath the covers. Eden followed, meeting him in the middle and throwing her leg over him.

“I didn’t let that nigga bait me. I used his ass as an example. I don’t do that internet shit. Unless it’s finding you. Saying I got papers on me is putting a target on my back from the set, and I’m not having it. It’s a bullshit ass narrative flying around and when rumors grow legs, it costs niggas their lives. I just started living,I’m not trying to get snuffed out. Not trying to have no one pull me away from you yet.” Maximus pulled her into him before asking, “What was the shit about the hallway? He say something crazy to you?

“It’s over,” Eden hummed, and caressed his chest. “Let it go.”

Maximus pulled away and peered down at her. “What he do to you, E?”

She bit her lip. “Nothing. Just grabbed me by my arm. I told him to get the fuck off of me and I came into the studio.”

“Eden,” Maximus groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“What? What does it matter now, you beat his ass, it’s over.”

“I would’ve done more to that muhfucka had I known he put his hands on you,” Maximus roared, removing himself from the bed. “Why didn’t you say nothing?”

“There was nothing to say. You handled it. The man’s shoes are literally in the middle of the street, and his homies had to carry him home. And don’t yell at me.”

“Now I’m considering putting that bitch ass nigga on a stretcher.”

Eden rolled her eyes. “What’s that going to do but send you back to jail? I’m going to sleep in the guest room. In the morning, I’ll get a car and go back to my spot.”

“No, the fuck you aren’t,” he huffed, taking a beat to calm himself. “That ain’t necessary.”

“Neither is all of that huffing, puffing, and yelling at me. I didn’t tell you because I knew the outcome. I don’t want that shit on my conscious if it goes left. Like, if you take it too far and get convicted and go away from me for real. It’s more than just what I feel in the moment, Max. There’s a bigger picture.”

He swiped a hand over his face, taking her words in. “I scare you?”

She shook her head. “Yeah, that thought of losing you when I just got you is scary. I watched Poppi do unimaginable shit togrown men. It just took me back to a place I thought I was over. But that’s not your fault. Those are my triggers to work through, I guess.”

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