Page 33 of Are You Going to Love Me

She watched as he fished his phone out of his pocket, not offering her an answer straight away. Eden quietly sat by and watched him navigate through a few icons before turning the music down to where only they could hear it.

“Workin’ on something,” he said as the music played.

Eden rested her elbow on the armrest nearest him and took in the lyrics and the beat. She offered him a look he couldn’t read, making him stop the track.

“You ain’t feeling it?”

“Not at all. But the question is, are you asking to get bullshit or the truth?”

“I require the whole truth. Tell me what you think.”

Eden rolled her glossed lips over one another. “I mean, it’ll get airplay, but it’s not genuine. It doesn’t feel like you mean it. Take Head of a G for instance, you were talking some real shit. What was that line?”

“Heavy, heavy is the head. Hold that shit steady. Niggas want my soul that don’t know I’m protected already. Swaggin’ through Trae Way target on my back. Head of a g gon’ cost them niggas more than a rack,” they rapped cooly in unison.

Eden snapped her fingers. “That shit. Your fans want that shit. Don’t get a record deal and sell out. Big talent barely makes it out of Trae Way. Your fans are watching you.”

“You a fan?”

Eden found herself getting lost in his eyes but quickly recovered. Any man this handsome and equally as gangster was dangerous, like either he had a girlfriend lurking in this house somewhere, could fuck and eat you off the bone, or both. She cleared her throat and looked away from him.

“I’m interested.”

“What I got to do to make you a fan?” he queried.

Eden rubbed the back of her neck again. “Make some real shit. Not whatever that was. It sounds like you don’t trust yourself.”

He leaned back in his seat, relit his blunt, and sat still in her silence for a moment.

“Maximus.”

Eden looked over. “Hm?”

“Don’t call me Trae Way MB. My name is Maximus.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Maximus,” Eden sweetly hummed.

“Nice to see you, Eden.”

She hummed and then sighed. It was loaded. “It’s nice to be seen.”

Just as he opened his mouth to ask her another question, not of importance but just to hear her voice, a fight broke out by the pool, making him shoot to his feet.

“I told Keon about having these niggas in my spot and fuckin’ shit up.” Safe on the terrace, he looked at Eden. “Stay here.”

She nodded and watched him hurry down the side stairs, bellowing at the violators in the process. “Ay, not in my fuckin’ spot!”

Eden: I’m gonna go

Staysha: It’s just a fight

Eden: I don’t need to be wrapped up in anymore shit

Eden navigated from her text screen to the JoyRide app and ordered a ride home.

Eden: You coming or not?

Staysha: I’ll leave after I see this through

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