Page 96 of Are You Going to Love Me

“Goodnight, MB,” Eden hummed, before hanging up.

Maximus dropped himself onto the pillows and hummed. “This damn girl is turning me around. Shit.”

He ran his hand down his face and groaned. Eden had him, and all he needed to do was to make it abundantly clear that he had her, too. Once that was done and secure, there wouldn’t be a thing they couldn’t conquer. With Eden by his side, he felt stronger, less anxious, and more confident. He felt love, warmth, and comfort.

Drifting to sleep, Maximus tossed and turned most of the night. The images of his brother and mother, the breakdown of their relationships, and the facts still haunted him. The beast in him was warring with his peace because there was an issue at hand he hadn’t handled yet. An issue that would suffocate him if he allowed it to grow any bigger. He had to handle it sooner than later.

After the video shoot wrapped, Maximus and his small team were on their way back to Waynesville. He was eager to wrap his body around Eden’s, inhale her scent, and listen to her soft breathing. Being in her peace was everything he needed. True to his word, he got Brody set up in his apartment uptown, close to Cashmere Lakes, so he could be readily available.

thirty-two

. . .

“Did you hear that song?”Staysha gushed as she walked into the apartment. “I know he wants Heavy Is the Head to be the first video, but I feel like Go Figga needs to drop the minute they’re approved.”

Eden laughed at Staysha’s enthusiasm as she finished uploading her video to her JoyTube page.

“You’re really enjoying this branding specialist job?” Eden prompted.

“I’m loving it!” Staysha shrieked. “Legit, my favorite thing to do is market y’all separately and together. Like Trae Way is a brand, Garden of Eden is a brand; you two together are pure magic. And now that you’re together for real, yessss.”

Eden shook her head at Staysha’s two-step and snap of the fingers. “You don’t think that makes us seem fake? Like what we’re doing in private isn’t real?”

“Ohh, what we’re doing in private,” Staysha cooed.

Eden waved her off and took inventory of her kitchen. The ring light was still up, and the pound cake she was working on was baking in the oven. According to the text, she got a couple of hours from Maximus, and he was coming straight to her when he finished getting Brody set up. The text also instructed that he wanted to eat, sleep, and then hit The Galleria. Two days away from him, and every inch of her body craved him. His touch, his hold, the trill of his raspiness in her ear that turned her on as much as it settled her.

She thought about running again, blocking him, cutting this off at the knees before both legs slipped from under her and she fell with no recovery. Then she remembered rule number one – ain't no running. After that thought faded, she thought about running just so he’d chase her and drag her back by the ankles and fuck her into submission.

“Are you listening to me?” Staysha questioned, snapping Eden out of her daydream.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, she clenched her thighs and cleared her throat. “What’d you say?”

“Ahhh shit,” Staysha hummed, studying Eden. “That dick got you daydreaming.”

Eden feigned annoyance, rolling her eyes and waving her off. “You’re tripping. It’s just dick.”

“Uh huh. Is that Poppi’s pound cake in the oven?”

“I was craving something sweet.”

Staysha squinted before bursting out into laughter again. “One thing you could never do was lie easily. Dickdreaming, what a wonderful problem to have.”

“I’m going to assume you’re really here because there’s a script?” Eden posed, happy to get her mind off of Maximus and the glorious dick he carried around. The dick she gladly took round for round, allowing him to fold her up and flip her around all while talking that talk.

She shivered before refocusing on her sister.

“Actually,” Staysha said with a grin. “Yeah, I forwarded it to you, and they want you to send in a video. They’re still casting the male lead and trying to make sure you two match well. I offered up MB, but they want a clean, WSU-type of lead.”

“Girl, we can’t do every damn show together.” Eden navigated her screen from the confirmation that her video was live with over a thousand views and counting. She moved to her email and opened the attachment. “What scene do they want to test?”

“The opening scene is your character and the client.”

Eden scrolled through and grunted. “Oh shit. It’s a sex scene that opens the show.”

“No. It’s an almost-sex scene, keep scrolling.”

Eden did and sighed with relief.

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