Page 89 of One Good Reason

“I know right. Seriously though, this whole mold situation is doing nothing for my anxiety.”

“Mine either. But shit, we have no control over that situation either. All we can do is wait on Jose to handle shit on his end before moving forward. Everything will work itself out.”

“I hope it does.”

“Feeling better?”

She hiked one shoulder up and mumbled, “I don’t know.”

“Can you at least finish bathing yourself? My knees are starting to cramp up.”

“God, you’re old,” she mouthed and picked up her towel.

“Old my ass. Finish washing up. I’ll be back in a second.” Pecking her on the lips, I stood and ambled out of the bathroom. I had Chari place an Instacartorder for Talitha some sleepy time tea. I needed to go fix it for her so by the time she was out of the tub and into bed, her ass would be able to get some sleep.

With the piping hot mug of tea in hand, I headed back up the stairs and into my bedroom. Talitha was sitting on the side of the bed still wrapped up in her towel doing something on her phone.

“Here.” I handed her the tray. “Drink this.”

“Are you trying to poison me?”

“As good as your pussy, is I wouldn’t dare,” I joked to make light of the situation.

“That’s good to know.” She chuckled. “What’s this then?”

“It’s sleep tea. You need to go to bed. Your eyes have been down casted all day. I need you to wake up in better spirits.”

“And you think this is going to miraculously solve all of my problems.”

“It won’t. But it’ll help your ass get a good night’s rest.”

After silencing her phone, she placed it on the nightstand and picked up the mug. “It smells like lavender,” she drawled after sniffing it.

“It’s got lavender and jasmine in it, I believe. Shit… I really don’t know. I didn’t pay attention to the ingredients to be honest.”

“You could be feeding me drugs, Harvey.”

“Talitha,” I rasped. “Drink the damn tea.”

“Fine.” She rolled her eyes. Bringing the mug up to her mouth, she blew on it before taking a sip. “It’s got a good taste.”

“I know. I put some honey and a few drops of lemon juice in it. Finish that while I go shower. Then I can hold you until you fall asleep.”

“Yes sir.” She saluted and my dick jumped. I had to talk him down because tonight wasn’t the time for him to get all excited. The only thing on my agenda for the night was making sure she was okay.

Walking into the bathroom, I turned on the shower, stripped out of my clothes, and stepped in so I could wash the stress of today away. On top of dealing with the shit at the school, I was trying to figure out a way to move more cocaine through the state while still flying under the radar. The smart thing to do would be to find someone else to help distribute it but I wasn’t too keen on working with folks I didn’t know personally.

If I reached a point where I had exhausted all of my options, I would reach out to Poppa. I knew he would be able to put me with someone that he trusted to help get the shit off. Once I felt clean enough, I stepped of the shower and dried off. Afterbrushing my teeth, I strolled into the room and found Talitha tucked under the covers. Hitting the lights, I flipped the covers back and got in bed beside her. After getting adjusted, I pulled her into my side and wrapped my arm around her waist. My eyes stayed trained on the ceiling until I myself drifted off to sleep.

“Mold…” Poppa trailed off.

“Fucking mold, man.”

“Damn Dutch. Yo’ ass getting hit from every fucking corner.”

“Who the fuck you telling? That shit done set us back at least a month.”

“You told Talitha?”

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