Page 35 of And Everything In Between

“What the fuck you looking at, nigga?” he snapped, voice cutting through the silence on the aisle. “Ain’t no muthafuckin peep show over here.”

Paige turned so fast she almost broke her neck. Her hand flew to her hip, because he couldn’t be serious. “Seriously?”

Giovanni didn’t blink, only tucked his shirt behind the butt of his Glock. “Weird ass nigga. About to get stretched in the store staring too hard and too long.”

The dude backed off, hands up, mumbling something under his breath. Giovanni tracked him until he turned the corner.

“Yeah, take you disrespectful ass on.”

Paige sighed and tilted her head. “Didn’t we have the conversation where I reminded you that you ain’t my man?”

“Oh, so you wanted the weird muthafucka staring at you?” Giovanni scoffed, lips turned up in confusion. “You probably ain’t got no panties on either.”

“You in my business again, Vanni.”

“You are my business,” he said, coming closer. “At least for the night. And I don’t need to be your man to let it be known,your attention is mine, and mine is yours. Anybody that wants to challenge that can meet my Nina.”

Her neck grew hot.

The bulldog in him was raging.

And behind all that fire? A softness she wasn’t ready for but wanted anyway.

She exhaled. “Relax. We not fighting in the Kroger.”

“Wasn’t gon be a fight, just the sounds of bullets ringing,” he said before mimicking the sound of a gun, “fa, fa, fa, fa.”

Paige shot him a look, but her smirk gave her away. He was crazy and she liked it. “You gotta relax. You in the company of a bad bitch. People gon stare.”

“Aye, you got a big head girl,” he said grabbing her by the ponytail to pull her back into his chest. “The next time you wear this, whatever this is… don’t.” His hushed tone combined with her hair being pulled forced a hard swallow, but she quickly regained her wits about herself.

“You keep hitching your wagon to me,” she said turning around and pushing him back slightly, “and I keep telling you I’m not falling for it. I promise I will have you either in therapy or church if you play with me.”

“I look like a muthafucka that play a bunch of games?”

“No, you deal dreams and fairytales and again I ain’t buying.”

He ignored her, she’d come around. She couldn’t deny him and he for damn sure wasn’t trying to deny her. He’d be patient, but the more she chose him, the harder he was going to come. She didn’t even know what heryesmeant to him.

They left the store, and Giovanni followed her to her townhouse to drop off her car and she got in with him. He wasn’t in an old school today, but his orange Dodge Challenger. Whatever she rode in or that he touched was a masterpiece. And whether she wanted to admit she liked him. He was nice,kind, but also all the things she didn’t need, commitment, complications, someone else to worry about.

They made it to the Coupeville Speedway’s midnight drag races in no time, even though it was on the outskirts of town. The perfect Saturday night distraction. He hadn’t let go of her hand. Not even for a second since she got in the car. Her hand was soft, tender completely different from his hardened hands. She shivered when he played with one of her rings. He just wanted to feel connected to her by any means. Find out more about her through osmosis, because she had been the only thing he thought about for a week. They’d lost precious time, and he needed that back.

Paige picked the song as he looked over at her,Give It Up 2 Meby Ojerime, played through his speakers. He’d never heard the song before, but it was a vibe. A vibe he liked.

The speedway parking lot was packed. Custom rides lined up bumper to bumper, hoods popped showing off gleaming engines while speakers thumped so hard they rattled license plates. The smell of burnt rubber, smoke clouds, and racing fuel hung in the air.

Paige had never been one for the racing scene, or into cars much, but now she understood the appeal. The roar of engines, the adrenaline, the way everybody moved like family. It was exhilarating. She felt her pulse quicken whenever he'd accelerate and handle the wheel with so much control. And if she had to bet, he knew she liked it too.

“You race here?” she asked as they walked toward the entrance, her bag of snacks now dangling from her fingertips.

“I’ve never been into racing. I come to watch them drift and chill after a hectic week. And sometimes I sponsor some of the cats who run here. This is family.”

“Always investing in somebody else,” she said with a smile.

“Says the woman who takes care of everybody in her world. Takes one to know one, P. Speaking of, how is your pops?”

She paused, her steps slowing as they moved through the crowd.

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