Page 66 of Obsessive Love

“Nah,” he denied, shaking his head. “Let him work it out first, then y’all can sit down and talk.”

“You said you’d give me anything I wanted if I asked,” I playfully pouted and crossed my arms.

“That’s within my reach,” he chuckled. “I gotta respect my brother's wishes for right now. Yo siblings might not be shit, but I know if Yamari asked you to keep a secret, you would, right?”

“Without thinking twice,” I said as I readjusted in his arms to go back to looking at the stars. “Yamari is my secret keeper, just like I’m hers. Nobody can come between that.”

“Same with me and my brothers,” he replied. “They got my secrets, and I got theirs.”

“Okay,” I said, nodding. “I’ll let it slide for now.”

He kissed the top of my head and then chuckled lowly. “Alright, so what do you want to do tomorrow?” He pulled me closer to him and rested his chin on my head. “Where haven’t you been that you want to go?”

“I don’t know,” I answered with a shrug. “I never thought about it.”

“Let me guess, Javien Jr. never just flew you out?” he asked, and I shook my head. “What I’m about to say is going to sound fucked up but understand, I don’t want you to be offended, but I’m glad both them niggas are fuck niggas.”

“Why do you say that?” His comment didn’t offend me. I knew who my people were and what they did. Having expectations for them to be better was unrealistic.

“Because that means I get to show you everything for the first time,” he answered. “Shit like this is what I like, Fable — quiet, peaceful shit. Running an empire is cool, but that noise becomes too much after a while, and I need peace. Being with you brings me peace.”

“Pyrite, you have to admit that sometimes you are the reason for it not being peaceful.” I tilted my head to look at him and found him smiling. “You don’t have to give everybody around you hell.”

He looked down at me and smirked. “If I don’t, then who will?”

“You have two brothers; let them take the throne for a while.”

He kissed the tip of my nose and then shook his head. “Nah, Citrine is too calm; the only way he’s going to crash out is if something happens to Lavender.”

“Oh hell, a new character just got unlocked,” I mumbled.

“What?”

“It’s a lot of y’all, Pyrite; whenever we talk, you mention someone new. I can't keep up.”

“It’ll get easier the more you’re around everyone.”

“Eventually, you’re going to have to let me go,” I reminded him, but I hated that I said it out loud the second I did. Pyrite stiffened, and I prepared myself for him to have an attitude. Instead, he took a deep breath, held it, then slowly let it out.

“You hungry?”

“I’m not ready to leave,” I said, shaking my head. We’d gotten comfortable in the silence and darkness that surrounded us.

Pyrite reached behind him, grabbed the bag from which he’d gotten the blanket, and set it next to us. He dug into it, put two containers with silverware strapped to them, and set them in my lap. “Courtesy of Yale.”

“Tell her I said thank you.”

“You can tell her when you meet her,” he said, then took his container from me and opened it. I bent forward so that I could eat without spilling my food. “Dear God, thank you. Amen.”

“Amen,” I said softly, then started to eat.

“You’re being a brat,” I laughed as we walked into the house. Our flight from New Mexico was uneventful, and I slept for the two hours. The drive from the airstrip to the house is where Pyrite started acting silly.

“A brat?” he playfully gasped. “You can't be serious.”

“Pyrite, you just ate three hours ago; there is no way you can be hungry again.” I took my shoes off and replaced them with apair of Nike slides that Pyrite had brought me back when he’d gone to run errands.

“I don’t want anything heavy, just some cookies and maybe a cake.”

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