Page 70 of Obsessive Love

“You need anything?”

“Nope,” she said. “I’m good.”

“I’ll have Morning check on you tomorrow,” I joked, and she shook her head. “He ain’t that bad of a guy, Diara.”

“You run with killers, menaces, and hood niggas that wear suits,” she said. I looked up at her and smirked because therewas no reason to deny what we both knew was the truth. “I left that life alone when my ex-husband went to jail.”

“Oh, so you like Legacy and enjoy that suburban life and shit now?”

“Exactly,” she nodded. “Didn’t she say she wanted a nine-to-five nigga or something like that?”

“And her ass ended up with Hood,” I reminded her.

Diara scrunched her nose like she smelled something funny and then shook her head. “A nine-to-five nigga is the last thing I would ever describe Hood as.” She laughed softly. “That poor girl has no idea how deranged he is, does she?”

“I don’t think she’s seen him at his worst yet.”

“That’s the thing about you and the people you’re associated with, Pyrite; you all don’t even have to be at your worst to be considered unhinged.”

“Damn, I didn’t think you were about to compliment me,” I laughed.

“Bye,” she laughed and walked away. I watched to make sure she got to Yeti, who I knew would walk her to her car, and then I turned back to watch Fable.

For the next three hours, she worked the entire room. Talking with each coach or team representative and gathering feedback on what they liked or disliked. She was voted to do the desserts for the following two events. I was proud of her hustle, but the different niggas in here flirting with her wasn’t going to work.

“You ready?” I approached her and asked.

“Yeah,” Fable answered as she packed up the empty containers. She looked up at me and smiled. “I think this went better than I thought it would.”

“What do you mean?” I was trying to hold my temper back, but the way she was smiling and looking around was pissing me off. Don’t get me wrong, I wanted her happy, and if doing shitlike this made her happy, then I would speak her name in every room I was in, but I couldn’t handle seeing niggas following behind her. That was my damn job.

“A’zal offered me a front at his arena when I get back home,” she replied. “He wants to talk tomorrow about his exclusive line.”

I turned to find A’zal and saw him standing beside Georgio, his team doctor. They were eating the last of the pecan pie bites. Both their eyes locked on Fable. I stepped into their line of sight and stared them down. A’zal’s bitch ass lifted the pie in the air, nodded in acknowledgment, then took a bite.

“Hey,” Fable said, tapping my arm. “You think you can grab those containers, and I’ll take these?” Fable pointed to the stack on the table, and I nodded.

I grabbed a few off her stack, put them on mine, and then picked them up. We were less than five feet from the table when A’zal approached us.

“Here, Ms. Walters, let me take those off your hands,” A’zal said as he took the empty containers from her.

“Thank you,” Fable said, giving them to him. “The car is parked in the front.” Fable didn’t wait for him to say anything as she took the keys from my pocket and walked ahead of us. Yeti noticed her, opened the door, and walked with her.

“My nigga,” I chuckled and shook my head as we followed behind Fable. I was trying my hardest not to show the fuck out, but from the way A’zal was acting, he didn’t give a fuck about how tense the air was between us. “You playin’ with your life right now.”

“She's worth it, though, ain’t she?” A’zal smirked and walked away.

“Ay, Yeti,” I called out as we approached the car. He turned around, and I nodded at Fable, signaling she needed to get out of the way. He stepped around the car, opened the passengerdoor, and helped her into the car. I set the empty containers in the trunk. A’zal slick ass dropped his containers in the truck and quickly walked around the car to get to Fable. I pulled my gun from the back of my slacks, checked the clip, and followed behind him. Yeti stood at the back passenger door with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face. He knew what time it was.

“I was wondering if you wanted to go out-”

“Wrong fucking move,” I said, snatching A’zal by the collar of his shirt and dragging him away from the car. He would've dropped to the ground if I didn’t have the back of his shirt. Instead, he fell backward, and his hands caught him. I kept walking, making sure that he was far enough away from Fable that she didn’t get hurt but close enough for her to know this shit was not going to be tolerated.

“Pyrite!” she yelled, and I shook my head. “Got damn it, Pyrite, let him go!”

“Girl, fuck him,” I said, then hit him in the middle of his forehead with the butt of my gun. Blood rolled down the middle of his forehead, but I didn’t give a fuck.

“Move the fuck out the way, Yeti,” she yelled.

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