Page 24 of Ride or Die
"Hi," I respond.
"Do you mind if we could go somewhere a little quieter to talk," she asks. I nod my head.
"Yeah, come on." I hold my hand out for her to grab and surprisingly she takes it. I keep her close behind me as we walk through a small crowd. We walk down the hall leading to all the rooms. Once we reach my door, I pull my keys out to unlock it. I open it and gesture for her to walk in. She studies the room as she does.
"Is this okay?"
"Yeah, of course," she says. I shut the door behind me. "You don't have much in here."
"I don't stay here much since Shade and I got our house," I tell her. She sits on the edge of the bed. "So, what's up?"
"I've had a lot of time to consider things. You know, since I haven't been working." She lets out a light laugh.
"I bet it's weird to have so much time off, huh?"
"It is, but it's also kind of nice," she admits. "Anyway, I was thinking, maybe we could start over."
"Start over?" I give her a confused look.
"Yeah, I mean, we haven't seen each other in five years. We both have changed in that time and I thought we could kind of start over and get to know each other again," she explains.
"Is this a way for us to work on things and maybe get back together," I ask her, trying to gauge how she's feeling. Her cheeks turn a deep pink and she glances at her hands. I move so I'm in front of her. I put a finger under her chin and lift her face so she's looking at me. "I need an answer, Sunshine."
"My heart is still bruised, Ryan. This is a way for us to," she pauses like she's trying to find the right words to say next. "Not forget the past, but to move on from it. To earn each other's trust again. We can date and learn new things about each other and after a while, we can revisit the relationship talk."
"I'll take it. I'll take whatever you want to give me. I'll do whatever I need to do to earn your trust again, to earn your heart again," I tell her.
"Okay," she says, trying to hold back a smile.
"Okay," I smirk at her. "Would you like to go back out to the party with me?"
"Sure." She stands next to me. She seems so small next to me now. I've always been almost a foot taller than her, but I bulked up after I moved to Arizona. I hold my hand out to her again and she takes it. Together, we head back out to the main room.
16
Cali
“Do you want anything to drink?”Ryan says right by my ear.
“Sure.” He guides me over to the bar where Minx and Raze happen to be sitting.
“Hey B,” Minx shouts. She looks at me, her eyes going wide. Her eyes go from me to Ryan and back to me, and a smile crosses her face. "Hey, Cali."
"Hey, Minx. This spot open?" I gesture toward the chairs next to her.
"Of course! Sit," she tells us. As soon as Lolita sees us, she walks over to us smiling.
"What can I get y'all to drink?"
"Something fruity," I ask her.
"Ever had a Malibu Beach?"
"No, but I'm willing to try it," I say.
"I'll have a beer," Ryan tells her. I grin at him. Lolita smiles and shakes her head before going to get our drinks. I turn my body so I'm facing Minx and she turns to face me.
"So . . . " She looks behind me at Ryan and back to me. "Spill."
