Page 15 of I Need It

I sat next to my mama, and she patted my leg. “Storm said you were helping a young lady to her room last night. He said you looked smitten.”

“I know he didn’t say smitten.”

She chuckled. “No. He said sprung. He said you were looking all sprung before you had a taste.”

She rolled her eyes and slowly shook her head as I chuckled. “He gets on my nerves.”

“Well, who is she?”

“Her name is Mya Ceasar. She’s from Houston and still lives there, and she’s a romance author.”

“A romance author? Wow! Did she seem nice?”

“Yes, ma’am. She seemed really nice. She’s not looking for anything serious right now though. She made that clear. I accepted that and chose to remain her friend. I just left her room.”

She frowned slightly and grabbed my hand. “You sure that’s the right move, baby? I can tell that you’re feeling sensitive about her. Your feelings may get even more involved if you remain close to her. What if her feelings don’t change?”

I slid my hand down the back of my head as I mulled over her words. “Then that will be something I did to myself. I have to try though. She’s so beautiful and seems fun to be around.”

My mama gave me a soft smile. “Why is she in the hospital?”

I glanced at Rylan and Angel to see they weren’t paying us the least bit of attention then looked back at my mama. “She had a tubal pregnancy.”

My mama looked away. “Oh. Umm… was she in a relationship?”

“No. It’s complicated.”

“No, it’s not, son. She was having fun and got caught up. Don’t make me seem like I’m so old I wouldn’t understand that.”

I chuckled. I supposed she was right. “Sorry, Ma. You right. That was exactly what happened.”

“Okay. Give her time. Her hormones are probably all over the place.”

“Yeah… probably.”

CHAPTER 6

MYA

When I woke up, I was so confused. It seemed like I’d been asleep for a long time. It was barely daylight outside. I looked over at the recliner to see Christian was gone. I frowned slightly and picked up my phone to see it was six thirty in the morning. What the hell? It was barely three in the afternoon, the last I remembered being awake. I was wanting to go to the bathroom but was lightheaded. Christian had insisted I waited for the nurse.

Picking up my phone from the tray, I opened my text messages to see I had a few new ones. A couple were from my dad, one was from Jasmine, and the last two were from Christian. Since he was a country boy, I knew he probably got up with the chickens, so I chose to read his first.

Just checking on you, baby girl. Did they figure out why you had a fever?

Umm… it’s eleven o’clock, and I’m about to go to bed. I’m a little nervous that I haven’t heard from you. I’ll try again in the morning.

I didn’t remember having a fever. That pain shot must have really put me on my ass. But for nearly an entire day? Something wasn’t right. I responded to Christian’s text messages.

Good morning. I barely remember much from yesterday, but I do remember you coming to see me. Thank you for checking on me. I just woke up, and the last thing I remember was trying to go to the bathroom and you telling me to wait because I was lightheaded. So I’m confused as to how I slept for so long. I hope you have a great day, and I hope to hear from you later.

I hit the send button then checked the messages from my dad and my girl. They were both just checking on me, but my dad was more concerned. That man didn’t play about me. I responded to him, letting him know I was out of it and would call him later. No sooner than I sent the message, there was a knock on the door. “Come in,” I said weakly.

The person opened the door, and when my dad appeared, I smiled. “Girl! I was so damn worried about you. Why haven’t you been answering your text messages?”

“I just woke up from yesterday. I don’t know what they gave me, but I don’t remember much of anything past two or three yesterday afternoon. I just texted you.”

He slid his hand down his face, clearly upset. “I’m sorry, Daddy.”

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