Page 36 of Mister Fireman

“What’s going on?” I asked.

Enjell slid the key to the Charger over to me. “I’m gonna ride home with one of them. I don’t think your girl took you letting me drive your car too well.”

My amusement was quickly being replaced with anger. “Who the fuck are y’all talking about?”

“Light-skinned girl with them chipmunk cheeks and teeth,” Malaysia said, and unfortunately, I knew exactly who she was talking about. Robin was pretty as hell, but she did have a fat little chipmunk face.

“Robin?” I confirmed. “That’s not my girl; that’s my friend. She’s one of my oldest friends, but we’re not in a relationship. What happened?”

“She came to the kitchen earlier and said her man shared my posts, so she wanted to try my food. When she showed me the picture, the man she was hugged up with was you.”

My shoulders slouched as I covered my face briefly.

This fucking girl wanted me to strangle her.

Instead of responding to Enjell immediately, I directed my attention to her bodyguards. “I promise I’m not cheating on Enjell. Robin is just my friend. A friend who wants more but a friend. Can I please speak to Enjell alone to explain the situation?”

“Why?” Malay asked. “She’s just going to tell us anyway.”

Dallas rolled her eyes and pulled Malay away. I dropped the key to the Charger in Enjell’s purse and leaned against the table.

“So?” she taunted. “What do you have to say?”

“Like I said, Robin and I are just friends. When we were eighteen, we made a pact that if we weren’t married by thirty-five that we’d have a baby together.” Her eyes squeezed shut. “She came back to town shortly after you and I met, wanting to cash in, but I told her I couldn’t because I’d found the one. I found you. She hasn’t taken that well and has been exhibiting some behavior that’s foreign to me. I can admit I didn’t say no immediately because I was conflicted over loyalty, but I have told her no. If you don’t believe me, I can show you the text messages.”

When she didn’t respond, I pulled my phone out to show her our text thread. As she read it, I continued.

“I’m not sure why she’s trying to make it seem like we’re together. Maybe she thinks if she does that, you’ll leave me, and I’ll give her the baby. Either way, I can assure you I’m not cheating on you with her or anyone else. Robin and I have never discussed or been in a relationship. We’ve never kissed or had sex. And as you can see, I told her I wanted to be with you.”

She handed me the phone, still avoiding my eyes. “Thank you for letting me see.”

“Of course. I’m sorry she came to you and put doubt in your heart. I know we’re not officially together, but all I want is you, love. I can assure you that this will never happen again.”

Her head shook as she licked the corner of her mouth and took the key back out of her purse.

“I appreciate you telling me now, but the fact that you were even considering doing this while we’ve been talking is a lot. I’ll get over it because you did choose us, but I’m no one’s option, Dejvi. I’m always number one.”

“Mm…” Stepping around the table, I took her into my arms. “I know that probably wasn’t meant to turn me on, but it did.” Her eyes rolled as she placed her hands on my chest. “You’re right; you’re not an option. And you are my number one. My only one.”

She ran her fingers through her hair and sighed. “Today has been a long day, baby. I just… need some space.”

“I can give you that, as long as you know we’re not over.” Her chin trembled, and the thought of her shedding tears worried me. I sat on the edge of the table and pulled her between my legs. “Hey.” I tilted her head by her chin. “What’s going on?” Quickly wiping her tear, I kissed the corner of her eyes. “Enjell…”

“Grandma had a bad day, and we were super busy, then she came in talking about you were cheating on her with me.” She huffed and covered her face, then ran her hands through her hair. “It’s just a lot, but I’ll be fine. I really just need some time to decompress.”

“I’m sorry, love. Her BS is the last thing you should have had to deal with today. Focus on your family stuff, and I’ll take care of Robin. I promise she won’t be an issue or pop up like that again.”

Nodding, she avoided my eyes. “All right, Dejvi.” Between her dejected tone and weakened posture, I felt even more like shit. I should have told her from the beginning, but at least when she did find out, it was after I’d done the right thing and truly made up my mind.

“Here, let me walk you to your car, and you still keeping this damn car. I don’t know why you keep trying to give me this key back.”

Finally… she smiled.

“Dejvi…”

“We may not be in a committed relationship, but what we have goes beyond that. If I felt like you knew it was sincere, I’d ask you to commit now. You deserve better than that though.”

She wrapped her arm around mine and rested her head against it. I let her stay like that for a while before picking her up. As soon as she wrapped around me and rested her head on my shoulder, it was like my tunnel vision activated. Nothing or no one was going to pull this woman out of my life—not even the schemes of my best fucking friend.

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