Page 31 of Mister Fireman

“Is Aspen here?”

“Nah, not no more. I did have him drop the car off though.”

“For what?”

“I’m signing the title over to you,” I got out quickly before she could respond. Before I could even make it over to her side, she was swinging the door open. “Enjell…”

“What do you mean?”

“I said I wasn’t buying you a car. I’m giving you this one.”

“Dejvi…” With a pout, she crossed her arms over her chest and lowered her head. “I can’t take your car.”

“I can’t drive two at one time. Plus, I want the Hornet GT that just came out. I only have two parking spaces at the apartment complex, so you’d actually be helping me out if you took this one off my hands.”

“I would?” she asked softly, wiping away a tear.

My heart grew in size as I pulled her into my arms and kissed her forehead. “Yeah, you would. So can I sign this one over to you, so I can get that one?”

Her eyes blinked as she sniffled and fought her tears. “Are you being honest? We know from our first meeting that you’ll lie in a minute.”

I laughed and held her tighter. “I’m telling the truth, love. I want to do this for you, but it will really help me too.” That was the truth. I’d been looking at the Hornet and trying to decide between it and a pickup truck. I didn’t plan on getting either until my lease was up. I could get it now and help her, too, since she wouldn’t let me buy her a car, which I would have done with no hesitation.

“Okay, I’ll take it. Thank you, Dejvi.” Her hands lifted and cupped my cheeks. Pulling me down to her lips, she pecked them twice before wrapping her arms around my neck. “I know you’re really doing this to help me. Thank you.”

“Anything for you.” I kissed her temple then leaned back slightly to look into her eyes. “We’ve had a long day, and you have to get some rest so you can be ready to work tomorrow. I’m going to sign it over to you then head out, okay?”

“Okay.” She agreed but didn’t release the hold she had on me.

I wouldn’t rush her. This was probably a lot for her emotionally. We stood there for a while, holding each other. I smothered her face, neck, and lips with kisses until she felt full enough to let me go. When she did, I got the title out of the glove compartment and signed it over before leaving. I had an ulterior motive for leaving so early in the evening, but she didn’t have to know what else I was up to just yet—or ever.

16

Enjell

I wasn’t sure why Gino’s mom was blowing me up. When we were together, she barely called me. We had a good time when we were in the same space, but we didn’t have the kind of relationship where we talked on the phone. I figured something must have happened, so I decided I would call her when I took a break from cooking and prepping.

The good thing about the influx in my clientele was it allowed me to have a nice chunk of money upfront. Malaysia and Dallas were helping me until I got an actual staff in place, and they weren’t willing to accept any money for it. I did, however, pay for their hair to be done in advance, which was around the same price that I would have paid for a week’s worth of work.

I let them know I was about to take a quick break before stepping outside to return Gina’s calls. At that point, I noticed she’d sent me a text with an attachment. It was a picture of Gino… badly beaten.

“Oh my God.” The hurt and concern I felt was genuine, but it wasn’t as deep as it would have been if we were on better terms. I felt bad that he’d been hurt, but it also seemed like karma. Lately, Gino had been making a lot of selfish choices without concern for who it affected. Had he done the same to someone who wasn’t as willing to let it go as I was?

I called Gina immediately for more information on what had happened to him.

“Hello?” she answered with an attitude.

“Hey, Gina. What’s going on?”

“Did you see the picture I sent to you of my son?”

“Yes, but I’m not sure why you’re sending it to me. We aren’t together anymore.”

“I sent it to you because your thug of a boyfriend did that to Gino.”

I couldn’t respond to what she’d said immediately. I hadn’t seen Dejvi for two days, but I was pretty sure he was in Memphis. Besides, he didn’t even know where Gino was in Virginia, so there was no way he was responsible for that.

“I’m sorry that Gino got into a fight but—”

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