Page 36 of Can I?

I could hear glass breaking. My body was trembling in fear. I was worried about him and my family. When was this shit going to be over and done with? Ali had said that it could take a while, but I wanted this shit to be over now. After the gunshots hadceased, Ferris lifted himself from me, and when I turned toward him, there was blood.

“Ferris! Did you get hit?”

“I don’t know. My adrenaline is pumping so hard.”

I began frantically searching his body and found a wound on his leg. “Oh my God! Ferris, I’m so sorry! Oh shit!”

SS, Ace, and Asad came running over to see what I was screaming about. Shortly after, Uncle Kenny showed up. When I showed him where Ferris’s wound was, he tore Ferris’s pants slightly and looked at it. “It’s a flesh wound. He’ll be okay, Lana.”

Ace and Uncle Kenny helped Ferris to his feet. I lowered my head as I realized this was the bullshit he was trying to avoid. I didn’t know if this was my shit or if it was Henderson shit, but it seemed they were now one in the same.

“Uncle Kenny? Did anyone else get hurt?”

“No.”

“Milana, had he not covered you, we would have been possibly carrying you out of here,” Ace said as he and Asad got Ferris to Uncle Kenny’s ambulance.

I stepped in front of Ferris and could see the pain on his face. “This is what you were trying to avoid. I feel horrible, Ferris. I’m so damn sorry.”

He grabbed my chin and stared into my eyes. “I made a conscious decision to be with you. I know what I’m up against. I’m well informed. So, I don’t regret protecting you.”

Ali walked over to us, along with a couple other guys. “Is everything okay?” he asked.

“He has a flesh wound that I’m about to get cleaned up, then I’m gonna take him to the hospital. I gotta get his IV started, too, so I can start antibiotics.”

Ali nodded. “That was the father of that Anderson boy that Ace killed. Now he gets to join his son. The rest of the peoplewith him fled after that. I guess we gon’ be picking them off one by one.”

Uncle Kenny directed Ferris to sit so he could tend to his leg. He cut his pants more then looked up at Ferris. “This is gonna hurt.”

Ferris gritted his teeth, and I grabbed his hand, wanting to help him through it. When he growled out in pain, I started kissing his face repeatedly, allowing tears to fall from my eyes. “I’m so sorry, Ferris.”

“Milana, stop apologizing.”

I looked into his eyes, and I couldn’t help but lay my lips on his. It felt so good I nearly got carried away right here in front of my uncle and cousin. As Uncle Kenny continued working on him, my mama came running over. When she saw it wasn’t me that got shot, I could see the relief through her exhale. However, I could also see the concern in her eyes for Ferris.

“Ferris, oh my God,” my mama said when she got close. “Kenny, are you taking him to the hospital?”

“I can, but it isn’t that deep. I’m already giving him antibiotics and cleaning the wound. He doesn’t have to go if he doesn’t want to. I’ll leave that decision up to him.”

I watched Uncle Kenny finish cleaning it and packing it. Ferris’s eyes had never left me. I wrapped my arms around him, and he kissed my lips. “Thank you so much, Ferris.”

“I’m your man, right? No matter how recent that development happened, my job is to protect you.”

He lifted his hand and gently swiped my tears away with his thumb. His eyes journeyed to my mama as she said, “Thank you for looking out for my baby. I’m so sorry this happened to you, baby. We are going to take care of you while you’re down. What do you do for a living? Will you miss work?”

Ferris smirked at my mama then said, “I’m a gamer. I sit most of the day.”

“Well, you won’t miss work, but we’re still going to take care of you.”

Everyone was making their way over to the ambulance to check on Ferris, but I just wanted alone time with him now. For him to protect me in that way spoke to how much he actually cared for me.

“I’m gonna go home and pack a bag so I can stay with you,” I said to him as my mama smiled.

“Milana, that’s not necessary. I can take care of this. I’m not?—”

“I’m not takin’ no for an answer. I’m staying with you. End of discussion.”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

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