Page 42 of Can I?

“I can’t leave, baby. You know how I feel about those muthafuckas. I’m gonna be ready to pick those muthafuckas off just like my brothers.”

I could see the pain on Milana’s face as she hugged her mama. I could also tell that she wanted to stay with her mama but wanted to be with me at the same time. She was torn. I wouldn’t sleep if she didn’t come to Beaumont with me. When Ashanni and Maui joined us and they asked if they could stay with us, I knew I didn’t have to worry about whether she would come to my house or not.

The twins walked over, and they smiled at me. I rolled my eyes. I knew the only reason they were smiling was because they wanted to ask to stay at my house too. “Now y’all need a nigga. Y’all will have to share a bedroom and so will Ashanni and Maui.”

They chuckled and one of them said, “Thank you, Ferris wheel. I knew you loved us.”

I slowly shook my head. I didn’t know what I was gonna do with a house full of women. They were gonna drive me insane, but I would take that any day over any of them being in danger. We all left the barn as the men stayed behind to talk. Had I been closer to the family, I probably would have been right there with them, hurt leg and all.

As we walked outside, I saw Mrs. Aspen running to her girls. I wasn’t sure what they were talking about until they looked over at Milana. She was probably wanting them to stay with her. When we got to Milana’s truck, I opened her driver’s door as she stared at me.

“Who’s going to help you get in if I’m already in, Ferris?”

“I got it, baby. I told you that on the way here. Only one leg is hurt. I can use my other to get inside.”

“I just want to take care of you as much as I can. Can I do that?”

I frowned slightly as I grabbed her hand. “What’s going on, Lana?”

She looked away from me for a moment then turned back to me. “You gave me a chance to be in your life, and immediately after, shit popped off and you got shot. You could have lost your life trying to protect mine. Ferris, I don’t want you to regret your decision. I just wanna be whoever you need me to be and do whatever you need me to do. I know I sound desperate. It’s not that. It’s just that I know you are the man for me. I don’t want to lose you.”

I put my hands to her face. “Milana, I made a conscious decision to be with you. I had plenty of time to think about the risks. I’m a grown ass nigga. You are the one for me as well. Unless you specifically do something to jeopardize that, I will be here for you. Okay?”

She draped her arms across my shoulders, and I pulled her hips to mine and kissed her lips. “You’re who I need, baby. This shit right here between us is too strong to let go. Be secure in that. You got a nigga by the balls.”

She pulled away from me and smiled slightly then kissed my lips and got in the truck. When I got inside with her, I could see the twins and Maui approaching us. Milana put her window down to see what they wanted.

“We’re still coming with y’all. Mama is going to Houston to stay with her parents,” Maui said.

“And we don’t fuck with them like that,” one of the twins added.

Maui rolled her eyes. “See you at the hospital.”

“Okay,” Milana said and watched them walk away. “I wonder where Aunt Chas is going. Ashanni may choose to go with her. Although that’s her mom, they are literally best friends, even more so than my mama and me.”

I nodded at her. “I suppose she’ll let you know at the hospital.”

She nodded in response and drove away to take me home.

“I don’t likethis shit, Ferris,” my mama said. “You being around that family done already got you shot.”

“It’s cool, Mama. They were extremely remorseful about what happened. It wasn’t their fault. Those people are literally after them. They killed the patriarch of the family. One of Milana’s cousins ended up walking up on it and killed all three of them. That doesn’t make him wrong. Their grandfather wasn’t dead yet, but he died two or three days later. Imagine if you would have walked up at the dollar store to see your grandfather on the ground, beat to a pulp.”

She huffed as she stirred the sauce for the salmon she was blackening. “Okay. Whatever, Ferris. I don’t want to see you die over bullshit. You’re my son. What they have going on ain’t your business.”

“Yes, it is. The woman I’m falling for, . . . it’s her business, and that makes it mine. Had I not been there, she would have taken that bullet. It could have killed her. Had that would have happened, I don’t know what I would have done with myself.”

“Okay, Ferris. How many of them are coming here?”

“Besides Milana, four of her cousins and possibly her aunt. So six of them all together.”

She nodded as I went to sit on the couch and put my leg up. She was pissed, but I didn’t care. Milana was the woman I wanted to love, and I didn’t give a damn about what was going on with her family. The way she had me feeling was something I’d never felt before. There was no way I could let that go. It was wise of Ali and Ryan to tell them to leave if they could. If they were scattered out, it would be hard for them to pull what they did yesterday.

When my phone rang, I sat up and got it from the coffee table to see that it was Asad. “What’s up, man?”

“Yo, you good? I wanted to check on you.”

“I’m cool. Milana is staying with me still. Her cousin went into labor, though, so she went to the hospital.”

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