Page 72 of River & Crown
"I can't have kids, Ma. How don't you see that as my karma?" She wasn't listening. I laid it all out for her, and she still chose to ignore it. My crash was my fucking karma.
"That's not what the doctor said. She said?—"
"Just stop because you're not listening, and I don't wanna keep going in circles with you."
"River, you might be grown, but I'll still put belt to ass."
"I'm sorry, but I don't want to talk about it anymore."
"Fine." She held her hands up in surrender. "Have you spoken to Crown?"
"Ma!"
"What? You wanted to switch the conversation, so I did."
"And you know I don't want to talk about him either."
"How long are you going to ignore him?"
I shrugged, not having an answer. Crown was innocent but seeing him was too much right now. With Crown, it was never as easy as him just being here. He’s a fixer. A problem solver who convinced himself I was his to fix. Don't get me wrong, I love that about him. This just wasn't something he could fix.
"Well, you might want to speak to him soon. I went by the hair salon the other day and heard Rook's wife talking about how Rook came home the afternoon after your crash, beat up. His nose was fractured, and his jaw needed realignment."
"What does that have to do with Crown?" Crown and Rook didn't know each other. "Fuck! Kysre," I groaned.
"I won't say much, but you might want to speak your man if you want the crime rate to stay low."
"What has he done?"
"I don't know if he's done anything yet, but he hasn't been sleeping."
"How do you know any of this? You've met him once."
"River, the minute you introduced me to that man, he's become a part of my life. We text every day, just checking in, and if I need anything done, he makes sure to stop by, or he has a young man named Rivian come."
"Rivian." I frowned. "You mean Rize?"
"Yes, but he insisted I call him the name his mother gave him," she laughed like it was their little inside joke.
"Why didn't you tell me y'all were friendly?"
"I shouldn't have to tell you. Sweetheart, if you open your eyes just a little, you'll realize Crown has become a permanent fixture in your life. That man loves you."
"I know." I sighed.
"Do you love him back?"
"Ma, please, not today."
"Fine, but eventually, you'll have to have the tough talk with yourself about where he stands in your life and whether you can give him what he deserves from a relationship."
"I know, Ma, damn. When did you join Team Crown? You're my mother. You should be on my side."
"There are no sides in love, sweetheart."
"Yeah, but you never liked Sincere, yet you're standing here with your cape on for Crown when the two of them are the same."
"Crown and Sincere are nothing alike. Sincere was a predator. He was way too old for you. I only allowed it becauseI knew no matter what I said, you were going to do what you wanted. I preferred you to be out in the open rather than sneaking around. Besides that, Sincere was controlling."
