Page 39 of Breaking the Rules
“I’m used to standing. It’s the dancer in me,” she rebutted. Her eyes were taking in every movement he made. How he got off the counter, moved to the fridge, grabbed a bottle of water, opened it, and handed it to her. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He took a seat and motioned her to sit down. Savanhi obliged the request. “What you need for the morning?”
“My car so I can go home?” she countered.
Noble chuckled. “You act like you got a problem running off.”
“You keep bringing that up, and I’m going to need you to let it go,” she sassed again, taking a gulp of her water and taking a seat.
“Give me something else to bother you about, and I will,” he replied, watching her take another gulp. “They wore you out like that?”
“Club on the weekends, dance studio all week. Three classes today. I’m tired and I can’t get enough water,” she stated. “And I tried to fall asleep, but it’s not happening.”
Noble stood and motioned her to follow. She did because there was a sense of trust and neither knew where it came from or why. In the living room, he grabbed the remote.
“You said the Mahogony Channel?”
“I did,” she hummed, taking a seat.
Noble grabbed the blanket and draped it over her. “How long have you been dancing at Tempt?”
“A few years. Teaching at the studio is great and fulfilling, but I was trying to support myself, so I went to Tempt.”
Noble settled next to her. “You like it?”
She buzzed with a shoulder shrug. “Keeps the bills paid. Keeps me standing on my own two if that’s what you’re asking.”
“I wasn’t,” he said, looking over at her. “Do you like it? Dancing for niggas?”
“No, but I’m not where I want to be and things right now are…complicated.”
“Life is going to be complicated forever. That’s just the way it goes. If you don’t want to be there, you can change that.”
“Is that why you’re here?” Savanhi took him in as he sank deeper into the cushions. “Majestic Heights to here?”
“Stalkin’ me?” He raised a thick brow.
“Nope, crash course on my kidnapper,” she joked.
“Something like that.”
“Might as well tell me since you want to be in my business so bad.”
Noble drew in a sharp breath. “My fiancée was fuckin’ my best friend. Got pregnant by him, aborted it. Found all of that out two days before our wedding.”
Now Savanhi’s brows rose. “Oh, that’s messy. But I have no room to talk. I moved my best friend in, and she was sleeping with my ex for God knows how long.”
“How are you handling that?” Noble posed with a wince.
“Rules. That you seem to want to break.”
“Ahh, that’s why you were on the beach crying that night. Not on no stalker type shit.”
Savanhi rolled her eyes. “Shit, you say.”
“One hundred. And unfortunately for me, I’m a sucker for fuckin’ tears. Areli can cry and I’m putty.”
“Areli can twirl and I’m putty,” Savanhi shared with a laugh.
