Page 40 of Breaking the Rules
“Welcome to my world. I’ve been like that since she came into the world. I love that little girl I just hate how this shit is going. Can’t catch a break,” Noble muttered with defeat.
“So, shitty ex and best friend, sister in prison, new team, single uncle-daddy, how are you still slightly sane?”
“Slightly?”
“You ain’t all there and I can see how.” She giggled. “Probably weren’t all there before this.”
Noble shrugged. “I honestly don’t have a fuckin’ clue. All I could think about since before I got traded was the fact that I have to be the man my father wanted me to be. I got to protect my sister, raise my niece, form a legacy.”
“That’s who taught you about cars?”
“He taught me about life. Everything. A man is a protector, honorable, noble, and his family comes before everything. He showed us that and taught us. Now I have to carry that mantle. What your brother and grandma teach you?”
“My grandmother wasn’t around long, but she taught me to never let anyone take my joy from me. My brother…” she paused to laugh. “He taught me to fight about my respect. Never let anyone, man or woman try me. That’s kept me this far.”
“So I got your brother to blame for that smart ass mouth?”
“Sure do,” Savanhi giggled. “You probably like it.”
“Don’t flirt with me. You ain’t got no pants on and you’re too close.”
She moved away, only for him to bring her back and place her on his lap.
“I do,” he added. “I’m not supposed to with all this shit going on.”
“And this is why I made rules. Because liking you and I barely know you doesn’t make sense to my brain. It’s easier to deny you.”
“Is it? Because the denial is what’s driving me crazy.”
“You don’t have enough capacity for me and everything else you got going on?”
“Want to see?”
Savanhi bit her lip before moving off of his lap and pulling her legs to her chest. “I don’t know.”
FOURTEEN
“Two scoops of blueberries,” Savanhi coached Areli, who sat on the counter.
She woke up this morning in the guest bedroom, fully intact and void of Noble. Her brain couldn’t recall when she fell asleep, but she knew she wasn’t in the room when she did. She assumed Noble either carried her or she sleepwalked. Either way, she rolled over to Areli, gleaning at her. Those big eyes and pink bonnet were probably the best things she’d ever woken up to. Part of her was pierced with pain with her own bitterness of being childless, and then the sobering thought that she would be tied to Brixx forever. Part of her still wanted to knock his head off his shoulders.
“One, two,” Areli counted.
“Good job,” Savanhi praised. “Now we mix it, and then we put it in a pan. And then…”
“We have blueberry pancakes!” Areli cheered. “Blueberries are my favorite.”
“You told me about the bananas when you got me up at six this morning.”
“Those are my favorites too. Apples and strawberries. Clock it.”
Savanhi tossed her head back in laughter. “I’m clocking. I’m clocking.”
Areli mixed and Savanhi rummaged through the pans to find the one she needed. “Can we make Unc-Unc some? He likes the nasty proteena powder.”
Savanhi stood, and her eyes trailed over to the large container of protein powder. She noticed his protein-packed ice cream and meal from Shaking Shack the night before. And then her mind flashed to digging her nails into the dips of his tattoo-cloaked muscles.
“Yes we can.”
