Page 50 of Breaking the Rules
“I haven’t even started doing a fourth of what I could be doing for real out of respect for your comfort. I know people. If the dance studio is what you want, I’ll help you get it,” Noble stated.
“No, Deuce. I got to be able to get something on my own. Something.” Savanhi’s sadness was pricking her eyes. She pulled her hand from his to swipe the lone tear off her cheek. “Everything is just being snatched from me left and right. Can you just take me to my apartment? I need to cry by myself.”
“You can cry with me and I’m taking you to get pasta. Areli wants to tell you about her day.”
“Deuce.”
He reached back over and grabbed her hand, kissing the back of it. “If there isn’t anything else I can do for you, I got you. You’re safe here. You don’t have to be tough here. You don’t have to shake your ass for shit either. You want the studio, we’ll figure out how to get it. And quite frankly, that space you’re in now is too small for you, and the owner is a hater. I clocked the tea.”
Savanhi sniffled and laughed. “Areli is really doing a number on you.”
“She is. Making me soft. And I had no clue I needed to be soft. I get it now.”
“You do?” Savanhi mused.
“Mmhmm. You need soft, and I need you.” His tone was sure – rooted in confidence.
“You just be talking shit,” Savanhi quipped. “A whole lot of shit.”
“And all of it is the truth, Sassy. All of it. Now relax yourself.”
At the restaurant, the trio sat at a white linen-covered table. Each of them took turns coloring with Areli before the food arrived.
“And then, Sincere threw me into the five feet, and I popped right back up. Next time, I’m going to swim without the floaties. Do you know how to swim, Sassy?”
“It’s actually one of my favorite things to do,” Savanhi answered. “Do you know how to swim?”
“Nope, but it’s easy. You gonna teach me?” Areli asked.
“I’d love to,” Savanhi answered.
“Who taught you?” Areli asked, forking her pasta into her mouth.
“My brother. He taught me everything. How to swim, jump rope, make pancakes,” Savanhi rumbled off the child-appropriate things Zayden had taught her.
“Not so much, babygirl,” Noble spoke, only for Savanhi to do the same and make a silly face at Areli who returned a nose-crinkled one of her own. “You two. Why don’t you eat before you dance?”
“One night,” Savanhi started, after swallowing the food in her mouth. “I danced on a full stomach, and someone swore I was pregnant. I never did it again. It turned into a big thing. So it’s easier for me to just dance through the hunger and eat like this afterward.”
“Whoever said that was on some bullshit,” Noble stated.
“He was drunk and wanted his money back, but it was triggering, so I just played my position to make everyone happy.”
“Everyone but you,” Noble said with a pointed expression. “What’s going to make you happy? Besides being on your miss independent shit?”
“I need a hug,” Savanhi stated. “I need to be held. And I need to be told everything will be okay.”
“I got you.”
Back at the house, with Areli soundly tucked in her own space, Noble climbed under the cover with Savanhi. He pulled her into him, threw her leg over his, and kissed her face.
“You feel good in here,” he groaned tiredly.
“I feel good here. You feel good, Deuce. Like safe. Thank you for that.” She kissed his lips. “I don’t know who would let you get away, but I’m happy she did.”
“Don’t thank me for that. If you were still with that nigga from three weeks ago, I would’ve took you from him. Not even playing.”
Savanhi chuckled. “Considering you’ve taken me from my apartment and have no intention of letting me go, I can see that.”
