Page 19 of Maximus

“You’re wrong.”

She rolled her eyes at me and put her hands on her hips. Then she turned to me with this evil grin that would give the Grinch™ a run for his money.

“You say he’s not yours, huh? Well, what would happen if I fucked with him.”

I stopped dead in my tracks and looked her in the eyes with the meanest look I could muster.

“I know you think because I don’t cuss that I’m a pushover. Don’t let the bubble gum exterior fool you, Chili. Any woman who comes within five feet of Maximus with the intention of doing anything physical with him will have to make an appointment with her OB/Gyn.”

“What? Does he have a disease or something?”

“No! She’ll be needing to have a procedure called extracting my foot from her behind. It’s a common procedure when a hoe messes with a man that doesn’t belong to her. Maximus may not be mine, but he is off limits to any other woman. Got me!”

“Loud and clear, Miss Thang. I’ll be sure to spread the news.”

“Yeah, you do that.”

With that declaration, I had unofficially claimed Maximus as my property. All the little hussies around the clubhouse had been put on warning. Maximus and Gia go together real bad. Try me at your own peril. In fact, I needed to go check on him because our deal was, he would bake when he had a bad dream.

“Chili, can you watch the bar for a few? I just remembered I need to check on something.”

“Something or someone?”

“Same difference. I should be back before the guys go to church.”

I snagged my gift and took off in the direction that Maximus just went. I tried my best not to run, but I was anxious to speak with him. I needed to make sure he was alright. He was headed to his room, like I thought. Instead of going inside, he stood at the entrance waiting for me.

“Hi,” he said with a smile in his eyes. He was so handsome it almost hurt to look at him.

“Hi,” I returned his greeting.

We stood there looking at each other for a minute before he gestured to the plate of goodies in my hand. When my brain finally started working again, I let my eyes travel down his body. They stopped on his white tee that was covered in blood. Then I noticed the bandage on his forehead.What in the world?

“What happened?” I said pointing at his head.

“That’s what I needed to talk to you about. Come on in and let me tell you.”

I entered his room, still grinning like a fool. What was my problem? I couldn’t put my gums back in my mouth. It just made me so happy to be in his presence, even with the blood on his shirt. I had never felt anything like this. The new feeling was weird, but I liked it.

“I hope you like dark chocolate. I wasn’t sure what to make, but I saw this recipe and thought of you.”

Smiling up at him like a lovesick teenager, I nodded my head.

“I love dark chocolate. I prefer it over milk chocolate. These are perfect. They’re so pretty; I hesitate to eat them. Thank you for thinking of me.”

“Of course. You were the one who gave me the idea. I thought you might want to enjoy the results. If you have a little time, I could use your listening ear.”

“So, what caused you to bake? Did you have another bad dream?”

“Yea, I did. It wasn’t as bad as they normally are, but it still fucked with my head. I decided to get up and bake like you suggested. The only problem was I needed ingredients. Since there’s a 24-hour store just up the block, I made a list and hiked the few blocks to the store. As I was on my way back, a man attacked me with a baseball bat.”

“Oh, my goodness! Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Sunflower. It was a superficial wound. It just bled a lot because of the location.”

“How did you get away?”

“Well, since you have my weapon, I was forced to use my blades. Let’s just say, I wasn’t the one who needed medical assistance.”

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