Chapter 9 #2
It was sure to cave in if she planned on standing on that shit. “Minx… you can’t get rid of a nigga—”
“The way you can discard me so easily? I think I can try,” she replied, nodding.
“Minx—”
“I’m done, Rose. I’m done being the one making all the advances. I’m done pouring my heart out to you only to have you reject me. I am done.” She emphasized her last words slowly. “I can’t do this anymore.” Minx shrugged as tears stung her eyes.
Speechless, feet rooted to the floor, when Minx turned to go there was nothing he could do.
His head screamed at him to run after her, but he honestly didn’t know what he would say or do.
He wanted her, that was true, but he wanted her protected more than anything.
If anything happened to her because of him, there would be hell to pay.
Being the daughter of Max was one thing, but Rose was a menace out here.
He broke laws regularly, and the shit was routine to him.
There was no way he could have her waiting around if he got jammed up.
Granted, he did his best to stay off the radar, and with Perez in their pocket it wasn’t hard, but anything could happen at any time.
Minx got into her car and sped off the lot as sprinkles of rain hit the ground.
She needed a drink… or several. Plus, she felt like she and Gannon also needed to talk after everything.
She wasn’t sure where they stood or where they were going.
Right now, she couldn’t tell up from down.
Rose had her head completely messed up with his selfishness.
She knew that he felt something for her.
He couldn’t deny that when he kissed her or touched her, but he was willing to let her go for his own stupid, paranoid ass reasons.
She loved him enough to take the risk. There was a difference.
Since he wasn’t there, she didn’t want to be in any type of mediocre situation.
Not having the real thing left her feeling stagnant, and she wasn’t sure what to do with it.
Maybe she would take a few days to herself and try to forget about everybody and focus on her.
She still had dreams and things she wanted to accomplish.
A few days later…
Monday morning rolled around quickly. With an uneventful weekend, Minx found herself fully awake pouring coffee in the kitchen.
The rest of the house was seemingly still, but she could hear Mille moving around upstairs to get ready.
He’d already eaten the breakfast she made him.
Now she was blowing into her mug, waiting for him to appear.
She checked the time on her Apple Watch.
“Mille! Five minutes!” Minx shouted as the doorbell rang.
Her mother was still sleeping, and Max left at the crack of dawn to take Brenyn home.
She said that she was finally ready, but she would keep in touch with Minx.
She appreciated her and all the hospitality that was shown.
Minx carried her mug through the house and to the front door.
Rose had been MIA. She knew that he was still in town because Max mentioned it in passing.
He was avoiding her, but the same could be true for her.
He texted a few times, trying to check her temp, and much like Gannon, she was leaving them both on read.
When she flung the door open, she found Gannon on the other side, fine as hell.
He damn sure didn’t look like he missed her or was in distress without her.
Her soft features instantly went into a scowl.
Today he grew some nerve since she’d been dodging him and decided a face-to-face talk was needed.
“Damn,” Gannon groaned, dick instantly bricking at the sight of her.
She was casual in a tight little yellow dress that clung to her and stopped above her knees.
A distressed jean jacket was pulled over it, giving him ’90s vibes.
She wore a natural tint with pink eye shadow and her nude Fenty gloss while her hair draped past her shoulders in deep waves.
It was different. She was usually dressed down in yoga pants and Nike joggers when she was on her lounge shit. This was simple yet supple.
“You looking good as fuck.” Gannon licked his lips.
“I’m busy,” she muttered, sipping her coffee.
“Shit, let me fill your time.” Gannon pushed his way into the house.
Minx rolled her eyes, shuffling to get away from him, but Gannon draped one arm around her slim waist. She stiffened in his arms, and when he tried kissing her, she gave him her cheek smoothly.
“Damn, Minx. You really mad at a nigga? What I got to do to get on your good side, ma?” He tested her.
Minx’s piercing stare struck him.
“Maybe there ain’t shit you can do,” she replied curtly, surprising him.
Gannon’s head jerked, taken back by her tone. A deep crease formed in his forehead, and he took a step back. Her body language and everything was off.
“What’s this about?” he questioned.
“You tell me.” Minx shrugged. “Why are you here?”
“I’m here because we need to talk. I know we left shit kind of open—”
“Gannon, it’s been three days, and today is the first day you had the thought to actually make your presence known. I think we both know where we stand,” Minx assured him, her face crinkling in confusion.
“Minx—”
“No. Whatever lie or excuse you got, save that shit for the next bitch. I am done with men who can’t keep their word.”
“So is this about me or is this about that nigga Rose?” Gannon asked, mouth curling into a tight twist.
“For the first time… it’s about me,” Minx clarified.
“Not you or anybody else for that matter. Since you seem to be okay going days without seeing me, that says a lot. I have other things I can be focusing on. So please leave. We are done, in case you didn’t pick up on that. ” She squinted at him, disgusted.
“That’s how you want to do this?” Gannon flashed on her.
Like a switch was flipped, his eyes darkened, and he towered over her.
She had no idea how close he was to ruining her entire life.
After all the time he spent putting off the inevitable, shit was coming to a head that he couldn’t stop if he wanted to.
Minx didn’t belong in the middle of any of this, but she was grown, and sometimes guilt by association was enough to take a nigga off the earth.
You never knew who was pillow talking and telling secrets.
It was best to wipe the entire bloodline out if you could.
“That’s how it is. Goodbye, Gannon. There are no hard feelings,” Minx assured him.
“A’ight, cool. Glad I didn’t invest too much in this.” He flicked his nose, a sign that he was pissed off, as he took off out the front door. Minx slammed it shut behind him.
“Mille! Let’s go!” she shouted, tipping her cup to her lips.
Gannon had his nerve. The nigga wasn’t that torn up over her.
She was starting to hate the thought of even trying to commit or build anything with these bogus ass niggas out here.
Her little brother jogged down the steps, handsome as ever.
If she could, she would help turn him into the kind of man a girl could trust with her heart.
“Dang, Minx, it takes a little time to put all this fly together.” Mille patted himself down like he had all the juice.
“Boy, let’s go.” She ushered him toward the door and locked up behind them.
After pulling up to the public school that her brother attended, Minx shifted her Jeep into park and turned toward her brother.
There were a few staff members outside greeting the kids and patrolling with security as the morning crowd hovered or made their way inside the building.
Minx checked her rearview and noticed an unmarked pull in behind her in the drop-off lane.
It was Perez dropping off his daughter. She didn’t even realize that she attended the same school as her brother, but Mille perked up in his seat as well.
Minx watched her hop out. She was adorable.
Her skin was a deep-chocolate, flawless, and she had dimples.
Her brown eyes were her asset, and attached to them were the fullest set of natural lashes.
She still wore her hair like a girl her age, with two goddess braids draping her back as she adjusted her backpack on her back.
“A’ight, kid. You catching the bus home, right?” Minx asked, watching him gather his backpack.
“Yup. Catch you later. Thanks for the ride, Minx.” He nodded as he got out of the car.
Watching him in awe as he coolly walked up on the curb and greeted some of his homies, Minx smiled. She peeped all the little girls watching too and felt some kind of way about her brother growing up on her.
Mille slapped hands with some of his friends, but he peeped Enika Perez standing off to the side like she always did, solo.
He wondered what she was thinking because she was so quiet and stared off and listening to music on her phone most days.
The rest of the girls were always in his face, like now, trying to talk to him about some stuff he didn’t really care about.
Mille was popular because of his connection to his family.
Of course there were always kids that didn’t like you for whatever reason.
When you were young, none of that shit mattered.
Kids were just jealous and spiteful, especially nowadays with the internet and social media.
“What up, Mille? You ready for the game this week?” his homie, Felix, asked as they huddled near the front doors.
This was typically their spot until the warning bell rang. Since Mille had already eaten breakfast, he didn’t trip off that school-supplied shit. He kept him a bottle of Gatorade though, so he stopped at the vending machine as they made their way inside.
“And that fine sister of yours can’t keep coming up here, or I’m trying to get at her.” Felix tried it with him.
Mille stopped walking and locked eyes with Felix. Gripping the strap to his backpack, draped over one shoulder, Mille shook his head.