8. Gia Rose #2
“’Cause I already knew your indecisive ass was over here struggling.”
I hated how accurate that was.
Pryce walked over and started flipping through my clothes. A few seconds later, he pulled out an outfit and held it up.
“Wear this.”
I looked at the outfit, then at him, before shaking my head.
“No.”
“The fuck you mean, no?”
I pointed at it. I told him, “It’s cute.”
“It is cute,” he agreed.
Then I went, “It’s too cute…”
His face immediately scrunched up in confusion. “What the hell does that even mean?”
I couldn’t explain it.
Women understood…
Men never did…
Pryce stared at me for another second before shaking his head.
“Ya’ll really be making shit difficult.”
That made me laugh.
Before I realized what he was doing, he stepped forward, wrapped his arms around my waist, and pulled me against him.
The laughter slowly faded, replaced by a quiet that felt comfortable instead of awkward.
His eyes found mine, but neither one of us spoke.
He simply leaned down and pressed a kiss against my forehead.
It was soft.
Familiar.
The kind of affection that only came from years of loving somebody.
Standing here in his arms, I realized something that should’ve been obvious a long time ago. No matter how much chaos had found its way into our lives, Pryce had never stopped showing up.
That stayed with me long after he walked out of the room. It stayed with me while I finally settled on an outfit, finished my makeup, and climbed into his truck.
Hell, it stayed with me the entire drive across town.
Lately, everybody had been so focused on everything Maddox had lost that nobody seemed to notice what Pryce had been carrying.
Including me.
That thought followed me through lunch and every random conversation that somehow had me laughing harder than I had in weeks.
At one point, Pryce started telling me a story about one of his coworkers, and I laughed so hard I damn near snorted my drink.
“The fuck is wrong with you?”
His expression looked absolutely horrified.
Mine was pure embarrassment.
Neither one of us could stop laughing.
For the first time in a long time, everything felt normal. Life wasn’t perfect, and our problems hadn’t magically disappeared, but for a little while, they weren’t the center of every conversation.
I missed that feeling more than I realized.
By the time we left the restaurant, the sun had started setting. The city always felt different at night. Everything seemed a little slower, a little quieter, and the traffic had finally eased up. Neither one of us seemed to be in any hurry to get home.
Pryce reached across the center console and laced his fingers through mine. It was such a simple gesture, but it felt familiar. Comfortable. He’d held my hand more times than I could count, and somehow it still made me smile.
My eyes drifted down to our intertwined fingers before I looked over at him.
“What?” That grin of his appeared almost instantly. “You staring.”
I rolled my eyes.
“Boy, shut up.”
His grin only got wider.
A few minutes later, he pulled into a parking lot overlooking the water. The area wasn’t crowded, just a handful of people scattered around enjoying the evening.
I looked over at him and asked, “What are we doing?”
Pryce shifted the truck into park and answered with, “Getting out.”
“But, why?”
He shrugged.
“’Cause I said so.”
I sucked my teeth, but he ignored me completely.
A few minutes later, we were walking side by side near the water while a cool breeze rolled across the shoreline. Neither one of us felt the need to fill the silence. Some people got uncomfortable when things got quiet.
Pryce never had, though.
Eventually, he slipped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me against his side. The movement was so familiar that I barely thought twice about it.
Then he caught me completely off guard.
“You know I love you, right?”
I looked up at him, narrowing my eyes.
“What you do?”
Pryce laughed, already knowing where my mind had gone.
“Why I gotta do something?”
“‘Cause don’t nobody randomly ask that.”
His laughter only grew louder.
“I ain’t do shit.”
“Uh-huh.” I folded my arms across my chest, refusing to believe him.
“I’m serious.”
The smile slowly faded from his face, and that’s when I realized he wasn’t joking anymore.
“I love you, Gia.”
His words settled over me in a way I hadn’t expected. There wasn’t any teasing behind them. No smart remarks. No playful grin… just pure honesty.
My chest tightened.
I already knew he loved me.
He showed me every time he stayed, every time he chose us, and every time he loved Nylah like she was his own.
“I love you too.”
The answer came without hesitation.
He gave me a small smile before he looked back out across the water.
“Good.”
I narrowed my eyes.
“The fuck that supposed to mean?”
Pryce laughed.
“There you go.”
“No, seriously.” I pointed a finger at him. “What that mean?”
He shook his head, still smiling.
“Nothing, baby.”
“Liar.”
“Probably.”
I rolled my eyes.
The bastard wasn’t giving me another answer, and we both knew it.
Still smiling, he pulled me closer and pressed a kiss against the top of my head.
The weight I’d been carrying didn’t feel quite as heavy. It hadn’t disappeared, and I knew it wouldn’t anytime soon, but it had eased enough for me to finally breathe.
Standing beside the man who’d spent years loving every version of me, I realized something I should’ve acknowledged a long time ago. Sometimes the people who stay deserve just as much attention as the people who leave.
That thought stayed with me during the drive home. It lingered while Pryce stopped to get gas, while he walked around to open my door, and even after we stepped back into the house.
The silence immediately greeted us.
There was no television playing in the background, no music drifting through the rooms, and no Nylah running through the hallway.
It was just us…
For the first time all day, I realized how rare that had become. Life had a way of keeping us moving. Between work, school, bills, and everything else that demanded our attention, most nights ended the same way—we’d shower, crawl into bed, and do it all over again the next morning.
Tonight felt different.
Everything seemed to move at a slower pace.
The front door clicked shut behind us, but neither one of us rushed any farther into the house. Pryce tossed his keys onto the end table before looking over at me.
“You want something to drink?”
I shook my head, no.