Chapter 46
The movers Remy hired were efficient and quick.
A four-man crew—two men and two women. They arrived locked and loaded. The women began packing our clothing, dishes, and fragile items carefully, while the men disassembled and moved our furniture.
Me and Ronnie didn't have to lift a finger, just instruct them on how we wanted things packed and where we wanted them to go.
"You got you a real one, sis," Ronnie remarked. "Remy is quickly becoming one of my favorite niggas and he ain't even mine," she smiled as we sat on our balcony watching.
I laughed lightly. "Thank you. He's a sweetheart," I sighed happily. "Like really sweet. Not a bad bone in his body."
"I can see that." She nodded. "His friend on the other hand—" she gave me a sly smile. "That nigga full of bad bones, and I'm enjoying each one."
"I bet." I smirked. "You drained him dry yet?"
She sighed wistfully. "Not yet. But I'm making good progress."
We laughed, high fiving each other.
"I wanna laugh." Remy's head poked out with a smile.
"Baby!" I jumped up happily and went into his arms. He wrapped me in his embrace kissing me all over my face and making me giggle.
"Y'all cute or whatever," Remy teased.
With his arms still around me, he smiled over at Ronnie. "How you doing, Ronnie?"
"Good," she dragged out. "Thanks again for doing this for us."
"It's no problem. I take care of mine," he said easily.
"Oops—you’re claiming me now too?" Ronnie pressed her hand to her chest smiling.
We laughed.
"I know y'all a package deal," he answered with a nod.
"As long as you know it.," Ronnie grinned.
Remy kissed my forehead. "I got you ladies some lunch. It's on the counter."
"Say less." Ronnie popped up. She gave his arm a warm squeeze, sliding past us to go inside.
Remy settled his hands on my hips. "How you feeling?"
"Okay." I shrugged slightly. "Me and Ronnie found a couple of townhomes we wanna check out."
"That’s good, baby. Anything I can do to help?" he offered.
"No. You've done enough." I reached up and kissed him.
His hands tightened slightly on my hips. "Impossible," he murmured against my lips. "I could always do more."
I smiled softly and rested my forehead against his. "How's your face feeling, handsome?"
"Better," he replied softly. "How about those fists, Ali?"
I laughed. "Still sore. But I can still beat a bitch up again if I needed too."
He moved his hands from my hips to pick my hands up and tenderly kiss my knuckles. "I don’t want you fighting anymore. You way too pretty to get your hands dirty."
Smiling, I nodded. "I'll try not to."
In this moment, everything felt peaceful. Like maybe we had survived the worst of it.
"You know…" Remy spoke after a moment. "Once y'all find a place and get settled, me and Melo still wanna do dinner nights."
My chest tightened unexpectedly. "Yeah?" I asked softly.
"Of course." He nodded. "That's not changing. We want our GG around as much as possible."
Emotion flickered across my face before I could hide it and his expression softened.
"What?" he asked gently.
"Nothing." I shook my head quickly. "I'll be around. I miss my baby anyway. I can come spend the weekend with y'all."
"Promise?"
"I promise," I whispered.
Behind us Ronnie suddenly yelled: "REMYYY! These garlic parmesan wings got me ready to fight Gianna for you!"
His chest vibrated with laughter against mine. I shook my head chuckling.
"Come on. Let me make sure I feed my baby before I leave," he said.
"Okay." I made a motion to walk past him when he quickly pulled me back towards his chest kissing me long and slow. Deep enough to make me lose my breath.
"Damn—what was that for?" I exhaled against his lips.
"I love you, Gianna Taylor. I just want you to know that."
"I love you too, Remel Robinson."
Smiling, he gave me a final kiss before we headed in.
Hours later, everything was moved to storage, and the keys were returned to our landlord. Ronnie was at Siren House, and I was alone in our hotel suite scrolling on my phone absentmindedly as my mind moved from one thought to the other.
My brooding was interrupted by a phone call. Sitting up in surprise, my heart leaped to my throat when I saw Ms. Betty's name. Breathing down my anxiety, I answered tentatively. "Hello?"
"Gianna—hi. It's Remy's mom."
"I know. Hi, Ms. Betty."
"Hi. Did I reach you at a bad time?"
"No, not at all. How can I help you?"
She paused for a second. "Would you be free to meet for breakfast tomorrow? There's this little café I love that serves the best chicken and waffles. Would you join me?"
"Sure. I would love that." I rubbed the tightness in my chest. "Just give me the time and I'll be there."
"How does ten a.m. sound?"
"That's perfect," I agreed.
"Wonderful. I'll text you the address and see you in the morning."
"Yes ma'am. Looking forward to it." I managed a smile.
"Be safe, Gianna." She paused. "And…would you mind keeping this between you and I?"
I paused but agreed. "Sure, Ms. Betty."
'Thank you. See you tomorrow," she said before we ended the call.
I slowly let the phone drop on the bed. I was sure she wanted to talk about Remy and me. I was just praying that this time it didn’t wind up being a total fiasco again.