Chapter 6 #2
“Well, yeah, I need some excitement. I live vicariously through my friend and my sister. They have exciting lives and then there’s me.
A married woman with no romance who throws herself into work just to avoid the obvious.
I’m even thinking about going back to school again.
Maybe I’ll find my spark through a couple of classes. ”
“No, you know what you need? You need to start living for yourself.”
Irish turned to him, her ginger brows fixed in a rumple. “What do you mean?”
“What are you doing for yourself? Do you do anything that means a lot to you?”
She pondered for a brief moment before responding, “Yeah, I have my brand—”
“I’m not talking about that,” he interrupted her. “I’m talking about you doing something that’s just for you. Your brand is your passion, but does it feed your soul?”
Irish mulled over his question. She loved everything about fashion and was ecstatic to own her own clothing brand, but it didn’t keep her warm at night. It didn’t bathe her in the kind of love that she’d been chasing all of her life.
“No, it doesn't,” she admitted.
“I figured that.” Smoke sauntered from his parted lips. “You gotta start living for you. I haven’t spent much time around you, but I can tell you got a lot of burdens you carry. Give that shit up and start being selfish.”
“You say that like it’s easy, Noble.”
“It is. Do you have children?”
“No.”
“Then, you can be as selfish as you want. Start living, Irish. Take some solo trips. Figure out what you like and what you want. Say no sometimes. Just start living for you.”
Irish’s current thoughts transcended the ones that normally sat in her mind.
This time, she thought about what life would’ve been like if she hadn’t made certain decisions.
She could’ve been living the life her little sister was.
In college, having a ball without any burdens weighing her down.
In a way, she wished she could go back but unfortunately, life didn’t have a remote control.
She couldn’t rewind the time and edit out the part of her life that changed the trajectory of her existence.
“You have all the answers, huh?” she joked to lightened the conversation.
“Not all. I just know when a person needs to start living for themselves. That’s all.” He shrugged.
“Was that you once upon a time?”
Noble nodded, shocking Irish since she didn’t expect him to be so open with her.
“Yep, and then I said fuck everybody and started doing life my way. I’ve been content ever since.”
“Hopefully, I’ll get to that point.”
In order for Irish to arrive at the fuck everybody stage in life, she knew she would disappoint a few people, and she didn’t think she was prepared for the backlash.
Noble smashed his blunt on the wooden chair before lifting his arm. “Come here.”
His order was one that didn’t need to be repeated. Irish scooted closer, leaning into Noble’s body as he wrapped his arm around hers.
My God…
Irish hadn’t felt a touch this soothing in so long. It was one that smelled like cedarwood and vetiver. Closing her eyes, she imagined this being the norm. One where she could wrap herself in endless blankets of Noble.
There has to be interest in me on his end…
The thought of Noble sharing attraction to her was one that made her insides melt. Still, they wouldn’t be able to explore freely because of their mutual association with Jovanis.
“I can help you start living for yourself,” he rasped in her ear.
Irish’s eyes opened, and she peered at him. “How so?”
Licking his lips, Noble’s gaze deepened, causing her to get lost in the intensity of his eyes. There was charm there. One that Irish was falling for.
“Just stick with me, and I’ll show you how to not give a fuck about nobody except you.”
Sticking with him sounded like a thrill that she would enjoy too much before it was snatched from her. Almost like a ride at an amusement park that would eventually come to an end.
“I don’t wanna piss off the people in my life by abandoning them.”
Noble gently rubbed her arm, soothing her overactive nerves. “You won’t be abandoning them. You’ll be prioritizing yourself.”
Her stare drifted toward the ocean as his words cemented inside her mind.
Prioritizing was such a foreign concept to her.
She never made herself a priority because everyone’s needs had to come before her own.
Irish’s regard returned back to Noble, who studied her with his reddened lenses.
How did this become so intense so suddenly?
She started out peeping him from afar, and now she was inches away from his face with his arm snuggling her.
Logic had exited her mind, and her emotions had made an appearance.
The ocean waves caressed her ears, heightening the serene mood she’d been placed in.
It was the perfect moment to explore something different.
Inclining forward, Irish pressed her lips against Noble’s.
The hairs from his mustache tickled her top lip as she deepened the kiss.
It felt as though an explosion had blasted in her belly.
The butterflies had turned into fireworks, inciting the warmth between her thighs to radiate heat.
Noble grabbed the back of Irish’s head, pulling her into him.
This was the best feeling she’d experienced in months.
Being wrapped in the presence of Noble was beyond inebriating.
She wanted to gulp him down and store him in her body forever.
With her chest pressed against his, Irish was ready for takeoff.
Her needs had been bottled up, ready for someone to twist the lid off.
Noble’s hand roamed down her back, stopping right before her ass.
Just when she thought he would grip her cheeks, the buzzing of a phone disrupted their impassioned chemistry.
Abruptly, Irish pulled back, allowing Noble to dig in his pocket and grab his phone. A sullen feeling washed over her as he answered the call. She was so close to betraying Jovanis once again. A part of her felt bad for it but there was a facet of Irish who thought she was doing no wrong.
“Aye, I gotta go,” he said with so much urgency, her pulse quickened.
“What happened?”
Noble stood then pulled her up. “Rio got into an accident.”
“Oh, my God.” She gasped right before covering her mouth with her hands.
That was the last thing she expected him to reveal. Irish’s thoughts immediately went to Cali and her mental state. This was the night she was set to end her marriage and now she had to deal with her husband being injured.
“I’ll drop you off at your car before I go to the hospital,” Noble told her.
“No, I need to get to Cali, so I’ll go to the hospital with you.”
Noble didn’t respond as they walked to his car. Getting inside, he quickly pulled away while Irish’s thoughts ran rampant. Going inside her purse, she noticed she had two missed calls from Jovanis. He was likely trying to alert her of the news.
“Do you know what kind of accident it was?”
“A car accident.”
“My God,” she whispered before saying a quick prayer.
With Noble’s lead foot, they were able to arrive within fifteen minutes. When he parked in front of the emergency room, Noble turned to her. “You go in first. I don’t wanna cause no smoke if people see us walk in together.”
Agreeing, she nodded and got out the car. Irish took a deep breath, hoping that Rio was okay before walking inside the hospital.
Cali felt like she was on a stage with a spotlight on her.
Everyone peered at her, anticipating what she would say next, but she was lost. Only because her husband laid lifeless in a hospital bed with a machine breathing for him.
Cali was informed by the police that Rio’s car flipped a total of four times before it landed in a ditch.
He was so badly injured that he didn’t resemble the handsome man she’d married.
He’d suffered many fractures including one in his neck.
Rio, why did you do this to me?
The tears had been running like a leaky faucet.
She cried not only for his condition but the plans she had set for the night.
Cali was going to ruin him, but life had other plans for her.
She wondered what would’ve been worse for Rio.
Her request for a divorce or this? It would’ve been this scenario.
Seeing him unconscious with so many tubes coming from his body had to be agonizing for Rio because it was for Cali.
“Did you call Rio’s family?” her mother, Cecilia, asked.
Cali blinked out of her daze, focusing on her. “Huh?”
“Did you call Rio’s mother?”
Cali shook her head. She had been so engrossed in Rio’s condition that she hadn’t reached out yet. She planned to, but she didn’t know what to tell them. They would wonder if he was okay, and Cali hadn’t had any answers up until ten minutes ago.
“It’s okay, I can do it,” Bria offered.
Thank God for her family because Cali wasn’t certain how she would be holding up.
Enya, Bria, and her parents had arrived right away.
Jovanis, Slime, Cee, and some of the members of TLM had made their way to be by Rio’s side.
Every part of her being wanted to scream out in agony but she had to possess some restraint.
She was Rio’s wife and was expected to hold it all together.
Her father, Douglas, pulled her in for a much-needed hug. “Everything is going to work out, baby girl,” he assured.
Normally, Cali would believe her father but seeing Rio’s condition made her faith waver.
Abruptly, she pulled back from his embrace and went to the hallway, hoping she could inhale a complete breath. Ever since she arrived at the hospital, she felt as if someone had a tight grip on both of her lungs.
“Cali!”