She huffed and tried to pull her hand away from mine, but I didn’t budge.
“Zaira…”
She scowled. “What?”
I sighed when I deduced her mood. “You’re upset. Why?”
She swallowed and looked away from me. “Why did you do that?”
“Do what?”
“You know what, Gall.”
I brought her hand to my lips and pressed a few kisses on the inside of her wrist. “I wanted to help.”
She finally freed herself from my hold, and sat up straight before pulling her hair up in a messy knot. “You didn’t have to.” She looked at me again. “Your fans are going to think I’m using you to get book sales and fame. This is wrong, Gallan.” She shook her head. “Do I want to reach heights of success and have my name up there with the bigger ones?Yes. But I don’t want to do that by taking a shortcut. That’s not the right thing to do.”
I flinched a little, because her words kinda hurt me. “Is that what you think I am, then – a shortcut?” I asked. “Does my support not come into play in this? Does my wish of wanting to see your talent get noticed and praised not mean anything?”
Her eyes widened a little, and she sucked in a breath as she reached for me. “Gall, no…” She shook her head again and knelt in front of me. “Baby, that’s not what I meant. It’s just that…” she swallowed. “It’s just that your fans already think that I’ve trapped you in a relationship you don’t want to be in, and with what you just put up on IG, it’ll only make them think that I’m with you for all the wrong reasons. Their opinion of me will only solidify with this promo contest that you just announced.”
I tugged her to me as I lied back down on the bed. I let the blanket fall on the floor and pulled her body close to mine. “Why does it matter what the others think about you?”
She rose on an elbow and looked down at me. “I’m worried aboutyou, Gallan, notme.” She ran her fingers over my jaw. “You’ve worked hard foryearsto get to where you are today. Your fans adore you for your talent and kindness; for your drive and uniqueness. They’re inspired by you – just like I am. I don’t want them to turn on you or lose their belief in you because of me.”
I kissed her fingertips when she slowly dragged them over my mouth. “If they support me, then they know the kinda guy I am. If they support me, then they know what I believe in, and what I love. If they truly are my fans, then they should know that what I did just now came from my heart, and not from a place of force or reluctance. If my fans really know me, then they shouldn’t have a doubt about my intentions pertaining the contest; pertainingyou. At least by doing this, I’ll now get an idea of the number of real and fake fans I have. This benefits the both of us; it’s a win-win situation.”
She clicked her tongue. “If I get tagged in comments and posts where people ask me to choke on my own shit and die, I’m blamingyoufor it.”
I shook my head a little. “Stop. No negative expectations are allowed here.” When she pressed one of her nails against my right cheekbone, I chuckled and grabbed her hand. “Let’s talk about something else.”
She raised a brow. “Don’t you wanna get some sleep? It’s 5a.m.”
“Doyou?” I asked with a smirk.
She rolled her eyes. “I always think about burping on your face whenever you’re right about something, but then I don’t do it.”
I laughed and squeezed her hand – the one I was holding. “What have I done to deserve you?”
She opened her mouth to answer, but I cut her off. “Don’t answer that.”
She scrunched up her nose a little. “But you asked.”
“Shh.” I rose a little and gave her a quick kiss. “I can’t handle your sass right now.” I placed my head on the pillow again. “Be your non-sassy self.”
Her lips twitched. “Have you ever thought about farting in the middle of having sex? Or farting while you’re getting head? Or yourpartnerfarting in your face when you’re between her legs?”
Good Lord Almighty…
“Do you have an off button?”
She giggled – something she hardly did. “I’m just trying totalkaboutsomethingelse. You wanted that, didn’t you?”
“I meant that as an actual conversation, woman,” I told her. “Anactualconversation.”
She pursed her lips. “Fart is serious business. Like,veryserious.”
I sighed and began running the pad of my thumb over the back of her fingers. “Let’s just sleep.”
