“The Doctor,” he greeted me with a laugh. “What can I do for you, son?”
“We need to talk,” I said. “Can you meet up with me to talk?”
“I’m headed back to town. I’ll touch down in a few hours. We can meet as soon as I get in.”
My phone lit up, and I pulled it from my face to see a text from Tulane with his flight information.
“What time will you touch down?”
“Around six.”
“I’ll meet you at the strip,” I said. Tulane’s plane would land around the same time.
“Oh, it’s that serious, huh?” Xayne chuckled. “Should I be worried?”
“Honestly?” I paused and thought about what I wanted to say on the phone, then blew out a deep breath. “You’re going to be pissed by what I have to say and who will be there.”
“Alright,” Xayne grunted. “I’ll see you in a few hours.” He hung up.
I dropped my phone into my lap, then dropped my head. I needed this shit to go smoothly, not only for my sake but, more importantly, for Yale’s. If I had to choose between her and going to war with the St. Thomas’s, then I would pick her. My love for her topped everything else.
**
Instead of going to the store like I planned, I drove to Yale’s office instead. I missed the fuck out of her, and that bullshit ass argument we had this morning didn’t sit right with my spirit. I parked my car in her assigned spot, got out, and made my way inside through the back entrance. Immediately, I started looking for Yale. There were customers everywhere, but I didn’t give a fuck about any of them. I wanted to see my girl, tell her I was sorry, and lick her pussy until she forgave me. I threw a quick nod to one of her employees, who pointed to the back, and I headed to her office.
I knocked twice out of respect, then turned the knob to open her door. Yale was at her desk; her focus was on a chain. I don’t know if she was fixing it or making it, but it had all her attention. I freely took her in, noticing that she wasn’t wearing the same clothes from this morning, and her hair was pulled into a high ponytail.
“What do you want, Amethyst?” she said without taking her attention off the chain.
“I came to talk,” I said, closing the door and locking it.
“Okay.” She nodded. This was the stubborn side of Yale that many people didn’t see. I personally loved to see her feisty and no-nonsense side.
“You ain’t gonna look at me?” I asked as I approached her. She shook her head, and I chuckled lowly. “Why not, Sunshine?”
“Because you pissed me off earlier, and I’m mad, but I know if I look up at you, then I’ll forgive you, and right now I’m not going to be a weak bitch,” she replied.
“You consider forgiving your nigga when he comes to apologize a weak bitch move?” I took the chain from her hand and set it on her desk. “Because I don’t. Shit sounds like a relationship with good communication.” I took Yale’s chin and made her look up at me, and smirked when she rolled her eyes. “Sunshine, I’m sorry.”
“You are,” she agreed with a nod. “A sorry piece of shit for going off and getting mad when I thought I was doing the right thing. I was young, dumb, and hopelessly in love with your stupid ass. I would then, just like now, do whatever I could to protect you. If that means sacrificing me for you, then I’ll do just that.”
“No, you won’t,” I said, shaking my head. Yale rolled her eyes again and pulled her face from my hand. “Sunshine, baby, you gotta realize something about men. As a grown ass man, I could never let you do that shit and sleep peacefully at night.”
“Oh, here we go with that prideful shit.”
“It’s absolutely a pride thing,” I agreed. “Ain’t no way you could think that shit was going to be okay, which is why you never told me about it until now. If I would’ve known about that shit back then, I would’ve snapped.” I sat on the edge of her desk.
“And gotten yourself killed,” she sighed. I expected her to cry or even show some fear, but she didn’t. Yale was standing firm on the fact that she did what she did and didn’t regret it. “Icouldn’t handle that, especially since it was my fuck up that got us in the situation.”
“Nah, that was on the fucking Kilmores,” I said, shaking my head.
“I was the driver,” she insisted. “It doesn’t matter that they lied about the fee or anything else. I was the one driving the car; I was the one who killed that woman. That was on me.”
“Sunshine-”
“Listen to me, Amethyst,” she cut me off. “You are not about to change my mind about anything that I did. I thought it was the right thing to do, so I did it. I do apologize for waiting for so long to tell you, though. That’s the only thing I do regret.”
Instead of going back and forth with her stubborn ass, I nodded, then pulled her from her seat to standing in front of me. “I’m sorry for spazzing earlier, Sunshine.” I kissed her then nuzzled my face in her neck. “I was on some pride shit, and I know you ain’t deserve that. I appreciate you and everything you thought you did to protect me. I’m man enough to admit my fuck ups and try my hardest never to do it again.” I wrapped my arms around her waist and rested my hands on her ass. “Say you forgive me.”
