I shook my head.
“Hell no!”
She looked at me, shocked to hear my response.
“I fucked up one time, that don’t mean you leave like this, not when I been trying to make the shit right.”
Islah leaned back across the table.
“Gio, you don’t tell me what to do. This meeting was to try to talk some sense into you before my fiancé got to you, but it looks like I’m too late for that.”
Islah stood up from the table.
“If you don’t want Love to fuck you up more, go back to Cali, Gio. It’s not safe for you here.”
As she walked off, I stood up and yelled, “The only way I’m going back to Cali is if you are with me, Islah.”
She turned around and looked at me. “Then prepare for my man to get rid of you. I tried to help you.”
And she walked off.
That shit stung me in my heart. She was choosing a nigga that just came into her life over me, when I know her.
“So you ready to catch this flight with me back home?” Bully asked.
I looked down at him, still sitting at the table.
“Hell no, I need some niggas here with me. If she thinks I won’t show out for what’s mine, she bout to find out.”
Chapter 7
Regret
After leaving Gio, I went back to Deja’s house to meet them. My mind was all over the place. I was sure that I was going to be able to talk Gio into going back to Cali, but from the looks of it, that nigga has his mind made up.
The whole drive back, my fingers kept tapping against the steering wheel while my thoughts ran laps in my head.
Gio looked different. Not just physically from after Love beat his ass, but I could tell he was mentally different, too.
That nigga wasn’t trying to hear me.
He heard the words coming out of my mouth, but he wasn’t accepting them.
By the time I pulled up to Deja’s house, music was coming through the windows, and Kenya’s car was parked in front.
I sat in my car for a few minutes, fixing my face before getting out.
I walked up the sidewalk slow, holding my back low by my side. I kept taking deep breaths, thinking that would help me forget where I just came from, but I knew that it wouldn’t. After taking my time, I finally reached the door, and as I opened it and closed it behind me, all three of them looked at me.
Renee was sitting cross-legged on the floor, eating chips. Kenya was leaned across the couch, scrolling through her phone, and Deja was standing in the kitchen pouring drinks.
But all those hoes stopped and stared at me.
“What?” I asked, trying to sound normal.
“You tell us,” Kenya responded instantly.
I rolled my eyes and kicked my heels off.
