Page 9 of Mia

She laughed. “You realize how crazy you sound? Not to mention possessive.”

I shrugged. “You act like you never beat a bitch up over me before. Remember ol’ girl from the club? You beat her with your gun for giving me a lap dance.”

“I bet she won’t shake her ass in your direction again.”

I chuckled. “I love when you turn up over me. Maybe it’s toxic, but shit, I know you love my ass, even if you don’t want to admit it.”

She turned away from me, her smile dropping. “I’m not scared,” she whispered.

“Did I say you were scared?”

“You implied it.”

“Mia James Dillinger ain’t scared of shit. Apprehensive? Maybe. Scared? Never. I get it. We’ve been enemies for more than half our lives. That shit ain’t easy to let go of, but I do it for you. I’m not infatuated with you. I don’t wanna conquer and control you. I don’t want you to change. I love you just the way you are. Me and you have something nobody would understand. I’d give my life for you, Mia. Take a bullet to the head, or a stab in the heart if it means you get to live. As long as I have breath in my body, you will always be loved and protected. If the whole world is against you, you have a nigga on your side that will burn that bitch down and build you a new one.”

She stared at me for a moment. “You really wanna marry me?”

I reached into my pocket and pulled out the ring I’d bought earlier. We’d dropped a bag in the jewelry store. I hadn’t even thought of proposing when I bought the ring. I just knew it would look good on her finger and planned to gift it to her later.

“You— you bought a ring?”

I grabbed her hand and slipped it on her finger. That shit was glistening as she held it up to inspect it.

“Shit,” she mumbled.

“It’s nice, right?”

“It’s beautiful.” She looked over at me. “Marriage, huh? You think it could work?”

“Once I say I do, that shit is for life. Ain’t no going back.”

She stared at me for a moment before a drunken grin spread across her face.

“Shit. Why the fuck not.”

So we stood there, in front of that fake ass Elvis and two random people as our witnesses, exchanging vows that were probably the most open and vulnerable words we’d ever spoken to each other. There was a softness we shared that night that we’d never had.

No tension.

No bitterness.

No fighting.

Just the two of us basking in the love we shared that nobody would understand. When I made love to her that night, she finally uttered the words I knew she’d felt all along as she clung to me and came on my dick.

Just as I had that thought, I heard the room door open. Looking over my shoulder, I saw Mia saunter into the room. I took a final pull from the blunt and put it out before standing and walking into the room. She stood there with her arms crossed as I closed the door.

“You summoned me here. What the fuck do you want?”

I chuckled as I swiped my finger up under my nose.

“Go take a shower and wash that nigga off you.”

“Titan—”

“Mia, don’t play with me. Your shit’s on the counter. Go.”

She kissed her teeth before stomping off to the bathroom.