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“I shouldn’t have ignored you for weeks,” I admitted. “But that shit hurt me, Gabriana. I trusted you.”

“I know, and I hate that I hurt you,” she replied, squeezing my hand.

I nodded and leaned over to kiss her. She kissed me back, and I pulled her closer until she was crossing the armrest and straddling my lap.

“How you been doing?” She asked.

“Man, you missed some bullshit,” I replied, shaking my head. “Kat decided Saint might be my fucking brother.”

Gabi sat up. “Wait, what?”

I told her what happened at Joni and Tori’s baby shower, including Kat bringing up Frank St. Clair and admitting he could’ve fathered me, Joni, or both of us.

“Damn, Tae,” she replied. “I know you and Joni were pissed.”

“Still are,” I admitted. “We talked to Sint and agreed to get tested. I’m just waiting for him to set everything up.”

“I hope y’all get some answers,” she told me.

“Shit… me too,” I replied.

I wasn’t interested in spending the rest of our time talking about Kat, so I changed the subject.

“Where you been staying?” I asked.

“With Lisa,” she answered. “She’s been letting me stay with her until I figure everything out.”

“Bring your ass home, Gabi,” I told her.

“Tae, you can’t be serious. You’ve ignored me for weeks, and now you just expect me to come back?”

“I’m serious,” I replied. “I miss you, shorty. I’m not saying we’on have shit to work through, but I’on wanna keep doing this without you.”

Her expression softened as I pulled her closer.

“I love you, Gabriana. I want you home with me,” I told her.

“I love you too, Tae,” she replied. “But I’on want us going through this again.”

“Unless you got another fucking husband out there, then this shit should be one and done.”

I kissed her again before opening my door and letting her out. I helped her inside her car before I leaned down.

“I’m following you to Lisa’s so you can get your shit,” I uttered.

We still had some things to work through, and I wasn’t pretending otherwise. But I’d heard what I needed to hear, and I wasn’t about to keep pushing away a woman I wanted to spend my life with.

Gabi was coming home, and that was the only thing I wanted to focus on for the rest of the night.

Chapter Eighteen

Rasheeda

“Iknow good and damn well you ain’t putting nothing else in that gah damn cart,” I fussed as Tori picked up two matching outfits.

“Rah, look how cute these are,” she replied, holding up two powder-blue Nike sets.

“Girl, Khajoni and Khori got more clothes that their little asses won’t even wear. Didn’t we come here for bottles?”