Page 22 of Fire & Roses: Harli

“Race me for yo’ heart.”

“You can’t be serious right now.”

“Dead serious. Race me for yo’ heart. Right now, come on.”

“Man, I ain’t racin’ you for my heart.”

“Why not? You really don’t give a fuck about me anymore?”

“Man, I ain’t racin’ you for some shit you already got.”

“What you sc… wait, I already got it?”

“Yeah, even though you two stepped on my shit, but yeah you still got it.”

“Then why you beat me in that race like that?”

“Because then I would get what I wanted, and I don’t want to date you, Harli.”

“You don’t?”

“No, I don’t. I want to be with you.”

I couldn’t even say anything else to that as the tears started to drop at a rapid pace. He got off his bike and wrapped those big arms around me. That didn’t do nothing but make my ass cry even harder. Here I was thinking that was really the end of us, and he wanted to make it official with a bitch. His hands fell under my chin to bring my eyes to his eyes. I didn’t even care I was crying in front of him because these were tears of joy.

“You’re mine, ya hear me?” he expressed as he looked into my eyes.

“Yes, bae, I hear you,” I happily agreed before he brought his lips to mine and kissed me tenderly.

“Let’s get out of here because we got some catchin’ up to do. And I wanna start by breakin’ in my bed at my new condo.”

“Oh my gosh! You finally got your place! I’m so proud of you.”

“Yep, let’s go see if the neighbors gonna know my name when I’m done with you.”

The light from my phone grabbed my attention as I laid on Trench’s bare chest watching the sky brighten up. As I reached for my phone, the soreness between my legs reminded me of my night. The neighbors, in fact, did know his name once he was done with me, and I had no shame about it. My phone had stopped ringing when I finally reached it. When I saw that it was a missed call from Dice, I quickly sat up in bed and called her back.

“Hello, I’m so sorry I missed yo’ call,” I apologized as soon as the call connected.

“I hope y’all ready to make some big money with the big dawgs,” Dice declared. “We looked at the drive. Gang of Roses has to agreed to make you guys our protégé. We out the game, but we are always here for backup if needed.”

“Wait, we’re in?”

“Yep. Y’all just gotta come up with a name where the Rose legacy lives on.”

“That’s no problem. We can do that!”

“Good, I’ll get up with you soon, rookie.”

When the call ended, I wanted to scream so bad but decided against it because Trench was still asleep. After I sent a meet-up text to our group chat, I hopped out of the bed and into the shower. Trench’s condo was beautiful, and with us getting on with Gang of Roses. I couldn’t wait to eventually move into one of these condos with Ryda. When I got out of the shower, Trench was still asleep, so I left him a handwritten note. It felt good waking up wrapped up with him , and I couldn’t wait to do it again, but right now the money was calling.

As I was riding down the canopy road, I couldn’t wait to share the good news with my girls. When I arrived, it wasn’t long before they were pulling up behind me. I was surprised Ryda was on time because she hated waking up early.

“Good morning, ladies,” I beamed as we walked into the clubhouse.

“Look, Harli, just get to it,” Ryda rolled her eyes. “Not all of us got cracked like an egg this mornin’. I am ready to get back in my bed, and if this a meetin’ we could’ve had on email, don’t be surprised when I pull a Viola Davis and walk the fuck out. Now what is it?”

“Ok, cranky pants. I just wanted to tell y’all to y’all faces that we are takin’ over for Gang of Roses.”