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I held my hand out to her and walked her toward the living room. She gasped when she saw all the hard work I put in, and I grinned. That smile fell off my face when she giggled.

“What is this, Gino?” she asked as she looked around in amusement.

I glowered. “You don’t like it?”

“I love it,” she said quickly, but another giggle fell out of her mouth right after her words.

I looked at the large fort I made in the living room with the new sheets and blankets I’d purchased.

“I used to love makin’ forts when I was a lil nigga. I thought this could be a cool way to kick it at home. I got a nigga in the kitchen cookin’ up some food and snacks, and we can just chill. I just want to love up on you.”

Her cheeks tinted red, and I reached out and cupped them before I kissed her nose and then her lips.

“Okay,” she whispered when we pulled apart.

My heart stuttered from the simple word. Something about her submitting to me had me ready to lay everything at her feet.

I grabbed her hand and pulled a sheet out of the way so we could crawl inside. I made sure to include her TV into the fort. It was large with plenty of space and a ton of blankets and pillows I bought. There were rose petals and LED candles to give that romantic feel. Currently, soft music played from the TV to set the vibe.

Inside, Yara’s smile nearly split her pretty face in two.

“This is so cute, Gino. You did all this?”

I nodded. “Who else?”

“You said you hired someone or some people. I wasn’t sure if they had done all this.”

I shook my head as I got settled, and then I helped her snuggle between my legs. “Nah. This part was all me. The nigga I hired is just handlin’ the food and runnin’ back and forth if we need anything, so all we have to do is chill right here.”

“All night?” she asked. She turned to look at me with light dancing in her eyes.

“Shit, we can stay up in here for a week if you want. A month? Let me know.”

She giggled, but I was dead ass serious.

Someone cleared their throat just outside the fort before Yara could respond.

“What’s the password?” I demanded. I had already run down all the instructions for the night, and if he didn’t remember the damn password, then he wasn’t coming in here. And if he wasn’t coming in here, we couldn’t eat. And if we couldn’t eat, I wasn’t paying his ass shit.

There was a beat of silence.

“Gino, let that poor man in⁠—”

The man cut Yara’s words off. “Yankee-Doodle.”

I pulled the sheet out of the way and glared at him. “You cut my woman off. Apologize.”

He stood there with wide eyes and platters of food in his hand. “Uh . . . sorry, miss.”

“It’s okay,” Yara said as she hit my bicep.

“What?”

“Be nice,” she hissed.

I waved her off. “This is Norman.” I gestured toward the man as I realized I had never asked him his name, but Norman seemed like a good fit.

“My name is Randal,” Norman corrected.