“There’s no need for her to be jealous when I belong to someone else.”
That was the only thing Aspen could say to remove Mahari from her space before she broke down and spoke on her true feelings. Not only was it a reminder to Mahari, but also to herself. Even though it was him who came to check on her and console her, he wasn’t the man she belonged to.
Slowly, Mahari bobbed his head and backed away with his palms up. “You’re right. You do belong to someone else, but let’s not stand here and act like we don’t know who has your heart, Bunny.”
Aspen’s eyes ballooned as Mahari opened the door and left. He left her speechless, knowing his statement was the truth and nothing but.
Mahari’s phonevibrating against his nightstand woke him from his peaceful slumber. Prying his eyes open, he glanced over at a sleeping Dynasty before reaching over and grabbing his phone. Aspen’s name appeared on his screen, and his heart started racing. It was almost four in the morning, so her calling meant something had to be wrong. Tossing the covers over his legs, Mahari headed to his bathroom and answered.
“Bunny, what’s wrong? You good?” The sound of Aspen sniffling had Mahari going back to his room and throwing on some clothes. “Don’t worry. I’m on my way.”
All Aspen said was, “Okay.”
The call ended, and Mahari was dressed in record speed. Without waking Dynasty up and letting her know he was leaving,Mahari grabbed his keys and wallet and left. Aspen and Lance’s house wasn’t too far from his, but he made it there in record time. The front door was locked, so he went to the garage and put the code in. He raced through the house and up the stairs to find Aspen in the bed, crying.
Going over and kneeling in front of her, Mahari turned the lamp on. “What’s wrong, Bunny?”
“I—I’m in pain. I can’t get up by myself, and I’m so fuckin’ tired of Lance leaving me here alone when I need him. Once again, his location is off, and he won’t answer the phone. To top it all off, I had a dream about my daddy, and it’s just . . .” Aspen couldn’t even finish her sentence before sobbing.
Carefully, Mahari swooped her up from the bed and placed her in his lap. With her face buried in his neck, he rubbed her stomach and kissed her forehead, allowing her to cry it out.
Seeing Aspen like that did something to Mahari. His eyes closed as his mind drifted to Heaven.
Light taps on his shoulder stirred Mahari from his sleep. He turned over and adjusted his eyes to the bright lamp illuminating the room before peering up at Heaven. When he saw how wet her chocolate cheeks were, he sat up and carefully studied her.
“What’s wrong, baby? Do we need to go to the hospital?”
“No, we don’t. I just need help getting up, and I really, really want a chili cheese dog with onions and mustard,” Heaven admitted, wiping her face.
Mahari pressed his lips together to keep from laughing. He knew it wasn’t a laughing matter to Heaven from the way she was crying, but he thought it was hilariously cute. Sitting up, Mahari stretched and got out the bed. He walked over to Heaven’s side of the bed, and she raised her arms.
“Come here, my big baby,” Mahari joked, swooping her up in his arms and kissing her temple. “You know I got my girls.”
Heaven’s medium-brown eyes gazed into his. “I know you do. You always have. I don’t know where I would be without you, Mahari.”
The feeling of Aspen’s hand softly running down his cheek brought Mahari back from his thoughts.
“Are you thinking about Heaven?” Aspen asked barely above a whisper.
Mahari grabbed Aspen’s hand and kissed the back of it. “I was but I’m good. I promise. This just reminds me of one night when she needed me for this exact reason, except she was hungry too.”
“Well, food does sound good too.”
“We can go grab whatever you want.” He rose to his feet with Aspen still cradled in his arms. “Where do you need to go?”
“To the bathroom and downstairs to get something to drink. You can put me down. I need to walk the pain off, but it’s just hard.”
“Are you sure?”
Aspen nodded her reassurance, so Mahari carefully placed her on her feet. It took them a few minutes to get to the bathroom where Mahari waited outside the door. He leaned his head against the wall and released a breath. Aspen had scared him, and his heart rate was beginning to return to normal.
Her urgency had him rushing to her and forgetting all about their last interaction at the club. For days, Aspen’s words echoed in his mind, and there wasn’t anything he could do about it because she was right. She belonged to Lance, but where was he? Why wasn’t he the one there to comfort her?
Mahari decided to find out for himself. As he waited for Aspen, he pulled out his phone and tapped on Lance’s contact to call him. The phone rang three times before Lance answered with a bunch of shuffling in the background before he spoke.
“What you doing up? At the studio?” he questioned.
“Over here doing what you need to be doing. Tell me something. Why is it that I had to get up out my sleep to come tend to your pregnant girl?”
