She peered up at Mahari and smiled. “Thank you.”
He gently nudged her chin. “How you feeling?”
“A little rough, honestly. I don’t know what it is, but all I want to do is sleep it off.”
“Well, you can do that after you eat some of this. It’ll help to have it on your stomach.”
“Thank you.”
“No thanks needed. You know I couldn’t let you be up here like this.”
Aspen tried to bite the petty response dancing on her tongue, but she couldn’t. “I’m pretty sure your girlfriend is going to get onto you about it as soon as you go back downstairs.”
“Mane.” Mahari dragged his hands down his face and clenched his jaw. “What have I told you, Aspen?”
“Pfft. Your actions are telling me otherwise, Mahari. She better not come at me with any slick comments while we’re here either. I’ll tolerate her for your sake, but just because I’m pregnant doesn’t mean I won’t curse her ass out either.” The thought of having to be in the same space as Dynasty for however long they were there irritated Aspen’s soul. “You can leave.”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me. You can leave now. I know you have company to tend to, and I don’t want to keep you from her.”
The two of them engaged in an intense stare down, and Aspen was the first to look away. Her emotions were rising, and if she gazed at Mahari any longer, she would’ve cried. When he kissed her forehead and walked out, Aspen ate a few bites of her soup before putting it to the side and burying herself underneath the covers where she cried herself to sleep.
It wasday two of their four-day trip, and Mahari couldn’t handle how distant Aspen had been. When she came downstairs for breakfast, she greeted Lance with a kiss and gave everyone a cheerful greeting except for him and Dynasty. They were given a dry ‘good morning’ before she focused her attention on Lavender.
Mahari understood she was upset with him, but he had to be real with himself and admit that she had no reason to be. He hadn’t been acting funny or anything just because Dynasty was there. When Aspen wasn’t feeling well yesterday, Dynasty wasn’t too happy with Mahari going out his way.
“What are you doing, Mahari?” Dynasty interrogated, hot on his heels as he headed into the villa, straight to the kitchen.
“I’m getting Aspen some stuff and going to make sure she’s straight.”
Dynasty clicked her tongue several times with her arms folded underneath her busty bosom. “Isn’t that what Lance is for? I could’ve sworn he was her man and not you.”
“I don’t want to hear that shit, Dynasty. I’ve always kept it real with you about my relationship with Aspen. That’s my best friend, so of course, I’m going to make sure she’s straight. If that’s a problem, then maybe we need to rethink our friendship as well.”
“Are you serious?”
Mahari finally turned around to look at Dynasty, whose mouth was wide open.
“Close your mouth before something flies in it.”
“That’s not funny. This isn’t the time to be playing games. Are you serious about what you just said?”
“Have I ever said anything to you I didn’t stand on?” When Dynasty shook her head, Mahari concluded, “Okay then. You know what it is with me, Dynasty. If you can’t handle it, let me know so we can move accordingly.”
Biting her bottom lip, Dynasty invaded Mahari’s personal space by slithering her arms around his waist. “My bad, Mahari. It’s just . . . I want us to have a good time here together, and I don’t want anything or anyone to ruin it.”
“Remember, only you can do that.”
After that, they were good and had a good first day. Mahari tried his best not to dwell on Aspen’s sudden mood shift. He kept reminding himself she was pregnant, and her hormones weren’t balanced. It was hard for him not to take it personal when he was simply worried about her.
But from the way she acted toward him, he knew it was personal.
“What’s going on with Aspen?” Justin asked as he and Mahari stepped on the back patio to smoke.
Smoking wasn’t something Mahari indulged in often, only for special occasions as such. After lighting the blunt and taking a deep inhale, Mahari passed it to Justin with a shrug of his shoulders.
“I don’t know, mane. I know she isn’t the biggest fan of Dynasty being here, but I haven’t done shit to her. I’ll talk to her about it in a little.”
