Page 24

He laughed. “Who told you that? You ain’t five’ seven”, E. Maybe on a good day five’ five”, five’ five and a half”.”

“A girl can dream.”

“And stretch,” he toyed, picking her up off her feet and placing her inside the truck. “I’m too hungry to stand by and watch you get a running start to get in.”

Eden offered him a roll of her large eyes and a flick of her middle finger.

For half a second before he closed the door, his expression darkened.

Had she blinked, she would have missed it.

The glint stirred something up in her that should have remained sleeping.

Something was awakened by the onscreen kiss that shouldn’t have even been a thing.

She watched him round the hood of the truck and crossed her legs and took a settling breath.

The ride, while quiet and quick, was comfortable.

Maximus’s right hand gripped the steering wheel while the left elbow was propped in the window.

He was still making sure he respected her boundaries, although she hadn’t told him what any of them were, he needed to pretend for the sake of control.

Control kept his hand on the steering wheel and not placed between her thighs, surrounded by the warmth.

Parked in front of Big Rod's, Maximus hopped out and made his way to the passenger side. “You need a lift or-”

Before Maximus could finish his sentence, Eden swung her legs around and wiggled out of the truck. “I told you, five seven,” she joked, as she strutted past him toward the door, only to be halted by Maximus’ voice.

“Bring ya ass back here.” His demand was not only sexy but laced with a warning. “I know you been on your independent shit and it’s cool. You don’t touch doors when I’m around, heard me?”

It took everything in Eden’s body not to bite her lip or clench her thighs or fantasize. She caught herself again. There hadn’t been a man in her life in so long that she didn’t trust that her bar was set in hell. Eden recovered, nodded her head, and slowly backtracked.

“I don’t think I like the way you’re talking to me,” she muttered, hoping to throw him off her scent.

Maximus casted his gaze down at her, licked his lips, and asked once more, “Heard me?”

“Heard you,” Eden softly replied. The answer prompted him to walk toward the door with her at his side but blocked from the direct view of the street.

As he opened the bar-covered door of Big Rod’s he muttered in her ear, “You liked that shit. You don’t have to front with me.”

Eden pretended not to hear him and proceeded through the open door. As the smell of Big Rod’s special batter wafted in the air, he turned the corner and jumped back, feigning shock.

“I know I ain’t seeing what I think I'm seeing!” Big Rod's voice was loud, booming with laughter and joy. “If it ain’t the girl that tried to burn my damn shop down and the young nigga that tried to rob it. Who the hell let y’all get together?”

Eden laughed in sync with Maximus. Maximus closed the space between him and Big Rod. Eden watched as Big Rod pulled Maximus into a fatherly hug before releasing him.

“You look good, young blood,” Big Rod stated, before looking over at Eden. “You know she can’t cook, right? Pretty face, nice girl, can’t boil water.”

Eden swatted at him and chuckled. “First of all, I’ve learned to do a few things. Second, I don’t think he has to worry about me cooking for him.”

Big Rod raised his brows and bounced his eyes between them, seeing and knowing what Eden was pretending not to. “Like I said, she can’t cook.”

Maximus let a smirk perk his lips. “Like nothing at all or...?”

“Don’t you dare say Poppi’s spaghetti,” Big Rod rumbled.

Eden groaned and rolled her eyes as she stepped to the counter. “That wasn’t made for consumption, that was made for intimidation, and she never passed that down to us. Thank you. And I can bake cakes and stuff because I had a brand deal.”

“Mm,” Big Rod grunted. “So, the man is going to have diabetes and still be hungry. MB, watch yourself.”

“I do have a sweet tooth,” Maximus muttered, if not for anything else than to watch how Eden squirmed.

“Look at me. I have a sweet tooth too. Ol’ lady complaining about my sugar habit now,” Big Rod spoke before snapping his fingers. “Ay, JJ, get them the special and don’t let them pay for it, their money ain’t good here.”

“Nah, Rod, you got to let me put something in your hand,” Maximus started up as Eden looked over her shoulder.

“Oh, like I tried to do, and you kept sending it back?” Eden sassed.

“Ain’t never taking money off of you,” Maximus stated.

“And that goes for you, too. You need to stack all that money UVE is giving you,” Big Rod stated, grabbing two grape sodas out of the cooler and handing them over to Maximus. He nodded them toward a table. “We’ll bring your food out.”

Eden led the charge to the table and slid into the booth, facing the door. Maximus lingered at the table, looking down at her. “What?"

“How long you been out here without a nigga?” he surveyed.

Eden’s eyes squinted. “Uhm...”

“Too damn long,” he huffed, motioning her out of the booth. Eden slid out, and he motioned her to the other side. “I got to see the doors. Who the hell you been with?”

Eden rose her perfectly arched brows and poked her gloss-covered lips out. “A couple of guys from the other side of the tracks. I was kind of off limits around these parts.”

“Poppi didn’t play that shit did she?”

“Not in the least,” Eden said with dry laughter. “Some little runner she had around was trying to spit game, and she wasn’t having it. I got away from her in college, at least I thought I did.”

“So, you was out there wildin’?” Maximus asked, amused.

“No, wildin’ out has never been my thing. She had eyes and ears everywhere. She was on my ass. Determined that me and Staysha were going to be better, softer women,” Eden shared, popping the top to her soda and placing a straw in.

“Seems like she did what she set out to do.”

Eden found herself getting sad. Taking a breath to reset, she buzzed. “Anyway, while you’re in my business, what’s your plan? Back home, record deal, anything else on the plate?”

Maximus looked around. “You gon’ laugh?”

Eden shook her head no. “I don’t laugh at people's dreams.”

“I want to put myself into position to show these niggas a better way. I'm not saying I know the way. I just know I’m going to find a way to know and give game. Like job opportunities and something other than running packs.”

“What kind of job opportunities? You’re going to open a shop or...”

“I thought about a corner store like Dub used to have. That one stop shop. He used to look out for my thieving ass,” Maximus said with a chuckle. “Used to load up on my tees, minutes for my phone and noodles and shit.”

“Dub’s was the spot,” Eden said in agreement.

“Poppi used to let you out the house to go to Dub’s?” Maximus asked, shocked.

“Only when all y’all were away doing whatever she told you to,” Eden joked. “Now, back to you, ever thought about focusing on one thing. Your brand is about to skyrocket, what about some branded tees? Trae Way tees to be exact,” Eden shared.

“You’re trying to be on my team with all these good ideas?”

“Uh uh no,” Eden quipped. “I’m trying to get my own shit together so that’s all the help I got for you.”

Big Rod roamed over with their food, placing it on the table with extra sauce and napkins. “Let me know if I need to pack some up for your peoples.”

Maximus and Eden shared a snicker, knowing that whatever Keon and Staysha were doing, food wasn’t a thought.

“Nah, I think they good,” Maximus stated. When Big Rod roamed away, Maximus continued. “I’m getting back in your business. What’s on your plate? Outside of this actin’ shit you good at?”

“Don’t hype me up,” Eden warned as she cleansed her hands.

Maximus took a bite of his Big Rod's sauce-covered fries, earning him a pop. “Ow girl!”

“Please, that didn’t hurt. You’re not going to bless your food?” Eden questioned.

Maximus yielded. “You right. I know better.”

Eden’s ears perked as he muttered a blessing, “Much better.”

“Pop me like that again, you gon’-” He stopped himself as Eden cocked her head to the side and squinted her eyes.

“I'm gon’ what?" she challenged.

“Do it again and see,” he muttered back, mouth full.

Rolling her eyes, she huffed. “You get on my nerves.”

“I’ve heard you say that about twenty times already and you’re still kicking it and grinning and shit.”

Eden offered him a deadpan expression that only lasted for a few seconds.

“Uh uh,” he chuckled. “Can’t help yourself. Are you going to answer the question, or am I going to have to keep hijacking you?”

“Thievery and kidnapping, anything else I’m missing off your list of crimes?”

Maximus swiped his finger under his nose subtly. “I’ve graduated from my life of crime.”

“So, kidnapping me ain’t a crime?”

“Uh uh, you’d come willingly.”

“Oh my God, I'm going home.”

He grinned. “Nah, not yet. What’s the plan, Eden?”

She pulled in a deep breath and shrugged. “Figuring out how to bet on me and figure out my dream, I guess.”

“What’s your dream? I promise I won’t laugh.”

“I went to WSU for performing arts, never finished because Poppi got sick. But being on set and doing all of this these last three days felt good.”

“Aight then, so bet on you. You got something on you,” Maximus stated.

“You hypin’ me up.”

“Nah, I don’t do hype. Pure, straight up and down facts. You’re good at this. And if that’s your dream, you should be doing it. Don’t let a muthafucka stand in your way either.”

“Noted.”

“Good, eat.”