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Jay Lucci looked at Maximus. “We dropping it? You can spare a day to shoot part of the video tomorrow?”

“Hell yeah!” Maximus jeered. “How much I owe you for a Jay Lucci feature?”

“Fuck out my face, nigga,” Jay Lucci huffed, hitting his chest with the back of his hand. “I see you, nigga. I believe in you. Take that shit and fly, aight?”

Maximus let a gracious smile cross his face. “Heard you.”

Once Haddon was done mixing it and sent it, Maximus forwarded it to Eden along with a text.

Maximus: Stay up for me?

Eden: What if I was busy? You know, doing something?

Maximus: Doing what?

Eden: For me to know and you to find out

Maximus: Oh your trying to bring that nigga out

Eden: Who me? never

Maximus: Heard you

Once Maximus was back in his hotel room, he FaceTimed Eden, who, for kicks and giggles, didn’t answer until the last ring.

“Gone for a day and a half, and we goin’ backwards?” he joked, his nervous system calming at the sight of her face.

Eden giggled. “No. Don’t activate your crazy. It’s too late over here for that. That track, it’s amazing. Do you know what a Jay Lucci feature is about to do?”

Her excitement solidified his. “I can’t believe this shit. Speaking of which, we gon’ shoot half the video tomorrow, the rest in Trae Way. You cool with that?”

“Why wouldn’t I be okay with that? You got waves to make.

Go make them,” Eden encouraged, but he felt her.

The nervousness in her transferred. The fear of losing one another to the current, having just found their anchor.

“You better believe it. You're about to take off. I can’t wait to watch it. You’re going up to the moon. ”

Maximus studied her before asking, “Where you gon’ be?”

“Down here watching,” Eden hummed, crossing her legs on her couch.

He chose to circle back to that comment once he got back. “You home?”

“Yeah. Your house is big and lonely for one person. Plus, I had some brand deals come through this morning, so I needed to film.”

He groaned, realizing that circling back to her previous comment was only going to have her dancing in her head more and more. “Eden. Baby.”

“Hm?” she sweetly buzzed. “What?”

“You doing that shit again,” he stated. “Stop doin’ that. Minimizing your role and what you want.”

“Max, I’m being real. You’re about to take off. Like, I don’t think you get how fuckin’ big you’re about to be. And I’m okay with not being included in those plans or hanging off at your side. I understand that sometimes there won’t be room for me.”

“Too late for that, E,” he rumbled. “You’ve weaved yourself all into my plans, so if I’m taking off, we taking off. That’s how this shit is going to work. There will always be room for you. Heard me?”

“Heard you.”

“We gon’ talk about it again?”

“Nope,” Eden said, making the motion to zip her lips.

“E, I’m not going to drop you,” he assured.

“I hear you.”

“Uh huh. Why you leave the house for real?”

Eden shrugged. “I might’ve missed you. Might’ve been a little lonely. Might’ve gotten into my head.”

His brow rose. “Might. Let me help you out. I miss you. Can’t wait to get back so I can sleep.”

“I’d like that,” Eden hummed. “I can’t sleep either. The teddy bear is nice, but it just doesn’t cut it. I’m getting used to the real thing.”

“Then stop trying to sabotage it because this shit is new and it’s scaring you. It’s scaring me too, but I don’t run. And rule number one...”

“Ain’t no runnin’,” she crooned. “Hang up before I have flashbacks.”

A grin covered Maximus’ face, exposing his perfect smile as he laughed. “Mmhmm been in the apartment playing with my shit, huh?”

Eden covered her face and laughed. “I mean a rose once or twice.”

“Once or twice? The look on your face means you been wearing that muhfucka out,” Maximus joked.

“You get on my nerves,” Eden giggled. “Stay out of my business, Max.”

“That’s my business, you had it all in my face. Does it still work? It don’t have shit on me.”

“It’s a close second.”

Maximus quieted his laughter for a moment. “Eden, I need you to just say what it is, baby. You want me home, you need me home, you miss me, say that shit.”

“Uh uh. I’m not demanding nothing from a man that ain’t mine for real,” she sassed with a roll of her eyes. “On that note, I'm going to sleep.”

“When I knock, let me in.”

“I’ll think about it, Maximus. I might be busy again.”

“You like playing games. I got some prizes for your stubborn ass.”

“Goodnight, MB,” Eden hummed, before hanging up.

Maximus dropped himself onto the pillows and hummed. “This damn girl is turning me around. Shit.”

He ran his hand down his face and groaned.

Eden had him, and all he needed to do was to make it abundantly clear that he had her, too.

Once that was done and secure, there wouldn’t be a thing they couldn’t conquer.

With Eden by his side, he felt stronger, less anxious, and more confident. He felt love, warmth, and comfort.

Drifting to sleep, Maximus tossed and turned most of the night.

The images of his brother and mother, the breakdown of their relationships, and the facts still haunted him.

The beast in him was warring with his peace because there was an issue at hand he hadn’t handled yet.

An issue that would suffocate him if he allowed it to grow any bigger. He had to handle it sooner than later.

After the video shoot wrapped, Maximus and his small team were on their way back to Waynesville.

He was eager to wrap his body around Eden’s, inhale her scent, and listen to her soft breathing.

Being in her peace was everything he needed.

True to his word, he got Brody set up in his apartment uptown, close to Cashmere Lakes, so he could be readily available.