Page 17 of Breaking the Rules

THIRTEEN

“I left the windows down,” she huffed more to herself than to Noble.

He looked over his shoulder to find Areli slumped over. And then at Savanhi, attempting to open the door. He locked it and grunted.

“You see me sitting here, right?” he questioned with the perfect balance of firmness and softness.

“Yeah…”

“I got the door,” he replied, opening his door and swinging his long legs out. His sneaker-covered feet trekked over the wet pavement, grabbing her bags out the trunk then appearing at her door. “Go put these away and come back with the keys.”

“Is please anywhere in your vocabulary?” Savanhi sassed, taking the bags from him.

“You know how I do,” he responded, making her jaw flex slightly.

“You don’t need to try to be the hero, I got it.”

“Girl, go get the keys and stop playing with me before you don’t even make it up there.”

“Is that a threat? To what, kidnap me?”

“Don’t let the bat and glove fool you, I’m still a CK. I’m not above it.”

“Something is off with you,” Savanhi huffed, adjusting her bags on her shoulder.

Noble smirked, ignoring the bells ringing in his head. His logic telling him his hands were already full. “Something might be off with you, too, ‘cause you’re going to get them keys.”

Savanhi scrunched her face. “No, I’m not.”

She trekked off, and Noble leaned his back on the side of the running vehicle.

He watched Savanhi closely as she climbed the stairs to the third-floor apartment, stretching his neck to see which door she entered.

What he didn’t like was her exposure, especially knowing that she didn’t have protection.

Living in Royal Palms wasn’t as bad as being in the neighborhood on Huey or Mecca, but it wasn’t as safe as somewhere else.

Noble found himself caring. Especially when everything else around him was telling him not to care.

A demanding career, a newly single parent, a protector, a heart freshly wounded by betrayal.

.. how dare he care? There was a catch to this – he knew he could only have it one way.

He could abandon his rules and his logic and dive headfirst into the unknown with Savanhi, letting it be whatever it would be.

Or he could stand by his original decision and shut down.

Then he’d ruin Areli’s experience of seeing what the showmanship of a man really was.

The showmanship their father displayed for him and his sister.

While his father and Ms. Patty never solidified their connection, he showed them what partnership and respect looked like.

How to take care of a woman you cared for, regardless of the complications surrounding it.

Ms. Patty was taken care of while Senior was living, and now in death, he made sure she was taken care of, and Noble honored that.

He lost track of the time it took for Savanhi to reappear. She trotted down the stairs with her key in hand, and Noble moved to the car. The sassiness oozed off of her, and he enjoyed it. He’d been purposely poking at that just to see what she’d come back with.

Savanhi stopped a few feet away and started to unlock the door. Noble closed the space, gently moving her hand and preparing for her protest.

“There’s a certain way to turn-” Savanhi started, and Noble looked over his shoulder down at her.

“The lock needs to be fixed. Any nigga around here that wants to get into this will.” He opened the door and leaned inside to pop the hood. “Go sit in the truck, it’s about to start raining again.”

“If you show me what’s wrong, I can fix it myself next time,” she continued.

“It won’t be no next time,” he stated. He stood in front of the car and looked down at the engine.

The first issue, the battery was unhooked.

He could clearly tell that she didn’t know the first thing about a car other than putting gas in it.

Hooking it back up, he roamed back behind the steering wheel to crank it up.

It barely wanted to turn over before it turned over and then puttered.

Noble listened to it run while observing the scene. There was a car parked a few spaces down. The occupants hadn’t gotten out, but they looked in his direction. He moved over to Savanhi and asked, “Everything was cool in your apartment?”

She squinted, her eyes bouncing back and forth between his. “I mean, some things were out of place, but I think maintenance might’ve come in to fix something. The door was locked. Why?”

“You know that car three spaces down?” he asked.

Savanhi turned her head to look at the familiar car and her lip curled. “That’s Manny’s bitch ass.”

“Manny live around here?”

She swayed her head no. “He stopped me earlier today, offering to drive me to the studio. He’s my brother’s left hand.”

“Left ain’t the right. Manny is trouble?”

“I mean, he’s a bitch, I can’t stand him, but I don’t like most people. Outside of that, I wouldn’t know.”

Noble grunted, following his gut feeling. There was something up. “Buckle up.”

“Wait, what? No. I’m tired, I want to get out of these clothes and sleep.”

“I got a guest room you can do all of that in. You not staying here tonight. I’ll get your car fixed, you got a bunch of shit wrong with it anyway.”

“Noble.”

He shot her a silencing look. “Call me Deuce. And don’t fuss, Sassy.”

Savanhi turned her legs around, and he closed the door. He killed her engine, shut the hood, and secured the car. Returning to the rolled down passenger side window, he asked, “Your door locked?”

“No, I figured I was going right back up.” She didn’t even wait for him to ask for the key, just handed it over.

“Roll this up. Lock the car. I’ll be back.

” Noble stood by, waiting until he heard the vehicle lock to take the stairs two at a time to her apartment.

Inside, he looked at the relatively neat apartment.

To him, he couldn’t tell anything was out of place, by the door was her bags, a blanket on the couch, the counters were clear, but there was an eeriness like someone else other than her had been inside.

Turning off her lights, he roamed out and secured the door.

On his way out, he chose to take the back stairs instead of the ones with a full view of the parking lot.

Walking around the back of the building through the courtyard, he made a point to walk behind the back of Manny’s car, locking the license plate into his memory.

Back at his SUV, he tapped his knuckles, prompting Savanhi to reach into the front seat and unlock the door.

He climbed in and looked at Savanhi settled back into the seat with Areli in her lap. She sniffled, but she was sleeping. “What happened?”

Savanhi detected the alert in his voice. “She had a bad dream. She’s alright.”

“How’d you get her to go back to sleep so quickly?” he asked, putting the vehicle into drive and pulling out of the parking lot.

“I hummed ‘Jesus Loves Me’. My grandmother used to do it for me and it still works,” she shared, still holding Areli warmly.

Noble watched her in the rearview mirror. The softness and tenderness she held. Even the night he met her, he could see it in her. It was who she was. The sassiness she showed the world was a shield to protect herself. He knew that shield all too well. His was falling for her and her only.

The ride was silent, Areli sleeping soundly in Savanhi’s arms, Savanhi’s head resting atop hers, sleeping as well.

Almost forty-five minutes later, Noble pulled up at the rental home and turned the engine off.

The soft lull from the engine soothed her to sleep.

Without it, she was pulling her eyes open and taking in her surroundings.

“Question.”

“Answer,” he rumbled, getting out of the car.

“How long are you keeping me?”

“How long do you want to be kept?” Noble asked, and the question was loaded. All Savanhi could do was peer at him before blinking away.

“I have classes all week, the club this weekend. I need my car, or I’ll just slip out of here tonight and JoyRide home.”

“You like slipping out in the middle of the night. Don’t you?”

“We made an agreement.”

“Something the last two weeks have taught me is that agreements can be broken. So again, how long do you want to be kept?”

“I’ve never been kept, and I won’t be in the position to depend on a man. So I’d like to be released as soon as possible, and I’ll figure out a way to pay you back for the repairs.”

Noble smirked, saying nothing. Her doing her dance classes, no problem, her going back to the club, off the table, and he was about to throw his logic in the wind and make sure she understood that.

“Aight,” he buzzed, taking Areli out of her arms. “Come on, Sassy.”

“I got a feeling you’re about to make this difficult for me.”

“Nah, try the opposite,” Noble assured, holding his hand out for her to take.

She took it, almost pulling back at the electricity that shot through them. He clasped her hand tighter, not letting her pull away. Savanhi gave in and followed his lead. Inside the rental home, she stood behind him and took in how spacious it was and how childproofed it was.

“There’s a bedroom down the hall to the right. Towels and everything there.”

“And clothes?”

“I got sweats and t-shirts they might swallow you up but it’s something. Make yourself at home.”

“I won’t,” Savanhi sassed, walking away from him. He stood panting with Areli in his arms, watching her ass switch from side to side. He knew it wasn’t on purpose. That was just a natural walk he enjoyed taking in.

He grunted softly to himself and proceeded to get Areli undressed, cleaned, and in bed. Ensuring her bonnet was on just right and she was tucked under her Pinky Princess covers, he kissed her face.

“Unc-Unc loves you more, babygirl.”