Page 27 of His Obsession Her Cure

Gunner

M y phone was ringing off the hook and I know I had blocked Missy’s crazy ass last week so who the fuck was calling me back-to-back.

I walked out of the bathroom wrapping a towel around my waist, water still dripped down my wet body from the shower.

Reaching my nightstand, I saw that Pepper was calling me.

“Pepper, what’s wrong?” I almost yelled. Something had to be wrong for her to be blowing me up like this.

“Why would you put all that money into my account Gunner?” She asked, in her usual flat tone.

Out of all the things I thought could be wrong. This is what she was worried about.

“Lil baby, calm down. I told you already that as your man it was my job to make sure you were forever good even without me. I expected a quick response, but she was silent for a few beats before she said anything. At first, I thought she had hung up on my dumb ass, but I could still hear her breathing. “Baby talk to me. You can’t be mad at me for wanting to take care of you.”

“I’m not mad about the fact that you want to take care of me.

I’m mad that you didn’t discuss it with me.

I did not need one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, Gunner.

We have barely known each other for a month, and you are depositing crazy amounts of money into my bank account.

By the way, how did you get my account information? ”

“Don’t let that worry you. But listen, that one hundred fifty is a drop in the bucket compared to what you truly deserve.

Now take that money and cover your tuition and get all the supplies you’ll need to be successful.

I expect you to get my money’s worth out of that program.

I want to see nothing but A’s and B’s, every report card. ”

“We don’t get report cards, but I'll be sure to make you proud. And Gunner next time you’re thinking about doing something that big please talk to me first,” she pleaded.

“I can’t make any promises, but I'll work on my communication on all financial decisions affecting you." I told her sincerely. Have fun shopping lil baby but be ready by seven I’m coming to pick you up for dinner later.” I said, before disconnecting the call.

I put my phone back down and headed back to the bathroom to finish my shower.

It was just a little before seven when I arrived at Ma’s to pick up my lil baby.

I used my key to get in and headed up to her room.

I didn’t see any other cars in the driveway, so I knew she was here by herself.

Taking the stairs two at a time, I couldn’t wait to get to my girl.

Her door was cracked when I made it up to the top of the landing and heard Pepper singing Jazmine Sulllivan’s, Girls Like Me at the top of her lungs.

I crept closer and watched lil baby swaying to the beat while applying her make-up.

I thought she was beautiful with or without it, but it was something about a woman that could do both, made my dick hard.

She finished applying some gloss to her lips before pressing them together to make sure she had full coverage.

She was a sight to behold and I could watch her all night but I needed us to get going before we were late for our reservation so I cleared my throat alerting her to my presence and scaring the shit out of her at the same time right when she was singing a little too loud about, you gone make a hoe out of me. No the fuck we are not.

“Damn it Gunner, you almost gave me a heart attack.” She screamed, clutching her chest as she spun to see me leaning against the door frame.

“Who's gonna make a hoe out of you?” I demanded, ignoring her statement, a little pissed off that she was singing that part so loud.

“Gunner, you know that's just part of the song, right?”

“Watch your mouth. Words have power and the only man you’ll ever be a hoe for is me.

” I cut my eyes at her in the mirror to make sure she understood.

She was in a backless little black dress that made me want to say fuck our reservation and bend her over the vanity she was sitting in front of and eat her pussy from the back while she screamed my name.

But if I did, we would never get out of here.

She walked toward me and placed her soft lips on mine before pulling back to take in my appearance.

“You look handsome, daddy. " She said as she picked up her purse and came towards me looking like a dream. Taking her hand, we exited the same way I came and headed to our destination. We arrived at Masimo's, an upscale Italian restaurant I rented out for our first date.

“Why aren’t there any other cars out here?” She asked as I helped her out of the car and handed my keys to the valet in front of the restaurant.

“You’ll see.” I told her, taking her small hand and leading her into the restaurant.

The food was good as hell and was owned by one of my high school friends' families.

We entered the upscale establishment, and I gave the hostess my name before she led us to our table.

I pulled out her seat for her and made sure she was comfortable before I sat down across from her.

“Gunner, this is so beautiful. Have you been here before?”

“Yeah, my friend Andreas’ family owns this place. I’ve been here a few times but never with another woman.” I said making it clear that she was the first woman I had ever brought her with me.

The chicken parmesan and the pasta al limone is amazing.

Just about everything on the menu is good.

We continued to look over the menu while I ordered a bottle of red wine and talked about Pepper’s day.

When the waitress returned with our drinks, we placed our orders and continued to enjoy each other's company. Pepper sat happily telling me about her program and how much work it was and how she was working on new ways to cope with the workload. I couldn’t do anything but smile at how she glowed as she told me about her plans once she graduated.

It brought me nothing but joy to see her out here living her dreams.

Our food arrived and we dug in right away.

It was just as good as it had always been.

But the company of the woman I was slowly falling for was what made it that much better.

I cleared my throat, tapping my fingers on the table as our conversation got deeper and deeper.

When the conversions got around to our families I could feel the mood shift.

“I’ve never heard you talk about your family. Are you still in touch with them?” I asked her.

She picked up her wine, took a sip before placing it back on the table, then said.

“They’re dead. My mother and my father both died in a car crash that gave me this scar.

” She said pointing to the scar on her cheek that I thought blended in with her features beautifully.

It was noticeable if she wasn’t wearing make-up and if you were really looking.

It hit me that she usually stood angled with the blemish free side of her face toward people so it must be something that bothered her.

I need her to know that I didn’t give a fuck about that mark on her face it didn’t take away from her beauty at all.

She went on to tell me about her aunt and cousin and what she went through living with them.

My baby had gone through so much in her young age and I just wanted to take it all from her and make it better.

After hearing her story, it wasn’t as hard as I thought, giving her all the details of our childhood growing up in a household with drug addicted parents.

Leaving out the part where my mother may have gotten my father killed over a drug deal gone wrong.

When I told her about my mother’s mental illness I saw how she seemed to recoil in on herself and I couldn’t have that, I didn’t share any of that to make her sad.

“I’m sorry lil baby. Did I say something to upset you?”

“No. I know the feeling of living with mental illness.” She hesitated, chewing her lip before adding, “I’ve got…

a voice in my head. Nyx. She’s… not just a voice.

She’s me, but darker. Smarter. Scarier. People call it mental illness.

But Nyx helped me, she protected me when I couldn’t protect myself. ”

I watched her eyes, waiting for the flicker of shame, but she held steady. Brave. “And Taye the nigga you ran from?” I asked gently.

Her shoulders tensed, then eased as if she was peeling back a bandage.

“He… broke me every chance he got because I stayed longer than I should have and because of it, Nyx stopped talking to me. Until she couldn’t take watching what he was doing to me anymore. And then…we hurt him back.” Her gaze met mine, sharp, intense.

And I could see it, that glint in her eye that was her but someone else at the same time.

“You can run now if you want. But just know that you are Nyx’s new obsession and I don’t think she’ll let you go that easily.”

I leaned in, locking eyes so she could see the truth in them. “I’m not running. I’ve never been scared of darkness, lil baby. I was raised in that shit. Why would I run from yours?”

Something in her shifted, and she relaxed into her seat and the tension in the air lifted with each breath.

After our meal was done we ordered some panna cotta for dessert.

Our waitress returned to the table but this time she brought guests.

Two men dressed in black tailor-made suits followed closely behind her as she approached our table.

I could spot Andreas from anywhere, so I knew his tall bulky frame from a mile away.

The man next to him was a smaller carbon copy except for the glasses so I only assumed that this was his younger brother.

Andreas greeted me with a bro hug when he got to our table.

As we greeted each other I couldn’t miss the moment of recognition and longing in the eyes of his brother when he saw Pepper.