Page 26 of Obsessive Love

FABLE

“Is what KO is asking you doable?” Pyrite asked, and I nodded.

My attention was on the recipe that she and I had agreed on.

Every team would have a running theme, and I would play off each player's personality. KO wanted to keep hers simple with a Blueberry cheesecake swirl cookie. I’d never done one, but I was up for the challenge.

“Absolutely,” I said, nodding. “I can't wait to make it.”

“Why don’t you?” he asked, and I shrugged. We were sitting in the living room; the TV was on, but we weren’t paying attention. My focus was on my sketchbook, and his was on his laptop. “The kitchen is right there.”

“I don’t want to impose,” I denied, and he chuckled. “What’s so funny?”

“You,” Pyrite replied, setting his computer on the coffee table and standing.

He towered over me, but not in an imposing way.

Yes, he was big and manly, but he looked down at me as if I were the most amazing thing he’d ever seen.

I could never understand Pyrite, no matter how hard I tried.

He was crazy as fuck one second, and the next, he was calm and charming.

He smiled down at me and moved his hair from his face. “What do you want to create?”

My eyes shifted from my sketchbook to my notebook, full of recipes, and then back to Pyrite. I bit my bottom lip and sighed when Pyrite gave me another smile. “You promise not to laugh?”

“Yeah,” he smirked. “I got you.”

I flipped through my sketchbook until I found the recipe and picture, and then showed them to him.

His face twisted in confusion, and all I could do was laugh.

“It’s a black velvet cake filled with blackberry compote.

” I turned the sketchbook around and traced my design.

“It's one of the reasons I was up half the night. It came to me during a dream.” The reason was him. No matter how hard I tried to get him off my mind, I couldn’t.

I woke up so horny that I ended up playing with my own pussy as I thought of him.

Some of me hoped he was watching or heard me and came to the room, but he never did.

I stared down at the picture. This was one of my most detailed drawings because I wanted it to be as perfect as possible.

Blackberries lined the top of the cake, and I debated whether I wanted to put something else on it.

I wanted the taste to speak for itself, but I also knew that the eye appeal was what would draw people to try it.

“You got everything you need?” he asked, and I shrugged. “Alright, let’s check; if not, we can run to the store.”

“Okay,” I said. I got up from the couch, and we walked into the kitchen. I had almost everything I wanted, so our trip to the store would be quick. I told Pyrite, and then he offered to take me to the store, which I agreed to.

“Can I ask you something?”

“What’s up?” he asked as he drove. His car was something I’d never even imagined I would be in, yet here I was, a passenger in a Maserati Levante.

The black and cream interior could only be described as sexy, and seeing Pyrite easily steer the car only added to the appeal.

His hand rubbed across the steering wheel, and flashes of his hand moving up and down my leg flew through my mind.

I squeezed my legs together and adjusted in my seat. “Fable?”

“Hmm?” I pulled my eyes from his hands to his face. I lifted my brow in question and waited for him to start talking.

Pyrite chuckled like he knew where my thoughts were and then licked his lips. “You asked if you could ask me a question.”

“Oh,” I laughed and nodded. “Yeah, why do you do so much for yourself, and you’re rich?”

“Because I wasn’t always rich,” he answered with a shrug. “Shit is a hard habit to break, to be truthful.”

“I don’t agree, but I understand,” I replied. “But if it were me, I would have a little help to ease my burden.”

He chuckled and then turned at the green light. “The burden ain’t even big. It’s just me in that big ass house, so I clean as I go.”

“Your company has the same mindset?” I asked.

“Yep,” he answered with ease. He pulled into the grocery store's parking lot, parked, shut off the truck, and got out. I watched as he rounded the car, came to my door, and opened it. “Come on.”

With his assistance, I got out of the car before he closed the door, and we walked into the store. Because I was from a different state, I had to remember that this store wasn’t my usual one, and they might not have everything I needed.

“What do you need?” he grabbed a cart and leaned against it.

“Fruit,” I answered, and he nodded. “Also, I just want to see what they have.”

“Alright, let’s go,” he said, then started moving. We walked through the store on the first lap to see what they had, but I started putting what I wanted in the basket on the second lap. When we got back to the fruit, I started looking over everything. “You good?”

“Yes,” I nodded as I looked over a pineapple. “I just wasn’t expecting these kinds of options.”

“Memphis doesn’t half-ass it,” he chuckled. “His wife was picky as fuck when she was pregnant with their first child and wouldn’t talk to him for hours at a time when she couldn’t get the fruit that she wanted.”

“Memphis?” I set the pineapple down and picked up another one. The first one looked good but wasn’t big enough for what I had in mind. “Who is he?”

“A friend,” Pyrite answered. “He also owns this store and six others.”

“Of course, you would be friends with the owner,” I laughed and put the pineapple in the basket. “Who else do you know?”

“A few killers, drug dealers, thieves, and misfits,” he answered, and I playfully rolled my eyes.

“Pyrite, be serious,” I laughed.

“I am,” he shrugged. “Shit, you know them too.” He wiped his hand over his mouth and chuckled. “My family is off the chain; I can't deny it.”

“Your family?” my eyes damn near bucked out of my head, and he nodded. “No damn way.”

“Fable, them niggas are not innocent at all. Citrine was a boxer and fought underground for years. Am was legit a car thief. Before he wore those scrubs, he was popping doors and making bands.” He laughed. “I know you didn’t think we were always legit.”

“I had an idea,” I said, nodding. “But for you to freely admit it is crazy.”

“Because I trust you,” he replied. “Ain’t no reason to have any secrets.”

“I could be your biggest downfall,” I said, and he shook his head.

“Never,” he said, and it was my turn to shake my head.

“Never say never, Pyrite,” I said as I moved around to look at another pile of fruit. I hardly ever used dragon fruit, but after seeing them, I now wanted to.

“I stand on what I said,” he replied.

Pyrite followed me with the basket to the register, where a tall, muscular man stood with a short woman beside him. A cute little girl in a stroller sat kicking her feet and eating an apple. Pyrite laughed, and I looked back to see him smiling.

“I ain’t know you were here,” he said, coming to stand next to me.

“This my shit, you think I don’t know when my people show up?” The man replied. He looked from Pyrite to me, our basket, and then back to Pyrite. “What’s good?”

“I can’t complain,” Pyrite said. They gave each other a brotherly hug; Pyrite stepped back and put his arm around me. “This is Fable, Fable, this is the Lincolns; Memphis, Nyla, and their daughter, Coen.”

“It’s nice to meet y’all,” I said as I shook Memphis's hand. Nyla hugged me, but Coen was too busy enjoying her apple to care about what we were doing.

“You’re the baker, right?” Nyla asked. “Xoey told me all about you. She said something about a girls' night soon?”

I knew nothing about what she was talking about, so I only nodded in response. What Xoey planned in her head, only she knew. I wasn’t about to try to figure out what she was thinking.

“What you got in the works?” Memphis asked me as he eyed the basket. “You about to be in the kitchen?”

“Yes,” I laughed. “I have a few things I’m playing around with and need to start working on.”

“Whatever it is, I want,” Memphis laughed. “I already heard from Am how you get down. And from the way this nigga looking, he wasn’t lying.”

I glanced over at Pyrite and saw him smiling. “Everything I’ve sampled has been good as fuck.” He licked his lips and eyed me. “I know whatever is next is going to be top-notch.”

“No doubt,” Memphis agreed. “Let us get out of here. We were heading home, and Coen started crying for an apple.”

“And you ain’t gonna tell your daughter or her mama, no,” Pyrite laughed. Nyla stood beside Memphis with a smirk that said what Pyrite said was the truth.

“Damn sure ain’t,” Memphis replied with a smirk. “One day, you’ll understand this feeling.”

“And I can't wait,” Pyrite said. “But y’all get out of here; we're about to pay, then head out.”

“Give the cashier the family code,” Memphis said, then hugged Pyrite, and they left.

We checked out, and I noticed Pyrite gave the cashier a discount code. Our bill originally was close to five hundred dollars; after the discount, it was under seventy-five. After he loaded the groceries into the car, we went back to the house, and I went to work on the cake.

“What do you want for dinner?” Pyrite asked, coming into the kitchen an hour later. “I’ll cook while you work on your cake.”

“I’ll cook since I’m already in here,” I offered, and Pyrite nodded.

I was one of those people who hated having a lot of people in the kitchen when I was working here.

Me cooking only made sense, and it gave me a chance to be away from Pyrite.

I needed space; my hormones were sky-high, and every time he was close to me, I was ready to jump his bones.

I had to be ovulating or about to start because I was typically never like this.

“I saw you had steak in the fridge. Do you mind if I use that?”

“Nah, that’s cool,” he said as he looked at his phone. “The only thing I ask is that my steak is medium well.”

“Okay,” I replied. “I’ll call you when it’s ready.”