Page 6

Crown Gravehart

I watched Four through the tinted windows, trying my best to read her.

Leah was on some good bullshit from what Chosyn texted me.

I wasn't tripping off none of it. I didn't have shit to hide.

What fucked me up was Chosyn being the one to tell me what happened instead of River.

All she had to do was call and ask if it was true with the phone on speaker.

Had she done that, she'd known Leah was on bullshit.

Questioning River on why she didn't act in the manner of a woman who trusted her nigga was pointless.

I knew the answer. We made us official six months ago, and she'd been walking on pins and needles since.

It was hot and fucking cold with her ass.

One minute, she'll be in the moment with me, and the next, she's elsewhere, mentally blocking me out.

The fucked-up part was we still laughed and joked like best friends and fucked like rabbits.

Any race she had, I pulled up to ride shotgun and watch my four-eyed bandit dust these hoes.

Our shit really should've been rainbows and gumdrops, but every so often, she detached from a nigga.

"Nigga, you gon' sit in that bitch forever?" Wolfe questioned, knocking on the passenger window.

Inwardly, I chuckled, amused at how much shit Wolfe talked after becoming a dad.

The nigga who kept shit close to the vest found his voice after Phoenix entered the world.

I was happy for bro. If any of us deserved this, it was him.

Wolfe had a chance to give his daughter the family neither he nor Chosyn had.

At one point, I was nervous for 'em, but now I couldn't believe how Phoenix lucked up with them as parents.

"Get the fuck out, nigga." Wolfe knocked again.

Reaching toward the back seat, I grabbed the bouquet of roses and hopped out of my whip.

It didn't take long for my eyes to wander toward the woman who managed to capture my heart.

My four-eyed beauty looked good as fuck, with her curls bouncing around in the light breeze.

Staring back, she pushed her muthafuckin' glasses up, and a nigga had to hit that twitch in my stride to readjust my dick.

Four with glasses and her curls out was my muthafuckin' kryptonite.

Four could get the world and the moon out of me, and her ass knew it too.

"Are those for me?" she cooed, reaching for the flowers.

"Nah."

Moving past her, I hit the GD salute with Wolfe, then tapped my forehead twice.

"If those ain't for Four, who the fuck you buying roses for?" he asked.

I chuckled, walking toward the house, knowing who I brought them for would piss him off.

"Nigga, you brought my wife flowers?"

Hearing that shit, I jogged the rest of the way to the crib and let myself in. Chosyn had already told me the door was unlocked.

"Take these 'cause yo' husband gon' wanna fight," I told her.

Laughing, she took the flowers and passed me my niece.

"Ight sweetheart, I need you to keep me safe from yo' crazy ass?—"

"Chosyn, put them damn flowers down!" Wolfe barked, entering the house.

"Why? They're just flowers from Crown."

"I don't care if they were from Jesus himself. I'm the only nigga you take flowers from."

"Wow, really?" she smacked.

"Yeah." Wolfe snatched the flowers from Chosyn, disappearing for a few moments, then came back.

"Crown you on bullshit. How you get my wife flowers, but you won't let River make me a plate?"

"Touché, my nigga." I laughed. "They were just some happy six-month wedding anniversary flowers."

"I know you didn't throw them away?" Chosyn smacked. "At least someone remembered."

"They deep in the trash, too. I made sure to get some of Phoenix's shit on 'em so you can't pull them out."

"Ugh, you're so damn annoying. I don't know why I married you."

Wolfe's eyes flickered with a gleam of darkness I hadn't seen in a while. He yoked Chosyn forward, then squeezed her jaw so hard it made my teeth grind.

"Don't fuckin' play with me, Chosyn. You married me 'cause you're my fucking heart. I can't fit your big ass in my chest to make sure muthafuckas don't play with you, so I gave you my last name."

"Wolfie," she grudged out.

"Nah, you fucking listen. I love you, and because I do, I'll never forget what’s important. Had yo' mean ass walked upstairs, you might've seen the diamond necklace yo' ass been asking for draped over a bouquet of flowers I fucking brought."

"Oh my god!" Chosyn's eyes bucked.

"Nah, don't get excited now after you popped yo' shit. I'ma let you go 'cause I don't want yo' jaw lockin' up when I'm fuckin' yo' throat later."

Wolfe jerked Chosyn closer, bringing their lips together but barely touching.

The moment was one I should've walked away from, but a nigga was stuck.

The love they shared wasn't just in their words or held captive in their eyes.

It surrounded them. It was their essence, their muthafuckin' aura, and it was numbing to anyone close enough to witness.

"Who am I to you?"

"My love," Chosyn cooed, then repeated the question to Wolfe.

"My heart, and don't you fuckin' forget it."

"Never! Now, can I go see my gift?"

"Man, go 'head." Wolfe mushed her laughing as she moved quick as fuck toward the stairs. I passed my nigga back his kid 'cause I had my own shit to deal with.

"You out?" Wolfe questioned.

"Yeah, gotta go make some shit right."

"You and Four good?"

"We straight."

"Love you."

"Love y'all too. Lock up behind me.

I left their crib and headed toward River's car.

She was sitting in the driver's seat, dazed.

The far-gone look in her eyes wasn't new to me.

I saw it every morning that I stayed at her place.

Four loved waking up at the crack of dawn to watch the sunrise.

After she went into her closet, where she stayed for thirty minutes, she came out with a look that let you know she wasn't here.

The first time I asked her about it, she chewed my head off.

I let it go since we weren't official. With us now together, I was learning there was a lot about Mrs. Gravehart I didn't know.

"Come take a drive with me, and before you say anything about your car, you know it's safe here."

Without fighting me, she got out and walked over to my whip, waiting for me to open the door.

"You look and smell good as fuck Four," I complimented.

"Funny because I didn't get any flowers."

I chuckled at her sarcasm.

"That's 'cause you out here letting hoes play in your face 'bout me." I closed the door before she could say some back. The shit was short-lived. As soon as I got in the car, her juicy ass lips were running.

"Oh, your hoe let you know your secret is out."

As I pulled off, I laughed hard as fuck.

"Did I tell a joke?" She frowned.

"Hell fuckin' yeah. Ain't no way you believe that bullshit you just said."

"What if I do?"

"Then I'm doing something wrong and gotta figure out where I fucked up to have you thinking I'll step out on you."

"Men do it all the time."

"They do, but I said to make you think I'll step out on you . What I'm saying has nothing to do with the everyday nigga and his bitch. I'm speaking on us... Crown and fucking Four."

I waited to see if Four had anything to say. When she didn't speak, I connected my phone to the dash. Coming to a red light, I used that time to scroll until I found the song that always seemed to change Four's mood.

"You lift my heart up when the rest of me is down."

"You think playing my favorite song is going to fix this?"

"Nah, I think your favorite song is gon' ease that attitude outta you before I gotta do it."

"Whatever, Cortez."

Rolling her eyes, Four couldn't stop the smile that came across her face. She mouthed the words to Latch by Disclosure and Sam Smith. I hated this fuckin' song but would suffer through it if it fixed her fucking attitude.

"Aye, come outside real quick," I spoke into the phone.

The question of who I was speaking to burned in all four of Four's eyes.

"Why, Crown?"

"'Cause I fuckin' said so. I'm tryin' to be a gentleman 'bout this shit."

"Since when are you a gentleman?"

"Since I got with a woman who deserves one. Bring yo' ass outside, or I'm coming up to that closet-ass apartment and fucking shit up." I ended the call, and Four was all over me with questions.

"Who was that? And why they gotta come outside?"

"You'll see," I told her and rounded the corner onto Leah's block.

"Why are we on Leah's block?"

"Chosyn told me you called me a liar." I shifted the car into park and allowed my eyes to drink Four in.

Pretty didn't hold enough weight, and gorgeous wasn't bold enough.

My attraction to River went beyond the realms of any language.

She was Four, and being with her had me feeling like I witnessed a unicorn in real life.

Everything about her was perfect, even her flaws.

I didn't want to jinx shit but looking at Four was seeing my life as a husband in her eyes.

The happiness of her being my wife in the curve of her smile.

Four was my future in human form. No matter how fucked up her attitude was, no one was gon' jeopardize my happily ever after.

"I don't know why Chosyn ran her mouth to you. It wasn't that deep."

"Chosyn did what you should've."

"Leah said you promised forever with her and?—"

Again, I bust out laughing. Four's entire face twisted into a nasty mug, but fuck did she want me to do when she was saying bullshit.

"I'm tired of you laughing when I'm being serious."

"Four, what do you want me to do? You're letting a bitch who holds no occupancy in my life play in yo' face. Shit is hilarious 'cause I can see you believed that bullshit."

Before Four spewed more bullshit, Leah walked over with a few scratches on her face and a lump on the right side of her forehead. Four and I both hopped out the car.

"See talking shit will get yo' ass beat every time."