Riley Goode is an entertainment reporter for Associated Press. Her first big story is to cover the fight of the year in Vegas involving undefeated heavy weight champion, Yasir Belair.
Riley's best friend, Lena convinces her to live just for the nig...
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Letting out a deep breath, I turned the car off and got out. My hood was placed firmly over my curls as I made my way to the elevator of the garage. The silence was deafening as I made my way up to her floor.
Once the doors opened, a woman stepped on with her head down as I tried to step off but I would know that frame from anywhere. "Aaliyah," I watched as a shiver ran through her body before she slowly looked up and faced me.
"W-what are you doin' here, Yasir? I know the terms of the NDA? We're good."
I leaned onto the wall, seeing she was avoiding all eye contact as she spoke. "Look at me."
"For what?" She placed piece of her freshly, straight hair behind her ear, doing as I asked.
"I'm sorry."
The look on her face was one of pure shock and surprise as she furrowed her brows. "For what?" She repeated the same question, anxiously waiting on my response.
"For all of the pain I caused you." I admitted. "I know I hurt you and I'm sorry because I should have respected you better than that. I don't want you to think you didn't mean anything to me and that you walking away didn't," I cleared my throat. "Doesn't have me feeling some type of way. Because it does."
Aaliyah nodded her head before the doors opened and we were back at the starting point, the garage.
"This is really big of you. I honestly thought the party would be the last time I saw you."
"Rather you believe it or not, I love you. I have a lot of love for you."
"But you're not in love." She led the way out of the contraption, placing her hands on her hips. "And I can't get mad at how you feel."
Just from the look on her face, I could tell that she was hurt by the admission. No matter what her mouth said, her body language said something completely different. "You can feel how you feel. No one can police it and you can't turn those feelings off."
She let out a deep breath and looked away from me. "Thanks, I guess."
The tension between us could literally be felt. I reached out and grabbed her hand. "I fucked up. I'll admit that. You was with me before this shit really started and I should have respected you more, really let you know what you was gettin' ya self into." She didn't say anything as I continued. "But I didn't know. I kinda made the rules as we went along."
Aaliyah let out a deep breath. "I can't just let you take all of the blame. When I saw the way shit was playing out, I should have bounced but part of me believed you would get tired and be ready to settle down with me. That's my fault."
That wasn't a lie because I brought in other girls. I wanted new shit from time to time. It wasn't right but I wasn't sneaky bout it.
"When I told you to go be happy, I meant that. If a nigga is not on your terms, bounce. Don't wait around." The advice probably sounded foolish coming from me but I believed it.
