Nina's left leg bounced repeatedly with her right one folded over it, watching the young nurse check Tyler's vitals since he was finally awake from the deep sleep the pain medication had him in. Just looking at him boiled her blood. It was almost five hours later and she was still pissed off.

She still hadn't been to sleep yet and her stomach was hurting so bad from the liquor and hot wings she had in the club. Samir wasn't answering her calls, there was dried up blood on her dress, and she needed a shower. There were so many contributing factors to her anger.

"I'll bring one more round of pain meds and then I'll bring the discharge papers after breakfast. Please take it easy Mr. Davis." The nurse spoke softly to him before leaving out of the room, giving the two of them some privacy.

"I'm sorry Nina.. I missed you." He said to justify his actions, looking over at her through his bruised and swollen eyes.

"And you thought that was the best way to show it? Look at you, bro. For the second time!" She exclaimed, not bothering to lower her voice.

"No I—I told Jace not to, man.. I did. I only came to get you and I told him to stay in the car." He explained.

"You shouldn't have been there in the first place, Tyler. Like what sane person does shit like that? You could've just stopped Jace but no, instead, you tried to jump somebody you don't even know and got beat up instead. Did that work out how you planned it?" She purposely didn't use Samir's name because Tyler was the type to press charges and she didn't even play like that.

"It wasn't supposed to happen like t—,"

"Well it did. And now your face is messed up for the second time." She cut him off, gesturing to the mirror in the front of the room so that he could see himself.

It went quiet between the two of them for a few minutes, and Nina put her attention on her phone while Tyler's eyes lingered on her. She was so beautiful, even when she was blowing steam from her ears.

"Ma died yesterday.." He told her quieter than his previous tone. Her expression immediately dropped and she looked up from her phone at him with her lips parted slightly from shock.

She remembered him texting her last week when she was at that lounge with Zyriah that his mother was given only six more months to live with the second round of cancer. How did six months turn into less than two weeks?!

"Oh my god.. is that why y—," She cut herself off when he nodded, clenching his swollen jaw to stop himself from crying.

"I—I'm so sorry Ty..I didn't know." Her tone quieted as well, now regretting how harsh she'd been towards him.

"She, uh—she was looking for you." He cleared his throat to remove the lump there. "She said to tell you that she loved you and that she was sorry she couldn't say goodbye. I tried calling, but you didn't answer."

Nina's eyes instantly filled with tears, ruining her bottom eyeliner.

Although the same couldn't be said about Tyler's father, Veronica loved Nina from day one. All three of Tyler's brothers were either engaged or married but she only claimed Nina as her daughter. She loved her like she gave birth to her despite her husband feeling the complete opposite.

Nina felt terrible that she and Tyler's issues got in the way of her being there for Veronica on her deathbed. Even though Nina unintentionally pushed her away, Veronica always tried to be there for her in whatever way she could be, so it hurt Nina's feelings that she didn't do the same in the end.

"That's why Jace tried to fight him. He figured he was the reason you didn't show up. I didn't know he'd do that though, I swear. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you mad." He sincerely apologized.

"No—I'm sorry. I should've been there but I really didn't know. I thought she had six months? I wouldn't ha—Tyler you know me. I would've came. I'm so sorry." She was so distraught. She was not expecting to hear this.

"Yeah..I know. Thank you for staying to make sure I was good." He said, and all she did was nod in response.

She didn't have the heart to tell him that the only reason she was here was because Samir didn't answer the door for her and made sure Samara didn't do the same, and he also had her purse which had her key to his apartment in it so she couldn't get in at all. She was going back later though.

Even the news of Veronica's unfortunate and sudden passing wouldn't convince Nina to go home with Tyler. She meant it when she said she was ready to prioritize her own happiness, and that was with Samir. She was genuinely done with her husband regardless of their legally binding marriage.

"Oh, good, you're up." Jace walked in the room with the Gatorade he bought from the vending machine, then glanced between the two of them after feeling the energy in the room.

Jace was usually all over Nina in that playful annoying brother type of way but he hadn't really spoken to her since she arrived at the hospital three hours ago. Granted she came while he was asleep on the window cot and he literally just woke up a few minutes ago, but still.

"So y'all back together or what? 'Cause this gotta stop." He pointed to his brother's face, and Tyler rolled his eyes at him—well, as much as he could with them being swollen.

"No—we were talking about Ms. V. I'm sorry Jace." She offered her condolences to him.

"For?" He rose an eyebrow in confusion, and Nina's dropped and furrowed with the same feeling. She knew damn well...

"Not being there when she died?" She said to him in a questioning manner but focused her eyes on Tyler, only to see him trying to discreetly get his brother's attention.

"What the h—,"

"So she's alive?" She stood up from her seat at the same time that Tyler sighed, watching Jace nod, still confused.

"You a bitch and you weird. That was low as fuck." Nina grabbed her phone from the counter, heading for the door.

"Nina wait, I d—," He wasn't able to finish before she walked out of the room and straight to the elevator.

There was no damn way that man just sat there and lied with a straight face about his own mother being dead, then pretended as if he was fighting back tears on top of that. And for what? Because regardless, Nina wasn't going to stay.

She refused to believe that'd just happened. The same man who constantly preached about watching what you say because the tongue has power and whatnot, just for him to turn around and lie about his mother—who's literally battling a terminal cancer and has damn near been given a death date—being dead.

That was another level of delusional—deranged would describe that better. He honestly deserved an award for that because Nina was genuinely so apologetic and sorrowful to the point where she actually shedded tears and almost regretted her decision to leave him.

She couldn't do anything but shake her head as she rode in the Uber to Samir's condo. She shouldn't have even came up here with him. She was pissed off all over again, and now for a totally different reason.

When she made it there, she thanked the driver and walked into the lobby area. She just knew she looked crazy, too. She was still in her outfit from last night and she was only wearing the disposable shoe covers the nurse gave her at the hospital because Samir also had her heels.

"Bitch he gon' kill me. Hurry up." Samara waved her inside after opening the door, and Nina chuckled once she put her finger over the ring camera so that Samir wouldn't see it.

"He actually went to work? I thought he would've called out." She said, removing the shoe covers she wore to put them in the trash.

"Girl naw, he went to get some more backwoods. Talkin' bout he stressed and need to smoke. I said bitch you the one sent her ass away, why you stressed? He stressing me out knowing I got a badass hangover G." She rolled her eyes while scratching underneath the back of her wig, earning a laugh from Nina.

"He's so delusional Mara. He probably think I done chose Tyler over him or something and I didn't. He didn't even let me say nothing last night. I can't wait 'til he gets back 'cause I'ma slap fire from his ass."

"Bitch stop lying. You gon' say sorry and then fuck him." She put her hands on her hips, and this time she laughed along with Nina since they both knew there was some truth to that.

"I really hate hoes who think they know something when they don't know anythingggg." She carried a bottle of ginger ale with her to Samir's bedroom while flicking Samara off at the same time.

Nina chuckled to herself as she headed into his bathroom, pulling her dress from over her head.

"My life is literally a movie." She mumbled out loud as she turned on the shower faucet, lowering the square shaped head so that water wouldn't get in her face when she got in.

Nina walked out the bathroom with a gray towel wrapped around her body, and the first thing she seen was Samir sitting shirtless at his desk, taking pulls from a thick blunt. He turned around to say something to her but she wasn't listening because this man was so handsome even when he wasn't doing anything.

"Hello? What are you here for?" He snapped to get her attention.

"Boy don't snap at me like I'm a dog or somethin'. And shut up. I can be here." She waved him off while walking to his front dresser.

"You take everything as a joke and I hate that."

"Well." She shrugged.

"Nina I'm not playing with you."

"I don't care Samir. You being dramatic for nothing. You don't even have shit to be mad at 'cause I didn't do anything wrong."

"I told you if y—,"

"I know what you said and I listened to you. I didn't touch him. I literally got on the elevator right after y'all went up and when I got there you said I couldn't come in. I didn't 'tend' to him. Now stop talking to me before you irritate me." She sat down on the edge of the bed with a bottle of shea and cocoa butter oil gel in her hands.

"So where have you been all night?" He ignored her the last thing she said.

"Not here 'cause you wouldn't let me in. And you know it's cold as fuck outside." She frowned. This was the second year in a row that Texas had an unexpected and severe cold front coming in.

"I don't even know why you were mad. I would choose you over him a thousand times. That's why I'm here with you right now. But if you don't think so and if you don't want me here, tell me. I'll leave." She stopped rubbing her arm to look at him, watching as his expression gradually softened.

"Then stop acting like that with me. I didn't do anything wrong Mir. And I'm sorry for making you mad but you didn't even give me the chance to talk to you. You literally shut the door in my face when I was trying to tell you I didn't do anything." She closed the top to the bottle after a few seconds of silence, walking back to the front dresser.

Samir's arms slid around her waist from behind as she rummaged the drawer for a matching underwear set, and the feeling of his plump lips on her skin followed moments later as he planted multiple kisses on the side of her face.

"I'm sorry ma ma. I shouldn't have taken my anger out on you." He grabbed her neck to tilt her head back, and she couldn't help the smile the spread across her lips once he kissed them.

She'd been irritated and pissed off since last night. It was crazy how one kiss from him changed her whole mood.

"I was mad. That didn't give me the right to treat you like that though. I'm sorry for ignoring you, too."

"That's okay baby. We good? I hate beefing with you." She turned around in his arms to face him, watching him nod his head.

"I'll always choose you stink. You the only one for me. I love you the most." She said to him when he pulled her in for a hug.

"I love you more. Thank you." His head lowered to her height, and she smiled against his lips as he gave her another kiss.

"Now why you smoking and stuff like you grown? That was supposed to be a one time thing." She stared up at him with a lingering smile.

"I really needed a cigarette. Be lucky it was only weed." He shook his head in fake distress, making her laugh.

"I need one of those too. All y'all irritate me so bad. I damn near ripped my braids out." She went in his bathroom to hang her towel up now that she was dry, and Samir tried not to tune out the sound of her talking since her naked body now had his attention.

He always swore to himself that when he finally got a girlfriend, he wouldn't be one of those people who had sex everyday because it would get tiring. He didn't realize how inevitable it was when living with your significant other—and it wasn't tiring at all. It was worse for him because Nina was always teasing him, sometimes unintentionally and other times on purpose.

It was rare for him to be the one that initiated anything because he knew the surface of the sexual trauma she endured and the last thing he wanted to do was trigger her. She always told him that she wouldn't mind if he touched her though; she even became jokingly upset when he didn't do it on his own.

Still, staring was more than enough for him. She was beautiful.

"Just take a picture Mir. It'll last longer." She chuckled, pulling his shirt on over her body as he finally tuned back into reality.

"I'm sorry. I was distracted. You do stuff like that on purpose." He furrowed his eyebrows at her in a frown, and it deepened at the sight of her innocent grin. Such a tease.

Nina pulled the covers back to get in the bed, then stopped herself at the sight of his phone. She typed in his code to unlock it and went to the camera app while Samir just stood there to see what she was doing.

She stuck her tongue out to pose with the phone angled behind her, showing off her bare backside and what was between her legs since she wasn't wearing any underwear—taking a picture for him since he was clearly too afraid to do it himself.

"There you go pooh." She tossed him the phone to show him the picture, then laughed at the dumbfounded expression on his face before finally getting in the bed.

"Stop being scared to do stuff. Come here." She grabbed his arm to pull him closer, and he smiled as she pulled him all the way underneath the covers with her.

"I'm not scared. I just don't want to make you uncomfortable. And what do I need a picture for when she's mine? I know that I can look at her whenever I want." He said with the utmost confidence which earned a laugh from her.

"I know that's right baby. Fuck I thought?" She held her hands up in surrender before wrapping her arms around him while his smile lingered.

"Where were you?" He then asked, fixing her bonnet correctly on her forehead.

"I did end up going to the hospital.. I didn't talk to him much though—just for like five minutes and he's so weird, he gon' tell me his mama died to get me to sympathize with him. I believed him 'cause you know she has terminal cancer but she's not even dead yet. I hate stupid weird shit like what was the point of that?" She expressed annoyingly.

"I don't like that nigga. What was he even doing here?" Samir became pissed off all over again.

"I don't know. He said he came to 'get me' 'cause I didn't go to the hospital with his mom but since that was all a lie, I literally don't even know the reason. I didn't stay long enough to ask."

"His goofy ass on some fu shit thinking he getting you back; it's not like that. I'm not coming up off you. You going somewhere?" He looked at her with a frown, and she bit down slightly on her bottom lip at the slip of his accent.

"Nope. I'm good where I'm atttt." She leaned forward to lick his lips, then laughed when he smacked them at her.

"I'm on you real bad. I ain't going nowhere at all, I swear." She made a cross on her chest, and she was dead serious even though it seemed like she was joking.

"You need to let him know what I'm on any time he think it's good like that. I'ma beat the fuck outta him and anybody he come with. I'm not no hoe."

"Stop being a slut. I'm being for real." He grabbed her neck to stop her from kissing him, and her smile spread wide across her face.

"You sooo fine. Is it bad to say I love when you pissed off? 'Cause I do. Gimme kiss." She moved to climb on top of him, and he couldn't help his smile that returned as she kissed all over his skin.

"Freaky as hell. I'm not playing with you." He tightened the grip on her neck, still smiling against her lips while returning her kiss.

"You can play with something else."

"I'm 'bout to. Take this off." He tugged on her shirt, and Nina laughed before raising up to do as told.

Guyssss follow my nail page on Instagram this is my new hobby 😝😍 @kaikrylx it's on priv rn but I'ma make it public soon