Page 31 of Kissed By the Trillest Thug 2

The name registered immediately.Malik. So, this was him. The two of them turned and started walking back toward the parking lot. I stayed in the doorway, watching them go.

Both looked like they were running out of places to search. Halfway into the parking lot, a ringtone suddenly cut through the morning air. The woman stopped walking. Her hand immediately dove into the pocket of her hoodie. A second later, she pulled out her phone and looked at the screen. Everything about her changed.

“Maliah!”

The relief in her voice hit so hard that even I felt it.

“Thank God.”

She answered before the phone finished ringing.

“Baby, are you okay?”

The panic from earlier was gone. It was replaced with relief, pure relief. The man stopped beside her immediately. I couldn’t hear what was being said on the other end. But I didn’t need to. The moment the call came through, I knew that everything was alright. I stood there for another second, watching the conversation unfold before finally stepping back inside and closing the door. Whatever happened next… It had nothing to do with me.

MALIAH

The first thing I noticed when I opened my eyes was the blanket draped over me.

The second was that my neck hurt. I winced slightly and pushed myself upright, blinking a few times as I tried to orient myself. For a moment, I just sat there. Then everything came rushing back. Things with my dad and Tahari came back and were fresh, just like I had just learned everything all over again. My eyes immediately found him. Tahari was sitting at the opposite end of the couch, his injured arm resting carefully against a pillow while the television played low in the background. The second he noticed I was awake, he muted it.

“Morning.”

His voice was rough. Probably because neither one of us had gotten much sleep. I looked down and immediately noticed my phone sitting on the coffee table. A charger ran from the wall straight into it. My brows pulled together.

“You charged it?” I asked.

Tahari shrugged. I didn’t even know it had died.

“You were knocked the fuck out. Drooling, snoring and all.”

A small smile almost pulled at my mouth despite everything. Then I reached for the phone. The smile disappeared instantly, and my stomach dropped. I missed calls. Dozens of them. All from my mother, my father, MJ, even Maylee called. And I had more texts than I could count.

The blood immediately drained from my face.

“Oh, my God.”

Tahari straightened slightly.

“What?”

I looked up at him.

“I was supposed to be back before anybody got up.”

My voice was shaky because I knew that I was in trouble now. I tapped my mother’s name immediately. The phone barely rang once.

“Mama…”

“Baby, are you okay?”

The panic underneath her words made my chest tighten.

“I’m okay.”

“Where are you?”

I glanced toward Tahari. He was watching me carefully now.