Free GRIT (The Silver Nitrate Series Book 2) by Tiana Laveen Page B

and they’ll call my bluff. I can’t mess up Paw’s life like this. I don’t even know how much longer he has.” He sighed. “His last years should be fairly peaceful, not being left with strangers again. I don’t trust anyone to watch him except for Denise after what happened but if I’m gone all the time, he’d need more than just her… and I know she wouldn’t come to Michigan, so I’d be starting from scratch.”
    “I know, Zenith… I know. Look, let’s talk about this later. Right now, you need to pretend like you’re on board. Don’t shoot this opportunity in the foot. You just got it.”
    “What about our opportunity, huh?” He trailed his finger slowly down the side of her face. “You’re not getting away from me, Silver. I’m not letting you go. I don’t know what I’m going to do, but you’ve got to be with me, every step of the way, or I can’t do this. I can’t take you away, but I can’t let you stay. I’m stuck.”
    He hugged her tight. She kissed his nose and smiled.
    “We’ll discuss it, figure something out, just like I said.”
    “That’s not a good enough answer… but…” He sighed. “We’ll get back to this later.” He winked at her, then reluctantly released her to re-enter the studio. The group mulled about, talking amongst themselves. Steve approached him, a crimped grin on his face.
    “Mr. Taylor, come with me, please…” The man led him away to a back office. Before the door closed, Zenith snuck a look at Silver. There she stood in her snow-white jogging suit and pristine black and white Nikes. Her hair was pulled back in a low afro puff, and kinky spindles of hair framed her gorgeous, oval shaped face. In that moment, images of their lovemaking in the shower earlier that morning fractured his thoughts. As he’d moved inside her, he’d promised her things, things he meant from the bottom of his heart. Nothing would make him break those promises, not even a record deal and an opportunity of a lifetime…
    In this life, Silver was his lifeline. She awakened him, made him see the world in a way he’d never dreamed possible. In facing his loss and pain, he was found and healed. In assisting one another, and allowing each other to simply be , they’d become complete. He didn’t just want the woman; he needed her. She was his gig, his grind. She was his fire against metal and his metal against wood as music erupted from his very core.
    Paw and Silver were his humble beginnings and fantastic future. Nothing before them or after them quite mattered, and the reality of this sunk in faster than Javier had walked out on him. He hung his head as the door closed completely, locking and blocking his silver lining in the midst of great pressure and bountiful blessings. He stood there, praying silently.
    “Mr. Taylor, please have a seat. We have a lot to discuss today…”

    Paw always says, “There are four seasons…” But he never means it in the way one would think. I always respond in a flippant way and name the obvious, and he always corrects me, reminds me of the religion of our people, and the importance of metamorphosis…
    Zenith sat at his grandfather’s bed and rested his chin upon steepled fingers. He’d only been back in town for a few hours, but after taking Silver home, all he wanted to do was see the man, make sure he was okay. The audition and visit to Michigan proved to be emotionally taxing, downright draining. He prepared to tell Steve that after careful deliberation, things were not conducive to his needs, but then Silver’s voice rang out in his mind…
    ‘Don’t you tell these people ‘no’!’
    As they lay together in the hotel room, huddled close together, naked and a bit cold but wrapped snugly under the sheets, he played with a cluster of her curls and questioned her love for him. It was a horrible feeling, tinged with the type of insecurity he’d only read about.
    Was he going insane? How could she force him into the limelight,