SUGAR

I drove back to my apartment in silence, ignoring the abundance of calls and texts coming through as I tried to process what just happened. Finding out that the charges against Slim that once terrified me were completely false, the amazing sex we had, and him thinking I set him up to be arrested played over and over in my head. It would be hard to explain his innocence to everyone after everything that's happened over the past few weeks, but I would try my best to plead his case.

I pulled into my parking space, sitting for a moment to take advantage of the little bit of peace I still had before all hell broke loose. I took a deep breath before getting out and making my way upstairs.

"She's here, she just walked through the door. I'll call you back," Drew said hanging up the phone and running over to me to pull me into a hug. "Baby, why the fuck didn't you answer? I was going crazy."

I cried onto his shoulder, upset that Slim would never forgive me.

"What happened? Tell me," he pleaded grabbing both sides of my face as there was a knock on the door.

He walked over and opened it as Bria busted in. She ran straight over to me, almost knocking me over to hug me.

"JoJo, we were fucking losing it! Are you okay? Did he hurt you?" she asked looking for bruises on my body.

"I'm fine!" I yelled, jerking away from her.

They both stared at me in shock after my outburst, waiting for me to say something. I turned and walked into my bedroom, slamming the door behind me. I laid down on the bed in the dark crying as I heard them talking on the other side of the door.

"Did she say anything?" Bria asked.

"No, she just came in and started crying," Drew replied. "I'm sorry she snapped at you. I know she didn't mean it. She's been on edge the past couple days."

"I'm just glad she's okay. Did you talk to John?"

"Yeah I was on the phone with him when she got home. I'll get her to call him in the morning once she sleeps it off."

"Okay, I'll stay in the guest room. Just don't force her to talk until she's ready."

I heard her footsteps go towards the guest room before hearing Drew come into the bedroom. He kept the light off and quietly walked over to the bed, getting under the covers. I could feel his eyes on me so I got under the covers with him, rolling into a sad ball on my side of the bed. The light from his phone screen lit up the entire room as he returned texts letting everyone know I was home safely. Once he finished I felt his arm wrap around me and pull me closer to his chest. I felt his breathing slow down before he started softly snoring. Once I knew he was asleep I softly cried until I drifted off.

The next morning ...

I woke up early, still feeling sad about the night before. I went into the bathroom and sighed as I stared at myself in the mirror. My eyes were red and puffy from crying all night. I did my morning routine the best I could and went out to sit on the patio with DJ. He sat at my feet feeling my sadness as he tried his best to provide comfort to his sad parent. I checked my phone to see that I had no missed messages or calls from Slim and decided to check the county jail website to see the status of his arrest. I typed in his name, my heart dropping to my ass when I saw his handsome mugshot. I stared at him for a while until I scrolled further down, seeing that he had posted bail and was released earlier this morning.

I went to my recent calls, selecting the unsaved 281 number that caused a whirlwind of emotions over the past few months. The phone rang continuously and just before I hung up, he answered.

"What?" he asked very dryly.

"Devon," I uttered as my voice cracked.

"What, Jordyn?"

"I need to see you."

"You set me up."

"Please just let me explain."

"Bye, Jordyn," he said, hanging up the phone.

I grabbed my keys, leaving my phone on the counter, before heading to his apartment. I ran down the hallway to his door, knocking until it finally opened. He looked down at me before turning his back, leaving the door open for me to come inside. He laid on the sofa with his legs propped up, showing the house arrest monitor around his ankle.

"I'm so sorry, Devon."

"You got 2 minutes to explain."

"I didn't set you up, I swear. I didn't think I was safe so I shared my location with Drew and when he didn't hear back from me he called the police."

"Did you know about the investigation?"

"Yes."

"Then you set me up," he said harshly before getting up to walk to his bedroom.

"Slim, please," I begged him, grabbing his arm to stop him from leaving. "I wanted to tell you. I wanted to call everything off with the detectives. I just needed to call everything off."

"You played in my face. You knew what was going on and you came over here anyway."

"You threatened to expose me!"

"You exposed yourself and still came. Do I look stupid to you, Jordyn?"

"That was before I knew that the situation with Nina wasn't your fault. You pulled a gun on Drew, Devon. I was scared. I didn't know what to expect when I came here so I protected myself."

"Even after you knew you still didn't say anything!"

We stared at each other as tears formed in my eyes.

"I don't know what to do."

"You did enough. Get the fuck out," he said, turning to walk away.

"How is this MY fault when YOU sold the fucking drugs?!" I yelled, pulling his arm again.

He grabbed me by the throat and pushed me against the wall. His eyes became dark as he stared at me.

"You betrayed me. I loved you and you betrayed me," he said as a tear rolled down his face.

"I didn't mean to. Just let me fix it," I cried at his pain as I wiped away his tear.

"Fuck," he muttered before pressing his lips to mine, kissing me with the same intensity as the night before.

He ran his hands through my hair, pulling it gently before he picked me up and carried me to the bedroom.