“Tessa, stop talking like a fool. Neither you nor I know who this is. Could be Josh for all I know.”
Josh? Who the fuck was Josh? My fist was clenched. I hadn’t considered another nigga being in the picture. Whoever he was, he would be the weakest link by the time I was done. And he couldn’t have been that important because he wasn’t on any of her social media. If she were my woman, I’d be any and everywhere making sure niggas understood she wasn’t on the market. I’m talking hashtags, tagged photos, holding hands, smacking ass in public, that’s the type of time I’d be on.
“Bitch. Josh? When did that nigga ever apply pressure like this? I’ll slap you.”
“Tessie.”
“Halo.”
That nickname dropped out of her mouth. Halo. I knew Halima meant gentle, and I laughed when I found that out because gentle wasn’t her. But Halo? That hit and had me leaning forward in my seat the second she said it.
“What?” she snickered.
“Honestly, you get on my nerves so bad because if I were him,” Tessa was saying, “you’d be in jail for assault. You straight yoked that man up. Had him right where you wanted him and where he wanted to be.”
“What does that even mean?”
“It means you are that girl—and he sees that. Why do you do this every time?”
Halo laughed softly. “Bad habit.”
Her laugh should’ve been illegal. I wanted to get out and tell her to stop playing with herself, acting like she wasn’t the whole reason I was even here. She really didn’t get it. Didn’t realize she had me, DaVinci Bryns, three-time All-Star, four-time champ, sitting in an SUV just to watch her walk to her damn door.
“Bestie, I gotta call you back. What the fuck?” she said, ending the call.
“Man, you’re really showing me a side of you I ain’t never seen,” Langston muttered.
He wasn’t wrong. But I couldn’t stop. This was unorthodox, but I felt led to do it until I could pursue her safely.
Halo stopped dead when she saw her porch. I watched her freeze, watched her process, watched her move toward the flowers as if she were approaching a scene. Careful. Assessing.
She read the card. I watched her lips move, reading it once, then twice.
Then she did the most Halo thing possible. She turned, flipped off the air, like she knew somebody was out there watching.
“Bro, she gon beat yo ass,” Langston laughed.
I laughed too, because I loved a woman with a sense of humor.
She bent down and picked up the sunflowers. Held them to her face, inhaled.
Was I a stalker? Nah. How could I stalk what was already mine? She didn’t know it yet, but she chose right. Sunflowers. The ones I knew she’d pick.
I knew I was toeing the line. Hell, I’d crossed that bitch days ago. But it wasn’t about control, not with her. It was fear. Raw, old, familiar fear. The kind I’d been carrying since Devyn died. The kind that still woke me up at night, sweating and searching for a heartbeat I’d never feel again. Halo didn’t just catch my attention; she kicked up something in me I hadn’t felt in years. The need to protect. The need to impress. Show someone a different side of me.
Halo just… happened to be the woman who woke that part of me back up.
I wanted to show my face. But I couldn’t. I needed more time. I needed to be sure Cassie was handled. But watching Halo hold those flowers, watching her smile at something I’d done, I wondered if Langston was right. I was so busy protecting her from Cassie that I wasn’t seeing the real threat.
Me.
“Let’s go,” I said quietly, satisfied, but it was bittersweet.
I spent an hour researching flowers, thinking I’d figure out her style before I sent anything. Then it hit me. I didn’t want to guess with her. I’d rather ask my woman how she wants to be loved instead of assuming I know.
You one crazy ass nigga,I thought to myself.
But knowing that didn’t mean I could stop.
