“Who?” he asked distractedly as he trimmed his beard.
“Hunter. Did she sound okay?”
Ocean’s gaze flicked to mine in the mirror before he returned to his grooming. “I don’t know her, Coby, so it’s not for me to say, but she sounded fine.” He shrugged.
“Hmm,” I hummed. “What did she say?”
“She wanted to know where you were.”
“And what did you say?”
This time, when his gaze found mine in the mirror, he held it. “I told her that you were being well taken care of.”
“And?”
“She threatened to kill me.”
I felt a smile tugging at my lips and fought to hide it. “Yeah, that’s Hunter.”
“Let me ask you something,” Ocean said as he turned the clippers off. My stomach sank at the tone of his voice. He didn’t sound angry. He sounded suspicious.
“Okay…” I feigned nonchalance by shrugging.
“You think she could?”
“What?”
Ocean’s gaze narrowed in the mirror. “Do you think she’d be able to kill me, Coby? It’s a simple question.”
“I think…I think she’d give it everything she had, but I truly don’t know if she’d succeed or not.”
He continued to stare at me. “Would you want her to?”
“What? No, of course not!”
“I’m just asking. If your friend gives me no choice, it may come down to her life or mine, so I’m wondering which life you’d prefer.”
“Both.”
“That may not be an option, Coby.”
“You’re wrong,” I said firmly as I snatched up my wide-tooth comb and started roughly working it through my short natural curls. “It’s theonlyoption. You won’t hurt her. I won’t let her hurt you.”
After detangling my hair, I ran some product through my freshly washed hair to reset the curls, then yanked on my new pink satin bonnet.
Ocean must have noticed that I was becoming increasingly agitated because he pulled me into him and wrapped his arms around my chest as he stared at our reflection over my shoulder. “I’m sorry, sweetheart.” I blushed when he kissed the side of my neck. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“Ocean, you can probably buy me the world if you choose to, but just know that the greatest gift you can ever give me is Hunter. She’s more than just my best friend. She’s my sister. Hunter’s my heart. Only you have the key, but she’sit. Do you understand what I’m telling you?”
“I think I do,” he said with another kiss pressed to my shoulder this time. “I promise I will never let any harm come to your heart.”
“Thank you,” I said earnestly. “Are you hungry? Your chef cooked.”
“Ourchef cooked and yes. I’m starving, baby. You gon’ feed me?”
“Okay,” I agreed breathlessly.
Ocean and I went downstairs to the kitchen, where I made his plate, then sat on his lap at the dining table while he ate. He asked me about my day, so I filled him in on my time with his cousins, and he listened attentively until he was done eating. I took the empty plate to the kitchen, washed it, and stored it while he went into the living room with a single drink to watch a recording of tonight’s game.
