“Tell me about it.”
“Why are you acting like this wasn’t a whole crime?”
“I’mnotacting like it wasn’t.” I turned to look at her. “I’m just telling you that there were moments where it didn’t feel like one, and I don’t know what to do with that. I mean, we fucked, Mora. You know I haven’t been with anyone except my ex.”
She walked toward the bed and sat beside me. “You don’t have to figure it out today,” she said after a long pause. “But I’m scared for you. Like, genuinely scared. Because the way you talk about this man… it’s not adding up.”
I nodded, eyes burning. “I know.”
“Did he hurt you?” Mora’s voice was soft.
I thought about that. About how I felt like I was unraveling and yet still held together by Nyce’s presence. I thought about the fear, the confusion, and the pull. I thought about his voice in the dark, with his hand gripping my waist, telling me he loved my pussy and that I was going to get him caught up. I thought about the way he eventually looked at me like I was both a hostage and something else.
“No,” I said finally. “Not like that.”
She reached over and took my hand. “Then what did he do?”
I stared at the ceiling, terrified by the truth. “He made me question everything I am,” I whispered, voice raw.
Mora didn’t respond right away. She just held my hand tighter. And for a while, we sat there in silence. Eventually, she climbed onto the bed with me, and we fell asleep.
???
Tuesday | 12:00am
“Princess.”
I drifted in and out of sleep with Mora’s breathing heavy beside me. I’d heard my name, but it came from far away. I frowned in my sleep, my body slow to respond. My name came again, closer this time, low and unmistakable. My chest tightened before my eyes even opened.
“Princess.”
I blinked hard, disoriented, my vision swimming as I tried to sit up. My heart started to pound, confusion rushing in before fear could catch up. “Mora?” I whispered. She didn’t move. I pushed myself upright, my head throbbing, and that’s when I saw him.
Nyce stood a few feet away from the bed, dressed in a black sweatsuit, still as a shadow. The low light caught the sharp line of his jaw, the calm set of his shoulders. My breath hitched. For a split second, I thought I was dreaming. That my mind had finally snapped under the weight of everything and conjured him up like some cruel joke. But then he spoke again.
“Don’t scream,” he said quietly.
His voice landed in my chest like a punch, dragging me all the way into consciousness. My fingers twisted the sheets, adrenaline drowning out my thoughts. “How did you…” I stammered, voice fraying at the edges.
He didn’t answer right away. He just watched me, eyes steady, unreadable, like he was gauging whether I was about to break or bolt. “I came to check on you,” he slurred, and right then, I knew he was drunk.
I swallowed hard, then I opened my mouth to speak again, to scream or sob or cuss him clean out, but then Mora stirred beside me.
“Mmh… P?” she mumbled sleepily. “You good?”
I turned my head slightly. “Don’t freak out, but…”
“What the…” Her eyes landed on Nyce, and she bolted upright like someone lit fire beneath her.
“Mora, calm down.”
“Calm down?” Her voice rose, already sharp. “Princess, what the fuck is he doing in here?!”
Nyce didn’t flinch. “Relax, shorty. I’m not here to hurt her.”
Mora got out of bed, wrapping the blanket around herself like armor. “Then get out. You don’t belong here. You had her outta pocket fordays,and now you pop up like this?”
Nyce looked at me, not her, clearly growing frustrated by the second. “Tell your friend to go home, Princess.”
