“Oh my God,” she groaned, dropping her head back. “We do. We really do. Ugh. How are we going to pull this off?”
“You’re overthinking it, man, watch out.” I grabbed her phone from her hands before she could protest and held it up so we were both in the frame.
“Hasheem,” she warned, side-eye already loading.
“Chill,” I said, hitting record. “I got it.” I leaned back in my seat and draped my arm behind her headrest.
“Yo,” I said into the camera. “It’s boyfriend here. Y’all finally get to see the man Harlowe has been hiding.”
“Boy, shut up.” She slapped my thigh, but she was smiling, so I kept going.
“We on this long-ass flight headed to Zanzibar,” I said, glancing down at her. “The Duality Experience. Black love, Black soft life, all that good shit. She dragged me out the city for y’all.”
“Dragged is crazy,” she cut in, scooting closer like muscle memory. “Hey, Duality fam,” she added. “It’s Harlowe and Hasheem, and we are officially on our way to The Duality Experience Couples’ Escape Zanzibar. Three days of Black romance, Black luxury, and?—”
I smiled down at her as she did her thing. She was in her bag now, talking with her hands and giving that magnetic energy only she could. I watched her more than I watched the screen. I enjoyed seeing her in action. She was good at what she did. I could see why brands were paying her thirty K to sit pretty and talk about love and books and shit. I shifted a little closer, bringing my face into the corner of the frame, letting my hand rest easily on the back of her seat.
“So when you see us on the island, just know I’m here against my will.”
“Don’t listen to him.” She laughed that laugh that always hit me in the chest. “He could’ve said no. But he loves me, so?—”
On instinct, I leaned over to press a quick kiss to her cheek. Nothing too much but enough to make the people watching think we were madly in love. Before my lips hit her cheek, she turned her head to look up at me, and our lips met. For half a second, everything went quiet in my head. Shit, there was no plane noise, no camera, nothing. Just the feel of her soft, glossy lips on mine. I could feel her body tense, but shedidn’t pull away, and I didn’t either. I let it linger a bit longer than I should’ve, enough for my dick to twitch in my sweats before pulling back like it was nothing. Her eyes were wide, but the camera was still rolling, so instead of saying anything, she turned back to the camera.
“So, yeah,” she said quickly, turning the smile back on. “We’re headed to Zanzibar, and we cannot wait to show y’all all the Black love vibes, the romance, the content, all of it. Make sure you’re following along on Duality’s page and mine. Because it’s about to be a movie.” She reached forward and stopped the recording like it was nothing, but I could see the pounding in her chest. She sat back in her seat, not saying a word, like her brain hadn’t caught up to what her body had just done. Shit, mine hadn’t either if I was being honest.
“Harlowe,” I said.
“Yeah?” She blinked
“You straight?” I asked, watching her face. I already knew the answer. She was in her head. “You look like you just saw a ghost or some shit.”
“I’m fine. Just . . . processing.” That was code for overthinking.
“This ain’t gotta be weird. We gon’ have to kiss more than that,” I said. “You know that, right?” I didn’t know who I was trying to convince more, Harlowe or me. I’d just crossed a line that I was sure I’d never cross.This is your brother’s ex, your best friend.I had to stand ten toes down on not crossing that line.
“I know,” she said quickly, eyes darting back to the phone. “I know. It’s . . . it’s fine.”
“I’m that bad of a kisser?” I asked, trying to relax the moment and get her out of her head.
“No. Don’t start.” She shook her head. “It’s just... We kissed. This is insane.”
“We can take kissing off the table,” I suggested. “We can keep this thing as PG as you need it to be.”
“No, no.”
“Oh, so you liked it?” I couldn’t stop the smirk that was forming on my lips. “That’s what I’m hearing.” That finally pulled a real laugh out of her ass.
“Shut up,” she said, shoving my shoulder. “It was a work kiss. We’re going to have to kiss. I just?—”
“If you don’t want to do something, we don’t do it. Simple as that. I’m following your lead.”
“Let’s just keep the kissing to a minimum. Only when we absolutely have to.”
“Got it.” I lifted my hands like I was surrendering. “Get your little video together then before the Wi-Fi starts acting stupid.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” She settled into her seat and started tapping on her phone. “Let me trim this and send it before we take off.” She plugged in her headphones and opened her editing app like nothing life changing had just happened. I turned to look out the window, let my eyes fall shut, and tried not to think that my brother’s ex and my best friend had the softest lips I’d ever tasted.
By the time we cleared immigration and customs, I knew two things for sure. It was Thursday morning in Zanzibar, but my body still swore it was Wednesday night in Azalea. We’d been traveling for over fifteen hours, and I was happy to finally have my feet back on the ground. My legs were shaky, but I was cool. I could do this traveling shit in my sleep. Harlowe though? She was acting like we’d just survived the hunger games or some shit. That was her—big reactions, high dramatics. It was what madeher fun to be around. I shook my head and fell in step behind her, rolling both our suitcases while she pointed at every damn sign like she was selling the open seas.
