“Over a year?” I demanded. “A year now? Just walking around like you the victim, like Harlowe and I did something wrong by being friends.”
“Marcus told you?”
“That’s what you worried about? Who told me?” I laughed, but there wasn’t an ounce of humor in it. “Yeah, he told me. Said you slept together before he met you. That when he realized who you were, he gave you a chance to tell me. You chose to lie instead.”
“I didn’t lie,” she protested. “I just . . . didn’t say anything.”
“That’s a lie,” I shot back. “Then you doubled down, broke shit off, and made it about me and Harlowe being too close so you could feel better about being a grimy butch.”
“I didn’t know he was your brother at first,” she said, voice shaking, tears pooling in her eyes. “We met at the bar. He didn’t give me his last name. I didn’t know who he was to you. Bythe time I figured it out, I was already in love with you and I panicked.”
“Didn’t matter if he was my brother or not. We were in a relationship, Simone.”
“I know. It was the day we’d argued about you taking Harlowe car shopping. I was drunk. I . . .”
“Walk me through the part where you looked me dead in the face and said, ‘Let me blame his best friend instead.’”
“I was scared,” she snapped back, some heat finally sparking. “You don’t know what it felt like realizing I cheated with your brother. I didn’t want to lose you.”
“So you tried to cut the one person you knew I wouldn’t let go,” I said. “You knew I’d choose Harlowe every time.”
“You and Harlowe were already close.” Her chin trembled as she was talking. “Y’all relationship always bothered me.”
“We were best friends,” I said. “You knew that when you gave me yo’ number. You smiled in her face, then used her as your excuse when you couldn’t face yo’ ho shit. You been carrying that story everywhere, and you still playing in her face on this trip.”
“I wasn’t playing in her face.”
“That Truth or Dare card wasn’t you playing?” My voice went sharp. I was tired of Simone’s shit. “You already knew the answer to that question. You sat there, looking her in the eyes, acting like she was messy for dating me after Marcus, when you were the one out here being messy.”
“I hate myself enough without you coming up here to drag me,” she whispered as she sobbed. “You don’t think I replay that night? You don’t think I regret it?”
“This ain’t about you hating yourself,” I said, jaw tight. “I don’t give a fuck about your self-pity bullshit right now. I came up here ’cause my brother told me the truth, and I realized you been doing Harlowe foul on top of doing me foul, and I ain’t about to let that shit slide.”
“I invited her here for you, you know?” she blurted suddenly, like I gave a damn. “This retreat? The brand deal? I sent that email to her because I missed you. I thought if I extended an olive branch, it would show you I was trying and you’d take me back.”
“An olive branch?” I repeated, staring at her like she was crazy. “You flew her halfway across the world so you could fake being friends with her again and get back to the nigga you cheated on?”
“It made sense in my head,” she said quickly. “I thought it would work. I thought maybe we could rebuild something. And then you two showed up together and it just—” She paused, shaking her head. “It felt like y’all betrayed me.”
“You cheated. You left. You broke it off. You lied. Harlowe still tried to be gracious when she saw you again, and you repaid her by trying to embarrass her on a boat full of strangers.”
Her eyes hardened through the tears. “So that’s it? I’m just the villain now? No grace for the fact that I messed up in the beginning of our relationship? I love you, Hasheem.”
“You not the villain,” I said. “You just not the victim.”
She stared at me like that cut deeper than anything else I’d said.
“You really love her,” she whispered.
“I been loved her,” I answered simply. “I just finally stopped pretending it was anything less than what it is.”
“So what did you come up here for?” she asked.
I shook my head. How I never saw that there was something seriously wrong with this girl was wild.
“I came up here to put the truth on the table, so I can move forward with my woman. So you know you owe her an apology and not another slick comment. So you know this little triangle you been running in your head is over.”
“Hasheem, I’m sorry. I never thought we wouldn’t end up back together. You said you were going to marry me,” she said. “You really expect me to just stand here and forget all of that because I made a mistake?”
