“I hate that I’m this upset,” I whispered. “Especially when I know he’s probably not even on bullshit.”
“You’re not crazy. You have a right to be upset and still be in love—” Before she could finish her sentence, the door opened behind us, and we both turned to see Hasheem standing there, shirt still damp, eyes locked on me like I was the only person in the room.
“Harlowe,” he said. “Can we please talk?” He made his way across the room, but Tiana stepped in, giving the attitude I wish I was capable of right now.
“You can talk from over there.”
“Tiana, I appreciate you being in her corner for real, but I need a minute alone with her. Please.”
She looked back at me for conformation to stand down, and I nodded.
“It’s okay.”
“You sure?” she pressed.
“No,” I said honestly. “But I need to hear whatever he’s about to say so I can . . . do whatever I’m about to do.”
“You got fifteen minutes,” she told him. “And if I hear yelling, I’m coming back with my earrings already off.” She brushed past him and slipped out, closing the door behind her. The moment she was gone, Hasheem took a cautious step toward me.
“Lowe—”
“If you say it wasn’t what it looked like,” I cut in. “I swear to God, Hasheem . . .”
“Okay,” he said as he stopped moving. “Then I won’t say that. Ask me what it was.”
“Fine. What was it? Because from where I was standing, it looked a lot like you were either fucking your ex, about to fuck your ex, or letting your ex suck your dick the day after asking me to be with you. Which one was it?”
“It was none of that,” he said quietly. “Lowe, look at me.” I didn’t want to, but I did. “Marcus called me while you were getting your massage,” he said. “He told me some shit I needed to hear about Simone. About why she really broke things off.” My stomach twisted. “He told me they hooked up before I introduced him to her. He gave her a chance to tell me, and she didn’t. Instead of owning her shit, she blamed you and used our friendship as the excuse.
“I went up there to confront her,” he went on, and I closed my eyes for a second and let his words sink in. “To call her out on her bullshit. How she lied on you. How she made you feel like you were doing something wrong for being my friend. How she been treating you on this trip. She tried to flip it,” he said. “Tried to touch me, tried to act like we could go back. I shut it down. Ipulled away and tried to leave. She got mad, snatched her robe off, threw it, and it landed on the candle. That’s what started the fire. That’s why the sprinklers went off. That’s it, Lowe,” he said. “No cheating. No sneaky shit. Just a whole bunch of dumb decisions and bad timing.”
I stood there for a minute, just staring at him. I believed him. I hated I believed him, but I did. Everything he’d described sounded like Simone, sounded like Marcus, and sounded like this whole messy trip honestly.
“I hear you, and I believe you weren’t up there to screw Simone.”
“Okay. Then we can—” He took another step closer, and I put my hand up.
“I’m still mad,” I snapped. “I can’t just turn it off, Hasheem.” Tears blurred my vision again. I hated crying this much. I hated it was him seeing it. “You should’ve known better than to even be up there with her,” I choked out. “Like, be serious, Hasheem. Everybody saw that, and I’m sure half of them think you were in that room doing something foul. I feel so embarrassed.”
He closed the distance between us and put his hands around my waist. “Come here,” he muttered, and I didn’t fight him.
I needed him, needed him to pull me into his chest. I needed his arms wrapped around me so I could silence the chaos in my head.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered into my hair. “I’m so damn sorry, Lowe. I should’ve told you where I was going before I went. I should’ve never let you find me in that situation.” I stayed there in his arms, crying into his chest. My nervous system was resetting.
“I hate that you didn’t tell me,” I mumbled into his shirt. “I hate that everybody saw.I hate that Simone gotthe satisfaction of seeing me act a fool.”
“I know, and you’re right to be mad. You’re right to be hurt. But, Lowe, there’s never been a version of this timeline where I risk you for her. You know that.” He kissed me, and my arms pulled him tighter against my body.
“I still wanna slap you.” I sniffled, pulling back from his lips.
“You already did, remember? My cheek still stinging.”
That dragged a weak laugh out of me and suddenly made me feel bad.
“I’m . . . sorry I went fullLove & Hip Hopin the hallway,” I admitted. “And for assuming the worst when I know you better thanthat.”
“No apologies needed. That slap was mid anyway.”
