I refused to chase a man who didn’t choose me.
TARIQ “REEK” HORTON
I stayed on the pool deck after Ava walked off. I watched her heels click away until the sound disappeared and the door swallowed her up. I stood there trying to act like I couldn’t still feel her on me, and that pissed me off because I knew better. I knew what I was. I knew I wasn’t built for soft love, long talks, and a woman needing consistency from me every day. I got away with the bare minimum with Sienna because she was so starved for what she wanted that she ate the crumbs I gave her. But Ava was different. Ava wanted something real.
And I wanted her.
I was standing on a dangerous line, and I could feel the ground shifting under me.
One side was political safety, the business arrangement that was supposed to stay an arrangement, the story Langford needed to keep Project 83 moving without drama. The access came with Sienna. The protection came with her last name. And favors came easier when Langford’s daughter looked happy.
The other side was Ava. The woman who didn’t want my money. The woman who didn’t care about my status. Thewoman who didn’t even chase me. She just looked at me like she could see through me, and I hated how much I liked it.
Sienna had gotten clingy these last few months. It wasn’t subtle anymore. It was pressure. She was talking like we were building something and I never told her that. She was moving like she had rights to me, and every time I tried to remind her what it was, she smiled and kept at it anyway.
The worst part was, I didn’t even see how I could cut her off without there being residual drama, without it causing problems, without Langford taking it personal and acting like the project needed “re-evaluation” or “extra oversight” or whatever word politicians used when they wanted to punish you without saying it out loud. Project 83 was too close to the finish line for me to start a war over a woman. And Ava was too good for me to start lying to her to keep her.
I knew I had some feelings for her before, but I kept telling myself it was just lust. That was the excuse I used when I caught myself watching her too long and when her name stayed in my head at the wrong times.
But after tonight, I couldn’t pretend. Feeling her that close, hearing her voice moan my name, watching her take my dick confirmed it. It wasn’t just attraction. It was something else, something I didn’t want to name because naming it meant responsibility.
I exhaled long and hard and looked back toward the house.
I was glad she was leaving because it gave me an excuse to get my feelings back under control before I did something that made everything worse. Distance could fix what I shouldn’t have started. Thailand would get her out my face and head. Time would cool the heat between us. Because if Ava stayed, I didn’t trust myself to keep acting like I didn’t want her.
RHYTHM BROOKS
The next day, when the workshop ended, the gallery finally got quiet. The last few attendees lingered to thank me, took pictures of the pieces on the walls, and asked about prints. Then they filtered out one by one until it was just me and the smell of paint and candles that never fully left Voss.
I’d spent the day at Voss doing a hands-on workshop that was equal parts art class and therapy session. I didn’t just stand in front of a room and talk at people. I had them at the tables with me, sleeves rolled up, mixing paint, dragging palette knives through color, and learning how to build texture. We worked on layering, how to start with a feeling, not a plan, then add, scrape back, and add again until the piece finally said what you couldn’t get your mouth to say out loud. I walked them through my process from sketch to finish, showed them how I choose color stories, how I seal and frame, and how to price a piece without second-guessing your worth.
Sincere stayed the whole time, sitting off to the side like my security and peace at the same time. Every time I looked up during the workshop, he was right there watching me like he already knew I was going to kill it.
I gathered my supplies, stacking my brushes, closing my paint trays, packing up my notebooks and my sample prints. My legs were tired, but it felt good finally doing what I loved.
“That went crazy,” Sincere said, walking closer as I zipped my bag.
I smiled. “You think so?”
“I know so. You had them locked in. They came in here thinking they were just going to watch you paint and you had them leaving like they could change their life. You did that shit.”
I set the last of my things in my tote and exhaled. “It felt good. I was nervous at first, but once I got going, it felt natural.”
“Because it is natural. This is you.”
Before I could respond, the door opened and Aria walked in pushing a stroller that looked as expensive as a car. She looked like she was still in maternity mode but dressed cute enough to let everybody know she hadn’t lost herself.
“Y’all still here?” she asked. “I thought you would be gone by now.”
“We’re cleaning up. What you doing out? Aren’t you supposed to be on maternity leave? You just gave birth two weeks ago.”
Aria rolled her eyes and came farther into the gallery. “I’m on maternity leave, but I’m not on house arrest. I needed air, and he needed air too.” She then looked down into the stroller, grinning.
I walked up to the stroller and leaned over it, smiling as well. The blanket was tucked around him neat, and when I peeked inside, Major had his little fists balled up by his face like he’d already decided he wasn’t here for any foolishness. He was beautiful. Not in that generic way people say it to be nice, either. He looked like a perfect blend of his parents, like somebody took the best parts of both of them and made something brand new. He had his daddy’s strong features already stamped on him,but his mama was all over him too, softening it in the prettiest places. Even asleep, he looked alert, like he was listening. And what got me was how much he looked like the twins. He had the same shape to the face, the same kind of eyes. Because they were less than a year apart, I was sure people would assume he and the twins were triplets, once they got older.
“I’m free now,” Aria grinned with a sigh of relief as she stared down at him.
Sincere lifted a brow. “Free?”
