I bit my lip. “…because I asked him not to.”
Niv blinked slowly. “Well if that ain’t some shit.”
She pointed at me. “I’m the one who brought that man to your feet for a hall pass and you ain’t even tell me you actually used it?”
Coffee snorted. “Hmph. She did more than go through with it.”
I shot Coffee ashut uplook.
Niv’s head snapped toward her. “What you mean?”
Coffee smiled like she’d been waiting for this moment. “That man has been mentally and emotionally fucking my friend since day one.”
Niv turned back to me slowly.
“…wait,” she said. “You went back multiple times to fuck him?”
Coffee whispered, “More than that.”
I took a deep breath. “We’re really great friends,” I said, trying to make it make sense. “Yes, we’ve been intimate a few times… but we also just chill. We talk. We laugh. We do fun stuff together.”
I swallowed. “I really care about him. He’s a good man.”
Niv stared at me like I’d just confessed to joining a cult.
“Bitch,” she said slowly, “This was not the plan.”
“I know,” I admitted.
And I did know. Every time I told myselfthis is the last time, we’d end up laughing, talking, living inside moments that felt too good to walk away from. Ending our friendship never felt urgent while I was with him.
“He’s just…” I struggled to explain it. “He’s driven and intentional. Even with his job, he still makes time for me. That’s new for me.”
Niv burst out laughing. “Bitch… what job?”
Coffee and I both looked at her, confused. “His job,” I repeated. “His job-job.”
Niv shook her head. “Stacks has been selling drugs and running quick get-rich schemes since he was seventeen. I don’t know nothing about no job-job. And trust me, the hood talks. If that man had a legit job, I’d know.”
Coffee and I slowly turned to look at each other.What the fuck.Coffee laughed first, covering her mouth. I forced a laugh too, even though my stomach tightened painfully. My mind was racing, but I didn’t want them to really know how bothered I was.
Was Niv right? Or had Stacks really changed his life and just kept it low-key like he said?
He did say he moved quietly and that everyone didn’t know his business. I clung to that thought because the alternative meantevery vulnerable conversation we’d shared might’ve been built on something… not real.
My phone started ringing, snapping me out of my spiral. It was Kennedi, so I answered quickly.
“Yes, baby?”
“I’m ready.”
I jumped up immediately, grabbing my heels.
“Well,” I said, forcing brightness back into my voice, “let’s get to this party. The queen says she’s finally ready.”
As we headed toward the door, laughter filling the hallway again, I pushed the questions about Stacks to the back of my mind. That night belonged to my daughter and my daughter only.
The room went dark and a spotlight hit the double doors. Everyone but the DJ were quiet, phones lifted in the air, and I felt my fingers automatically reach for Kairo’s hand beside me. The doors opened and my baby walked in.
