A year of surface-level bullshit. Mediocre sex, dinners, and keeping her maintained. A year of her trying to mold him into something he’d never be toher.
Whatever she saw in his face told her it was final. She gathered her bag in silence and headed for the door.
Pearl’s voice lived in the back of his head…“A man who lies to women about his intentions is worse than a thief. You steal their time, baby boy, and that’s something they can’t get back.”
Brutal but necessary honesty was the only way. He was too playa for anything else.
His phone buzzed again. Giovanni.
G: Nigga, where you at? The plane leaves in forty minutes.
Rolani slid into his Corvette and hit Giovanni’s number instead of texting back. The rumble always gave him a rush.
“You better have a good reason why you ain’t pregaming with us right now.”
“Man, I should’ve never answered the phone, but I’m on my way.” He pulled out of the driveway, irritation easing as the road opened up in front of him.
“Bro, you gotta handle that. I told you I had someone for you.”
Rolani rolled his eyes. Gio and Paige had been pushing that blind date shit for months, swearing they had the perfect woman. He wasn’t convinced. Maybe his standards were high. Maybe he was the problem. Either way, he’d rather be alone than settle.
“This is my last time dealing with T. She’s getting shit twisted.”
“I warned you bout her ass.”
“Yeah, yeah. I know you ain’t calling just to say that.”
“Nah. Paige and Blake on that itinerary shit. Plus, the party ain’t a party if you ain’t here. We did it, bro!”
“Aight. Thirty minutes.”
He tapped another button and called his niece. This was his tradition before he flew out or left anywhere. They were all they had—until Robin touched back down.
“Lani!” Her bright fourteen-year-old voice filled his ear, joy spreading through him as his lips tugged into a smile.
“Roe Roe, what’s the word?”
“Velocious.”
“Definition?”
“It means rapid. You want me to spell it?”
“Nah, my smart girl. Use it in a sentence.”
Monroe was sharp, just like her dad. Rolani made a point to feed that part of her, to make sure she never dimmed herself or felt unseen. Her dream was to win the world’s largest spelling bee, and he’d already decided he was going to be in the front row when she did.
“I wish DoorDash would deliver my cheese pizza in a velocious fashion.”
“Georgie feeding you rabbit food again?” he laughed, and so did she.
“Always rabbit food. Never the good stuff. God forbid a girl wants a fried honey bun,” she whispered, like it was contraband.
Rolani chuckled. “I told her ass ’bout that shit, but Georgie does what she wants and doesn’t listen. And lowkey, fried honey buns is a step too far—you don’t need all that sugar.”
“Don’t be like that. Johnny’s Big Burger never hurt anyone.”
“Check your CashApp. I’m headed out of town, but when I get back, I want to hear every word you learned this week.”
