Stepping further into the room, Nia sat on the edge of the bed. “You enjoyed yourself, though.” Cyren couldn’t help the small grin that surfaced. “I did.”
“Good. Nothing like having a bit of fun. You needed that.”
Looking down at the comforter, she smoothed invisible wrinkles from it. Nia didn’t know just how true her words were.
“Yeah, I did.”
Nia sighed softly, glancing at the time on her watch. “I have to head to the hospital soon. I just wanted to check on you before I left.”
Cyren’s brows pinched, slightly. “You were only off this weekend?”
“Yeah. Comes with the duties.” Nia shrugged like it was nothing. “I know I asked you to move here so we could be closer and handle this thing called life together, but I haven’t been here most of the time. I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s okay. Trust me, I get it,” Cyren softly said.
Nia’s expression shifted. She’d avoided the conversation yesterday, wanting them to enjoy their time. She wasn’t carrying this into the new week with her, so getting it off her chest was best.
“I don’t know what to do with idle time,” she admitted. “It gives me too much room to think.”
Cyren understood that more than she wished she did. An idle mind was the devil’s playground, is what Cyren’s granny used to tell her. That was another gem added to her collection from Granny Mae, and a reminder to keep busy even if she didn’t want to. She couldn’t afford toalwaysjust sit still.
“You need time to rest, too. Can’t think too much if you’re relaxed.” Cyren eased those words in.
Grief and how she handled it with different people was... strange. Almost as if she had to learn who she was and who they were all over again; in a new light, with gloves on so she wouldn’t mishandle their hearts.
Nia sighed and reached over to playfully squeeze her thigh. “You’re right. Maybe in a few months. We’re a mess, huh?”
Cyren softly laughed. “A functioning, cute one.”
Nia smiled before her expression turned teasing. “And speaking of cute ones…”
Cyren groaned, immediately. “Un, un. Nope.”
Nia laughed. “I didn’t even say anything yet.”
“You were about to.”
She’d skirted around the obvious all day yesterday, mostly because Skylar was with them. Nia wasn’t so far removed from her children’s lives that she didn't know that her daughter had always had a thing for Heavy. She’d hoped she had grown out of it by now, but it was clear from the way she acknowledged him bringing them flowers that her infatuation hadn’t wavered. Nia wasn’t going to rub that in her child’s face by bringingthis conversation up, but she also wasn’t going to ignore how obviously smitten he and Cyren both were with one another.
“I’m going to mind my business, but just know I saw how y’all were acting with one another all night,” Nia divulged.
Cyren tried keeping a straight face but failed. Somehow, Heavy had fucked the drunkenness out of her system, so she’d been much more chill once they retreated upstairs. Still, their small interactions weren’t hard to miss or ignore. Heavy’s hand at her waist, Cyren’s flirty giggle whenever he whispered something in her ear, the stares from across the room. It was all a dead giveaway to anyone watching.
“We were just enjoying the moment,” was the best Cyren could come up with.
Nia smirked, humming knowingly. “Mhm. I may be getting old, but my eyes still work just fine.”
Giggling, Cyren squealed. “Auntie, please, okay. It was nothing.”
That lie slipped too easily from her lips. Everything that happened on Friday had been too much, in a good way. Cyren needed to face the truth. Things were too intense, too vulnerable, too unforgettable. Too... everything she didn’t know she needed or wanted. Nia didn’t press her, but that smile let Cyren know she didn’t believe a word she’d just said.
“Well,” she said, as she stood noticing a text on her Apple watch, “whatever it was or wasn’t, just be careful with your heart. And his. Y’all have both been through some things.”
His heart and mine? She’s tripping.Cyren’s thoughts were loud, but she’d never mumble them.
“Auntie, for real. You’re thinking too much into it. Who said anything about our hearts being involved? We were just enjoying one another’s company. I’m sure I’ll never see him again.”
Nia shrugged. “I’m just saying. That’s just me warning you ahead because I love you.”
