Syx was in the living room, sprawled on the couch, laughing so hard he could barely breathe.
“Yo,” he said, wiping his eyes. “That was the funniest shit I’ve seen inmonths.”
I didn’t respond.
Just walked past him toward the kitchen.
Layla was at the sink, washing dishes, her back to me.
“Layla,” I said. “The maids got it.”
She didn’t turn around.
“I’m leaving,” she said, her voice clipped.
“Layla—”
“I’m good, Amai.”
She turned off the water and dried her hands on a towel.
Then she turned to face me.
Her eyes were hard.
“You need anything else tonight?” she asked.
The question hung in the air between us.
I knew what she was asking.
Knew what she wanted.
“No,” I said quietly. “I’m good.”
Her jaw tightened.
“Alright then.”
She grabbed her purse from the counter and walked past me without another word.
The front door closed a moment later.
I stood in the kitchen, alone, listening to the sound of Syx’s laughter echoing from the living room.
I walked back out.
Syx was still on the couch, grinning like a man who’d just witnessed the best show of his life.
“Yo,” he said, shaking his head. “You went from no bitches totwo.That’s wild.”
I sat in the chair across from him.
“I don’t appreciate you keeping up shit at the table,” I said.
“Man, I had to,” Syx said, still grinning. “I like seeing you sweat. You never sweat.”
“I wasn’t sweating.”
