He finally relented and disappeared into the kitchen.
“Fontaine,” Jasmine greeted, setting her purse on the table.
“About earlier…” I rubbed the back of my neck, guilt creeping up from how I handled things at the restaurant.
Cash’s head popped back out. “What happened earlier?”
“Nothing,” Jasmine said quickly. “We’re still good, friend.” She offered me a genuine smile.
Cash squinted at both of us. “I don’t like how that sounds.”
“It’s not that deep,” Jasmine said, heading down the hall toward their bedroom.
I exhaled. “Yo, Jasmine—did Nai tell you why she came back?”
She paused and glanced at Cash—an unspoken conversation passed between them.
“Go change, mama,” he told her gently.
She hesitated, then nodded and continued down the hall.
I looked at him. “What was that?”
He waited until we heard the bedroom door close. “Her dad died.”
I sat up straighter. “Shit. Who—Jasmine’s?”
He rolled his eyes. “No, dumbass. Nairobi’s. That’s why she’s back.”
My stomach dropped. I picked the blunt back up and sparked it again.
Cash watched me. “What happened in Miami?”
I let out a humorless laugh, remembering the weekend I went down there convinced that I could bring her back. I’d never told anyone what happened because I was so fucking embarrassed at how it all blew up in my face. Staying silent was easier than admitting how wrecked I’d been afterward.
“I found where she was staying. I watched her for a few days, just until she finished her job. I broke into the house she was renting and waited.” I pulled on the blunt. “We fucked. I asked her to come back with me. She told me no, so I told her good luck with her lonely ass life and left.”
Cash blinked. “You said what?”
“I was pissed, bruh. What was I supposed to say?”
“And you wonder why she’s tight?” He shook his head. “On top of the fact that you’ve been fucking around with her handler?”
“I didn’t know,” I snapped. “You think I would’ve fucked with shorty if I knew that? I did a background check on her and everything came up clean.”
I leaned forward, running a hand down my face.
“What the fuck, man? She told me to let her go, so I did. How am I wrong?”
“Y’all both fucked up,” Cash said. “She ran. And you’re just a dick.”
“How? She said no and I respected that.”
“Nigga, please.” Cash sucked his teeth. “‘Good luck with your lonely ass life?’ That was some cold ass shit, and you know that.”
Jasmine walked back in theroom, wearing sweats and a bonnet. “People say wild shit in the heat of the moment. Don’t act like we haven’t said some messed up things to each other,” she said, pointing at Cash.
She turned to me. “Nairobi never told me what happened between y'all. After you left with Posey?—”
