“I didn’t say that.”
“You don’t have to. I can hear it in your tone.”
“You’re not a fool, Kenya,” I said as I rose from the couch. “You’ve just spent the past forty years with your head in the sand.”
By the way her lips thinned, I could tell I’d struck a nerve.
“Where are you going?” she called. I was already halfway down the hall toward Sterling’s office.
“His office.”
“Nairobi—”
I paused and turned to face her. “You want to keep all of this, right?” I gestured around. “Let me figure this out so I can get back to my life.”
7 /FONTAINE JACKSON
TWO YEARS AGO
“I missed you,”Nairobi whispered, her head tucked against my chest. Her voice was softer than I’d heard in days.
We’d just gotten back to my place after I picked her up from Kyree’s. She was still working him with the other girls from Stilettos.
“Hm. Did you?” I asked as I traced my fingers lightly up her back. She nodded, looking up at me through her long lashes.
“But not enough to tell the others about us, huh?”
She stiffened and tried to pull away, but I kept my hold on her.
“You don’t have to leave when this is over, Nai,” I said, kissing her forehead. She hadn't said it out loud, but I knew what it was. She planned to vanish and throw this away like it didn’t matter.
She cleared her throat and averted her eyes. “Is there food upstairs? I’m starving.”
I sighed, letting her go. “Yeah. I ordered Golden Dragon,” I muttered as the elevator doors closed.
Out the corner of my eye, I caught her lips twitch like she was fighting back a smile.
“Look at you, Bear,”she teased.
An hour later, she was fresh out of the shower, in one of my t-shirts with a bowl of lo mein and wings in her lap.
“God, this is so good,” she moaned between bites.
I watched her, blown at how easy it was for her to check in and out of this thing between us like it was just some fantasy for her.
“Yo, what are we doing, Nairobi?” I finally asked, keeping my voice steady. I was done walking on eggshells around her feelings.
She chewed slowly. “What are we doing with what?”
“You know what I mean,” I said, locking eyes with her, daring her to dodge the topic again. “You keep saying it’s complicated, but what’s so complicated about us being together?”
She sighed and set the bowl down. “We’re having fun. I like being with you. Why put labels on it?”
“Fun?” I scoffed. “Nah. Don’t do that.”
“Do what?” she asked, an edge creeping into her voice. “I told you from the beginning that I don’t do relationships. You knew what this was, Fontaine.”
“You’ve been here for three months and for the past two you’ve been in my bed damn near every night. You got shit in my bathroom right now. That’s not casual, Nai. Stop fucking playing.”
