Page 5

“Likewise.”

He led us over to a roped-off section where a few bottles of prosecco were chilled on ice. I poured myself a glass while he made introductions, offering polite smiles as the names blurred together. One of his boys slurred through a greeting, already a few drinks past fucked up, and Siani didn’t hesitate to disappear with Tariq once the opportunity presented itself.

I was fine staying behind. I wasn’t trying to play the third wheel with them and was grateful for the shade of the umbrella overhead and oversized sunnies that hid my eyes.

The real fun for me was people-watching. I didn’t know how to walk into a room without assessing it first. I enjoyed getting a read on people before deciding how I was gonna move.

A man at the far end of the bar caught my attention. He held a glass of something brown, listening while someone else spoke. Good looking was an understatement. His chiseled jaw was framed by tapered facial hair that surrounded full lips that inadvertently made me lick my own. And his dark skin seemed to glow against the linen button-up that fit like it’d been made with him in mind.

This may have been Tariq’s party, but that nigga? He was the big dog— the one everyone answered to. His presence seemed to fill the space, like the entire rooftop belonged to him. He smiled at something one of his friends said, running a hand over his crisp line up.

I looked away and took a sip of my prosecco.

When I glanced back, his eyes were on me.

Not staring exactly. Men who stare in public are begging for your attention and I don’t entertain beggars. It was like he been peeped me and was just now letting me know. He held my gaze for a beat, then turned back to whoever was talking to him like nothing happened.

Something about that made my chest tight. Who the fuck does he think he is? I scoffed under my breath, turning back toward the view and finished my drink.

“I thought that that was you.”

I closed my eyes and counted to three before plastering a fake smile on my face.

“Heyyy, Gideon,” I said, watching him come around to my side of the rope. Gideon Locke looked fine as always. His broad shoulders filled out his white tee, showing off all the time he spent in the gym.

He chuckled as he leaned down to kiss my cheek. “Damn. That’s the greeting I get?”

“It’s good to see you.” I shifted over as he dropped beside me on the couch.

Gideon and I had a brief stint last year. He was great on paper—a real estate developer with a congressman for a father. He took me to nice places, introduced me to the right people, and I made sure he never had concrete proof that the woman fucking him was taking pictures of the bank statements he left on his kitchen counter.

I’d gotten a nice little bag off of him before I phased him out. I didn’t take anything that he’d notice—he had too much for that—but enough that I should’ve felt a little guilty about him sitting here with me.

“So who you here with?” he asked, leaning back.

“My girl, Siani. She knows the guy throwing this.”

“Tariq? That’s what’s up. He’s a good dude.” He sipped his drink. “How you been though? I haven’t heard from you in a minute.”

“You know I’ve never been the check-in type, boo.”

Gideon knew something wasn’t right about how things ended between us. About certain charges on his credit cards that didn’t make complete sense. He’d called me on it once—well, circled around it—and I denied it with the kind of calm that either meant I was innocent or very, very good at this.

Whatever he chose to believe didn’t matter, because he was here smiling up in my face like the price of admission was worth it, even if the ride was rigged.

We chatted for a little, mostly him telling me about his newest development in Bed-Stuy and asking if I was still at Luxe. The entire time, I could feel the man from the bar looking my way. His attention had settled on me like the sun through the window.

I peeked over my shoulder. He was mid-conversation with one of his boys, but his eyes found mine the exact second I turned. His eyes flicked between me and Gideon, an amused look crossing his face, like he sensed I had no interest in talking to the man next to me.

Gideon caught me looking. To his credit, he didn’t make it a thing and just touched my leg. “We should get dinner this week.”

“Okay.”

My shoulders relaxed as soon as he disappeared into the crowd. I downed the rest of my drink as Siani sauntered back into the section.

“Thanks for remembering we came together,” I sassed, eyes narrowing at her smudged lipstick.

She rolled her eyes. “Oh please, like people watching isn’t your favorite pastime.”