Chapter 13

13

M alorie

"Then what are you waiting for? Take it off…"

Neko hesitated, which was a first. He took my hands into his and kissed them both. "I will, but first, we need to talk."

I nodded, and he led me over to the dining room table by the windows that gave a great view of the beach. We sat down, and he poured us both a glass of champagne.

"What's wrong?" I asked as an uneasy feeling settled in the pit of my stomach.

"Sweet girl, I—do you know how I feel about you?"

With a shrug, I released a nervous chuckle. "I know you like me and care about me."

"I love you. I've always loved you. I'm… in love with you." I took my flute of champagne and chugged it down. "Because I love you, I don't think it's fair to put you in this position."

"What position, babe?"

"Come on, Mal. You know what we're doing is wro—"

"No." Lifting my hands, I stood. "You don't get to take me on this amazing date and break up with me." Chuckling, I put my hands on my hips. "What am I saying? You can't break up with me because we aren't in a relationship."

"That's exactly what I'm saying, Malorie." Neko stood and took my hands into his, stopping my pacing. "You deserve better than this behind closed doors shit. You deserve to be shown off to the world. I can't give you that, so I shouldn't have access to you."

"But I-I love you too."

His frame went rigid. "If we put ourselves on the scale right fucking now, you weigh more to me than I do to you. You're most important to me and I'd risk it all for you, but you can't say the same." My head shook and I tried to pull my hands out of his, but he held them tighter. "And you shouldn't have to. But this between us… it has to be over, mama. I can't lose you because of him. I can't."

A bitter chuckle escaped me as my eyes watered. "So what is this? A goodbye date?"

Neko released my hand to catch the tear that fell from my eye. "It wasn't planned to be, but maybe it has to be."

I didn't want to agree, but I had no choice. His father had made it clear to me to never beg a man to give me anything that should have been freely given, including himself. He also told me to accept a man's words and actions for what they were—for how they made me feel. It should have never been my job to convince a man to go against his thoughts and feelings to be with me. If Neko was saying we needed to end things, no matter how much I wanted to be with him, I would agree.

Just that change in my perspective made me want to cry, because it came from his father. I wouldn't even have the strength to walk away from this man if it wasn't for Neko caring about me. That truth made me want him more, but he'd never know that.

"Okay." I agreed, putting some space between us. "I'll um… I'll go."

"No, I want you to stay."

Laughing, I shook my head. "For what? To look around this room and be sad over what could have been? No. I'd much rather leave."

"Okay. I'll um, I'll take you home."

"I'm good, Neko. I'm going to have a drink at the bar and take an Uber home."

"You really don't have to do that, but if you insist, please just let me know when you get home. I'll stay here so we can have some space to decompress."

Our eyes remained locked before I muttered, "Okay," then headed out of the room.

My body crumbled against the wall, and I covered my mouth and the clipped cry that wanted to escape from it. I wasn't sure how this felt like the hardest breakup of my life, but it did, and my already broken heart felt even more bruised.

It caught me off guard to see Malik at home when I arrived, but I wasn't in the mood to ask about his failed plans. Before I could make it to my room, he was calling me into the living room. Plopping down next to him on the couch, I accepted the blunt that he offered.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing."

"You can't lie to me, Sis. Tell me what's wrong."

Clenching my jaw, I wondered how much of the truth I wanted to tell him. After taking two more puffs and handing him the blunt, I admitted, "I was seeing someone, and it ended tonight. I'm sad."

I couldn't quite make out the sound he made. It was a mix between a scoff and a laugh.

"Why were you seeing someone anyway? You literally just broke up with a nigga. Why you moving so fast?"

"It wasn't my plan to date anyone when I got here. We just… started kicking it and shit happened."

"And you didn't have the common sense to say no? To take some time to heal before you let another nigga have access to your heart?"

"Why? So I could sit around here depressed over Kingston? I did what I thought was best for me."

"Clearly you don't know what's best for you."

"You know what?" With a chuckle, I stood. "I don't need this shit." He gripped my hand, but I jerked it away. "Get the fuck off me, Leek."

"Sis, I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to be so harsh with you. I'm just… upset that you put yourself in the position to be played again."

"Who said I got played! All I said was I was seeing someone, and it ended tonight. Damn!"

"You're right. That was my fault. I just assumed—"

"You assumed because something ended with a man that it was because he cheated on me. With my track record, how can I blame you?"

As I headed down the hall, he followed behind. "Malorie, I'm sorry. I know me coming down on you is the last thing you need right now. Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?"

"Just leave me alone, Malik. Please."

I slammed the door behind me and stormed over to my bed. I couldn't decide if I was more upset with Malik because of his comments tonight or the fact that it was his stupid pact with his friends that was costing me Neek. Either way, the last thing I needed right now was to hear anything come out of his stupid mouth. He probably felt my reaction was extreme, but I didn't give a fuck. As far as I was concerned, he was the reason Neko and I couldn't be together, and it was going to take me some time to get over that.