16. Pluto Monroe
Trill-Land, Jungle Estate
I t had been hours since Pressure sent for Kashmere, and as bad as I tried to act unbothered, I couldn’t sleep.
I laid there in the dark, staring at the ceiling while the fan spun lazy.
Every time I closed my eyes, I imagined her walking into his room, the door closing behind her, and him looking at her the way he looked at me that night.
The night I ended up in his bed… the night he held me like I was something soft and worth protecting.
We didn’t have sex that night, but we did kiss, and it wasn’t no regular kiss either. It got heated. His hands were on my body, his lips were all over mine, and the way he held me afterward did something to my spirit that I still haven’t figured out how to shake.
So yeah, knowing Kashmere was up there now, alone with him, had my stomach tied in knots I didn’t want to admit were even there.
I kept tellin’ myself we came here for a reason, and that this was about the money, the opportunity and the chance to change both our lives. That’s what we said when we signed up. We were gon’ play the game, not get played by it.
But this didn’t feel like a game anymore…
It was 5:07am when I heard the door creak open.
I sat up just slightly, still pretending like I was sleeping even though my heart had picked up just from the sound of her shoes softly hitting the floor. Kashmere moved like she didn’t wanna wake nobody, and like she was sneakin’ in from a night she wasn’t supposed to have.
I turned my head toward her and let my eyes adjust to the low lamp light glowin’ from the vanity.
She was still wearin’ the same little black satin robe she left in. Her hair was messy in a cute way, like somebody had been running their fingers through it. She had this look on her face I couldn’t describe.
And she smelled like him.
That expensive ass cologne…
It wrapped around her like proof that she’d been wrapped up in him all night.
She walked over to her side of the room and started pulling her earrings off.
I sat up more and pushed my covers down. “So what happened?”
She paused for half a second, then smiled like I was askin’ somethin’ petty. “Nothin’,” she said soft. “We just talked.”
I raised my brows and folded my arms. “You really gon’ sit up here and lie to me?”
“I’m not lyin’, Pluto.” She slipped her earrings into her tray and started pulling off her clothes. “It wasn’t even like that.”
“Then what was it like?”
Kashmere glanced at me through the mirror before slipping the straps off her shoulders and stepping out of the sexy lace outfit she had on. She changed into a nightgown and slid it on, still not looking me in the eye.
I couldn’t help myself. I got out of bed and stood up, my heart pounding harder than I wanted it to. “If y’all had sex, just say that. I ain’t gon’ judge you. I just… I wanna know the truth.”
She turned to me finally, and her face was calm, but her eyes told the truth. They were still heavy with him.
“I said we talked,” she repeated, but even her voice wasn’t holdin’ weight no more.
I took a slow step closer, not out of anger, but because I knew her. I knew every version of Kashmere, and this one… This version was unraveling in front of me.
“Did he kiss you?” I asked, softer now. “Did he touch you like he already knew your body?”
Kashmere didn’t answer. She looked down at her hands, and her silence told me everything.
And it hurt in a way I wasn’t ready to admit.
Because no matter what we said about coming here for money, the truth was, there were parts of us neither of us was prepared to give to Pressure. And now he had a part of her I knew she wasn’t getting back.
I exhaled slow and leaned against the wall, feeling that tight pull in my chest.
“You fell for him already, huh?” I asked.
She looked up at me then, and this time, she didn’t bother hiding it. The softness in her eyes was loud. It was written all over her face.
She tried to smile, but her lip trembled a little and she caught it before it fully showed.
“I don’t know what it is,” she whispered, “but it’s… different with him.”
That’s when I knew… Pressure had her.
Not just her body, but her spirit.
I’d felt it too, that night in his room, laying in his bed, pressed against his chest, feelin’ his hand on my waist. It wasn’t even sexual, but it was intimate in a way that left me wide open. Now my best friend had experienced the other side of him—the side I hadn’t.
She climbed into her bed and pulled the covers up to her chin, facing the wall, like she didn’t want to keep talkin’.
I walked back to my bed and sat on the edge, still lookin’ her way.
“This wasn’t supposed to happen,” I said quietly. “We were supposed to get the money, show face, and bounce.”
“I know,” she said. “But it doesn’t feel that simple anymore.”
“No,” I whispered. “It doesn’t.”
I laid back down, my eyes wide open, my body still and my mind spinnin’.
The room was silent, but everything had changed, and the scariest part wasn’t that she had fallen for him.
It was that I already knew… I was falling too.
That afternoon, I decided to skip brunch and stay in my room.
I told myself it was because I needed rest, but the truth was I just didn’t want to be around anybody.
I didn’t want to deal with the other women, the noise, and especially not Kashmere.
We hadn’t said much to each other all day, and even though we were still sharing the same room, it felt like things between us had changed.
It wasn’t necessarily cold, but something had definitely switched.
I caught her glancing at me once while she was getting dressed earlier, like she wanted to say something, but whatever it was, she swallowed it down and walked out without a word… and I didn’t stop her.
I didn’t know how to talk about the thing that was bothering me without sounding like a hater.
It wasn’t even just about Pressure anymore.
It was about the fact that she wasn’t being real with me.
We came here together, was supposed to be on the same page, but ever since she came back from his room smelling like his cologne and floating like she’d been touched by God himself, she’d been acting different.
Maybe I had too, but at least I wasn’t hiding behind lies.
I laid in bed with the comforter pulled halfway over me, staring up at the ceiling while trying to keep my mind from drifting.
I missed Zurie. I missed hearing her little voice, seeing her face light up, or when she’d beg me to sit and color with her even though I had a million things on my plate.
I would’ve given anything to watch one of her old videos or scroll through pictures of her smile, but our phones had been locked away since we got here.
All I could do was replay those memories in my head and hope she was okay.
while in my thoughts and feelings there was a knock on the door.
I looked toward the door and a second later, it opened. One of Pressure’s men stepped inside, his tone low but direct.
“Pressure wants to see you.”
I looked up at him and blinked slow. “I’m good.”
He raised a brow like he wasn’t expecting that response. “You sure?”
“I’m sure.”
He nodded once, then dipped back out without pushing the issue. I figured that was the end of it, but I should’ve known better.
Not even five minutes later, I heard another knock—this one deeper, heavier and more certain. And then came the scent… that same strong cologne that clung to Kashmere last night. It hit the room before he did.
Pressure stepped inside like it was his place, because technically, it was. He was dressed in all black, crisp and clean, with a chain peeking from beneath his fitted shirt and that usual calm-but-don’t-play-with-me energy wrapped all around him.
He didn’t even sit down or ask how I was. He just leaned against the wall and looked around like he was deciding if I was worth the trouble.
“Get dressed,” he said, his voice smooth like velvet but firm as hell. “I’m ‘bout to bus’ a couple moves. I want you to ride with me.”
I sat up on the edge of the bed, keeping my expression neutral. “I’m fine right here.”
Pressure turned his head slow, finally locking eyes with me like he was just now giving me his full attention.
“Nah,” he said. “I ain’t askin’ you.”
He said it cool, but the energy underneath let me know he wasn’t in the mood to play back-and-forth. The shit wasn’t up for debate.
I opened my mouth to respond, to tell him I wasn’t really feeling up to it, but there was something about the way he looked at me that stopped the words before they came out. He didn’t look angry, didn’t even look impatient. He just looked… sure, like he already knew I was gonna do what he said.
I stood up slowly, not because I was afraid, but because my body was already moving before my brain could catch up. Pressure gave one final glance around the room, then walked back out like he knew I’d follow through.
And I did…
I brushed my teeth, showered quick, and took a moment to breathe before standing in front of the mirror.
My natural curls had already dried into soft coils from the steam, so I just brushed them up into a messy puff and laid my baby hairs soft around the sides.
I went light on the makeup—just a little concealer under my eyes, some gloss, and a few dabs of highlighter to keep it natural but fresh.
I slipped on a two-piece cream-colored lounge set that hugged me just right.
The cropped tank showed off my flat stomach, exposing my navel piercing, and the wide-leg pants flowed against my skin with every step I took.
I put on gold hoops, my necklace and a few rings.
Then I sprayed a soft spritz of perfume, and a pair of white sandals that complete my look.
I didn’t want to look like I was trying hard, but I wasn’t about to step out looking like I’d been hiding all day either.