24. Pressure Mensah #2
“You drive me crazy,” I murmured into her skin.
“I swear to God, you do. You make me wanna throw shit and laugh at the same time. You make me wanna break every rule I wrote for myself. I’ll take you somewhere, a’ight.
I’ll take yo’ crazy ass anywhere you say, and “I’ll sit there and let you cuss me out on a balcony in Virella or by a beach in Saint Morah, but you not runnin’ out that door just ‘cause you ain’t get yo’ way today. I ain’t lettin’ you do that to us.”
Her eyes slid closed as another wave of tears came, but this time her hands didn’t try to break free.
I let go of her wrists and traced the lines down to her palms, and she curled her fingers into mine like she was scared to admit she needed me to hold her.
I stayed where I was, my chest brushin’ hers, both of us breathin’ heavy while the silence finally took a seat with us instead of pushin’ at our backs.
She swallowed and looked at me like she was tryin’ to find the version of me that belonged only to her and not to an estate full of women.
“I don’t want to compete anymore,” she said, her voice hoarse, and eyes red, but calm now. “I want to be yours. I want you to be mine. I don’t want to keep pretending like none of this hurts when it does. I’m not built for this fake shit.”
“I ain’t either,” I said, my fingers tightenin’ around hers because that was all I could do to keep from pullin’ her into me until we disappeared.
“But I’m built for the long game, and the long game means I don’t let you blow your life up because you mad about a move you don’t understand yet. You hear me?”
She nodded once, slow, like she was tastin’ the words and decidin’ whether to hold on to ‘em. I shifted my weight, and she didn’t push me off, so I laid my forehead against hers and let my breath slow until it matched her rhythm.
The room felt too small for everything in it—anger, want, pride, fear, and the stupid soft shit sittin’ under all of it that neither of us wanted to name, so I stood up cracked the window and let the night cool kiss the back of my neck.
Then I got back in bed and got back on top of her.
“You broke my phone,” she muttered after a while.
“I’ll replace it with three,” I said, not movin’ ‘cause movin’ felt like steppin’ away from a cliff I wasn’t done lookin’ over. “But you slam another vase, I’m chargin’ you.”
She huffed, the closest thing to a laugh we could manage with our hearts raw and beatin’ hard, and I kissed the corner of her mouth that had tears on it because I needed the taste of peace to go with the salt.
I rolled to the side just enough to give her air, and she rolled with me, her thigh hookin’ over mine like it always did when the storm passed, and we hit that slack water where we could float and not sink.
“You taking me somewhere,” she asked softly.
“Yeah,” I said into her hair, my hands slidin’ slow down her back. “I’m takin’ you somewhere you can’t run if you get mad at me, and you gon’ sit next to me and tell me exactly what you need from me without throwin’ hands.”
She nodded against my neck and let out a long breath that shook its way out of her body, and I felt my own chest loosen like somebody had taken a belt off my ribs.
I stared at the door and hated it for a second because it meant we was still in this house with too many eyes and too many opinions about what just went down, but then I looked back at her and decided none of that shit mattered right now.
We laid there quiet, not because there was nothin’ left to say, but ‘cause for once we had both said enough. And as the heat of the fight bled out and the room settled around us, I knew two things fasho—Kashmere could pull the worst and best out of me in the same breath.
I mean… GOT DAMN!
While I was supposed to be eliminatin’ another woman, I was too busy gassin’ up the jet to take Kashmere somewhere special.
I knew I was breakin’ the rules with the whole time frame of their stay, so I decided to only make this trip a weekend thing.
Still, it wasn’t lost on me that I was lettin’ her throw my whole schedule off.
I had women in the house waitin’ for my decision, and I was out here packin’ bags for a trip to Virella Azul like the shit didn’t matter.
The place had water so clear it looked like somebody poured diamonds into the ocean, white-gold sand that didn’t stick to your skin, and villas so private you could walk outside butt-naked and the only thing that you’d see you was the sun.
It was one of them spots where billionaires went to hide, and right now, that’s exactly where I wanted to be.
Renza and Kay’Lo was in my room while I was throwin’ clothes into a Louis duffel, sittin’ across from each other like they was conductin’ an intervention. Kay’Lo was lounged out in one of my chairs, and Renza was scrollin’ on his phone with that smirk that meant he was ready to roast somebody.
“Man, you might as well just go ahead and wife Kashmere right now,” Renza said, grinnin’. “Yo’ ass is whipped like cream in a holiday commercial.”
Kay’Lo looked up from his phone, laughin’. “More like Cool Whip on a hot pie, bruh—you just meltin’. That fight y’all had? From what you told us, it sound like you was in here actin’ like The Rock in a tag team match, and now you over here packin’ beach shorts and linen shirts for her? Yeah, okay.”
I zipped the duffel up hard just so they’d hear it. “I ain’t whipped. Stop talkin’ stupid.”
“Whipped,” Renza repeated slow, like he was teachin’ me a new language. “And it’s all in ya face too. You over here tryna keep your voice all cool and shit, like you ain’t itchin’ to get back to her before she change her mind about this trip.”
Kay’Lo shook his head. “Boy, I’m tellin’ you right now—Pressure done met his match. He been out here terrorizin’ women for years, now he done found one who’ll throw hands with him and still crawl in his bed after.”
I smirked but kept my head down, actin’ like I was focused on my watch instead of lettin’ them see me bite back a grin.
They wasn’t wrong. That fight between me, and Kashmere was ugly, but so was the way I wanted her right after.
We went from cussin’ each other out to layin’ in bed with each other like the whole damn estate didn’t exist, and yeah, I could play it off, but my cousins wasn’t stupid.
I ignored the way my mouth wanted to curl into a smile and kept foldin’ shirts instead. “I told you what happened ‘cause it was wild, not ‘cause I’m in love.”
“Uh-huh,” Renza said, leanin’ back in the chair. “You crazy, she crazy, and now you done met your match. That’s what this is.”
Kay’Lo sat up. “What about Pluto though? Or the rest of ‘em? You got all these fine-ass women in the house, and you pick the one most likely to set your shit on fire in your sleep.”
“I like Pluto. Actually, I more than like her,” I said, sittin’ on the edge of the bed.
“I like all of ‘em. It ain’t like I don’t care about the others, I’m just…
” I let it trail ‘cause even I didn’t know how to wrap it up clean.
“I didn’t think this was gon’ be this fuckin’ hard.
I thought I would know by now who I wanted.
Instead, I’m sittin’ here with Kashmere on one side, a couple others I’m feelin’, and Ka’mari still blowin’ my phone up like she don’t got a nigga. ”
Renza perked up. “Ka’mari still callin’? Nigga, what?”
“Yeah,” I said, shakin’ my head. “Askin’ me if we can talk. Askin’ if I miss her. I don’t even know what to do with that. My head’s all over the place.”
Kay’Lo chuckled low. “Sound like you need this trip more than ol’ girl do.”
“Maybe I do,” I admitted, grabbin’ my keys. “Either way, I’m goin’, and she’s goin’ with me.”
Renza and Kay’Lo looked at each other like my fate was sealed, then Renza laughed. “A’ight, Mr. Loverman. Just don’t bring her back pregnant or with her name tatted on your neck.”
I grabbed my Gucci shades and walked out without answerin’, hearin’ them both snicker behind me.
Kashmere was waitin’ downstairs, sittin’ on the arm of a cream velvet chair like she’d been pulled straight out of a fashion spread.
She had on this soft cream set with gold sandals, edges laid, nails sharp and polished, her bag sittin’ at her feet.
Calm didn’t even begin to describe it—she was glowin’ in that post-storm peace.
Her eyes locked on mine and for the first time in days there was no heat, just steady focus.
“You ready?” I asked.
She nodded, standin’ smooth and pickin’ up her Louis carry-on. “Yes.”
The driver had the Maybach out front. The air was warm with that slow-burn sunset smell, and I felt that loosenin’ in my chest again.
We slid into the back, the leather soft as butter, and she settled in beside me without a word.
The ride to the hangar stayed quiet. Every now and then she glanced at me, then back out the window like she was soakin’ up every piece of the moment.
When we pulled up, my jet was already gleamin’ under the last stretch of sunlight.
Crown Wings was spelled in gold script along the side, and the steps was down with a flight attendant waitin’ in a crisp white uniform.
The smell of jet fuel mixed with ocean air from the nearby water, and the whole scene screamed money.
I put my hand on the small of her back as we walked up, and she let me guide her without pullin’ away.
Inside, the jet was pure luxury. It had cream leather seats, dark wood trim, a stocked marble-top bar with Ace of Spades chillin’ on ice.
The cabin lights was dimmed low, just enough to make the gold accents shine.
She slid into the seat by the window, settin’ her bag down, and I went to tell the pilot we was ready to roll.
When I came back, she was sittin’ there with one leg crossed, lookin’ out the window like she was already gone in her head.
I dropped into the seat across from her and reached for the champagne.
I poured her a glass and slid it across the table, watchin’ her fingers curl around the stem. She took a slow sip, her eyes driftin’ from the window back to me, and I could see it in her face—she was calm now, but she was also tryna read me.
I leaned back in my seat, let a smirk pull at the corner of my mouth, then reached across the table and took her free hand. Her eyes stayed on mine when I did it, like she wanted to know what was behind it, but I didn’t say a word. I just held it there, my thumb movin’ slow against her skin.
“You gon’ have a good time,” I said finally, my voice certain. “That’s all you need to know.”
She didn’t answer, but the way she looked at me told me she believed it. That little wall she kept up had cracks in it now, and I could see the way her breathin’ shifted when I didn’t look away. She didn’t have to say it, but I could tell—she was in love with me.
The engines roared to life, the runway stretched out ahead of us, and for the first time in days I didn’t feel pulled in a million different directions.
Eliminations, Ka’mari, the rest of the Diamonds—none of it mattered right now.
It was just me, her, and the promise of that Virella Azul water waitin’ for us.