Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
RHYAN
Istare at my phone as it might bite me. After that call earlier… after Chauncey answered… I already know Kosh blew up my phone.
“What am I still doing in this city?” I whisper to myself. I should’ve been back in Dallas days ago. I exhale slowly.
No more running. I scroll to his name and hit call. It rings. Once. Twice. Three times. He answers. That alone tells me everything. He’s mad.
“Yeah,” he says.
I can hear it in his voice—tight, controlled, barely holding on.
“Kosh…”
“Aye, you finally called back,” he snaps. “What the fuck is going on?”
I swallow. “Not much.”
“That’s bullshit,” he cuts in. “How did he end up on your phone? Y’all back together? Is that what you called to tell me?”
“It’s nothing going on between us.”
Silence.
Then—
“Aye, Rhy… you can keep it real with me.”
“I know.”
“I told you that a month ago,” he continues, calmer now—but that edge is still there. “It took you hours to call me back. I ain’t trying to pry, because at the end of the day, he’s still your husband… but I care about you. And this shit? It can get real fucking dangerous.”
“I know,” I repeat, softer this time.
A pause stretches between us.
“Rhy,” he says at last, “you ain’t really saying much… and that says a lot.”
I close my eyes. Because he’s right. “It’s not that,” I start. “This is just… a conversation I wish we didn’t have to have, but we do.”
My voice drops. “I care about you. A lot. And the last thing I want to do is lead you on.”
Silence.
“When I called you earlier, I was alone,” I admit. “He just… popped up, did what he did. He knows I care about you.”
Another pause. Then the question comes. “Do you love me though, Rhy?”
That one…That one hits different. “I do,” I say quietly. “And I don’t wanna hurt you.”
He exhales on the other end. Heavy. “Then why does he have hope?” he asks. “He sounded real fucking confident… like I’m stepping on his territory.”
“He wants us to try again,” I admit. “But I don’t trust him. I’ve been hurt before.”
“So, what do you want?”
I hesitate. “My thoughts… they’re not steady right now.”
“Be honest with me.”
I inhale deeply. “I still love Chauncey,” I say. “I do, but loving him hurts.”
The words hang there, heavy. “Too much has happened this past month?—”
“But?” he cuts in.
That one word is sharp as hell.
“If so much has happened… why are you still there?” A beat. “Because something is keeping you there.” His voice drops. “Or someone.”
“He’s not keeping me here,” I say, a little too quickly.
“Are you sure?”
“I’m still in this city because of my family… and my friends.”
“He’s still your family.”
“Kosh…”
“Hear me out, Rhy,” he says, his voice steady now. “I care about you. I could press you right now… but I won’t. I respect you too much for that.”
He pauses for a beat. “I wanna be with you.” That lands. Quiet… yet heavy. “Truth be told,” he continues, “I was already on my way back to your city after that call… just to check on you.”
My chest tightens.
“Please don’t come,” I whisper, almost to myself.
He exhales softly on the other end. “I love your pretty ass,” he says, low. “Been wanted to make you mine months ago… but I knew he was still in the way.”
Silence wraps around me because he’s not wrong. “I wanna shake up your world, Rhy,” he adds. “But only if you want me to.”
Another pause.
“I ain’t walking away.”
“And I ain’t falling back.”
His tone doesn’t rise. It doesn’t need to.
“But I’mma let you breathe… and figure out what you wanna do.”
Kosh and I finished our much-needed conversation. It went better than I expected, but it was hard. Kosh is a great man, and the last thing I want to do is hurt him. I could hear the pain in his voice.
These past few months, this man has been everything to me. He’s scared to lose me, and I’m scared to lose him. I love Chauncey. I swear to God I do. Today he made me feel shit I haven’t felt in a long time.
I hear a faint knock at my door.
“Come in…”
It’s my momma. She walks in slowly, like she already knows more than I’ve said, and takes a seat at the foot of my bed.
“I ain’t seen you in a few days,” she says, studying me. “What’s been going on?”
“Not much.”
A lie. She tilts her head slightly.
“Mm. So that’s the lie you wanna go with?”
“Ma…”
“I saw Chauncey was here earlier,” she continues. “What’s that about?”
“We had dinner. That’s it.”
She doesn’t move. Doesn’t blink. “Rhyan… you can be honest with me.”
“I know.”
A quiet stretch of silence fills the room before she lets out a breath and leans forward just a little.
“I heard you in here,” she says gently. “On the phone, explaining yourself to someone else.”
My chest tightens.
“Baby… don’t make the same mistake twice.”
That lands, so different coming from her.
“I know you love Chauncey,” she continues. “I ain’t blind.”
A beat.
“But love ain’t enough if it keeps hurting you.”
I look down at my hands, silent.
“Don’t let that man back into your life,” she says, firmer now, “until he proves to you he’s changed… and earns it.”
Another pause.
“And if this other man…” She softens again. “…makes you happy without all that extra shit?” Her eyes meet mine. “Then maybe that’s the kind of love you need.”
“Ma… you think I’m crazy and weak, don’t you?”
She doesn’t even hesitate. She pulls me into her arms, warm and familiar, pressing a soft kiss to my forehead as she used to when I was younger.
“I don’t think you’re crazy,” she says gently. “And I damn sure don’t think you’re weak.”
I sink into her a little more, letting it sit.
“I know you love Chauncey,” she continues. “And I know you have feelings for that other man, too.”
She pauses for a beat.
“You can’t run from love, baby. That’s why you’re still here… in Teflon Hills.”
That lands, because she’s right. “If you wanna be weak for your husband…” she says, pulling back just enough to look me in the eyes, “…make sure he’s the one worth being weak for.”
My chest tightens.
“I’m not saying he ain’t,” she adds softly. “But make sure he deserves it.”
Today has been one for the books. I’m speechless, and my thoughts are running wild.