Chapter 7
I stood in the shower with my forehead pressed to the wall. The water beat down on me like it was trying to wash off the argument but it wasn’t just the fight with Rome that had me like this. It was the whole vibe. The way the air felt in the house. The way I kept hearing and feeling shit.
I hadn’t said a word to Rome since earlier. He tried to act like shit was sweet when he finally walked in the house. He lit a blunt and played COD as if he didn’t still smell like some other bitch’s perfume.
I tilted my head under the stream, eyes closed.
My brain was loud as hell, but my body was numb.
It was like I’d been running on autopilot for too long and just now started to shut down.
And then I felt a thick chill that snuck in through the steam like it belonged there.
I opened my eyes and turned around slowly.
I didn’t hear the door creak or footsteps but when I wiped the fog off the glass, King was standing right there.
He was against the sink in that Essentials hoodie, Amiri jeans, J’s on his feet, and his chains around his neck.
His face was low under his fitted hat, but I didn’t need to see all of it to know.
My knees damn near gave out just seeing his build and smelling his YSL cologne. I couldn’t breathe. The glass fogged back up in an instant, but he was still there, just staring back at me. I opened the shower door, water still hitting my back.
“…King?” I whispered.
His head tilted. That slow, confident tilt he always did when I said something obvious. “Yeah, Sky Pie,” he said, voice low and deep, just like I remembered. “I been tryna talk to you, baby. You ready to listen?”
I stepped out, dripping wet. My heart damn near stopped. I didn’t grab a towel. I didn’t flinch. I just stared at him. “You… you’re not real,” I stammered.
He pushed off the sink and stepped forward, slow and smooth. “Yeah?” he said. “Then why your body reactin’ to me right now?”
And it was. My pussy throbbed as goosebumps crawled all over my skin. He stopped a few inches in front of me. I blinked, tears already falling. “You're dead,” I whispered. “I held you…”
“I know what you saw,” he said, eyes locked on mine. “You was holdin’ me when I took my last breath.”
My lip quivered. “I tried to…”
“You couldn’t stop nothin’. That wasn’t on you. But what you do now?” He took another step. “That is.”
I swallowed hard. “Why are you here?”
He smirked, but it didn’t touch his eyes. “You know why the fuck I’m here.” He looked around the luxurious bathroom, then back at me. “This what you traded me for?” he said. “Lyin’ ass mahfucka who ain’t even smart enough to hide his dirt right?”
“Stop.”
He stepped closer. “You layin’ next to the same nigga that lined me up.”
“I said stop!”
“I ain’t stoppin’ shit,” he growled. “You need to hear it. Rome did it. He set me up. And you know that shit in your gut. That’s why you ain’t been sleepin’ right. That’s why I had to come back, baby. You need to know the truth.”
My hands were shaking now. “I wanted to move on, King. I had to.”
He reached out and pulled me in closer by my waist. “You ain’t never moved on,” he said. “You just settled. You just survivin’. That ain’t livin’, Sky.”
“I didn’t have a choice.”
He stared at me so long I felt naked in a whole different way. “I never stopped watchin’ over you,” he finally said. “Even when I couldn’t talk to you. Couldn’t touch you. I stayed close.”
“Why?”
He leaned down and kissed my neck. “You know why.”
“I miss you so much,” I whispered, eyes fluttering.
“I know,” he said. “I miss the fuck outta you too.” He stepped back, hoodie still over his head, face half-shadowed, body fading slightly now like the moment was breaking apart. “You deserve better, baby. I need you to wake the fuck up. You ain’t safe with this nigga. He got blood on his hands.”
And then just like that, King was gone. I dropped to the bathroom floor, knees to my chest, heart in pieces all over again.
My heart was heavy with his voice still in my ears, my skin still tingling from the presence he left behind.
And it took me straight to the night he proposed. It was my twenty-fifth birthday.
“Oh, my God,” I said, grinning as I walked into the private room of The Lake House. It was a Black-owned lounge King rented out for the night.
There were candles on every table. Red and gold balloons in the corners. My favorite R&B playlist floating in the background. Custom menus. Drinks flowing. Hood elegance all up and through the spot. Friends and family clapped when I stepped in.
King met me halfway, fine as hell in all-black, red bottoms on his feet, that signature smile stretching across his face. “Y’all see this fine ass birthday girl?” he said loudly, hands on my hips. “This whole night for her. All of it.” He tongued me down and they cheered like we were royalty.
We sat at a long ass table. King at the head. Me on his right. His crew was posted nearby, including Rome, who sat on the opposite end, whispering to one of the niggas next to him. He’d been close to King since they were kids.
He lifted his glass toward me and said, “Happy birthday, shorty. Hope King got you somethin’ more than just this fancy ass dinner.”
I laughed, sipping my wine. “We’ll see.”
King smirked, eyes cutting toward Rome real quick, then back to me. “She gon’ be straight. Trust.”
Rome nodded with a smirk. “I bet.”
Dinner was a whole vibe. Then, dessert came out and it was a chocolate lava cake with “Happy Birthday Skylah” written in gold fondant. I swear, my heart stopped along with the music.
I looked around, confused. “What the hell…?”
King stood up with a glass in one hand and a velvet box in the other. “I ain’t gon’ make no long ass speech,” he started, voice calm but deep, steady. “Y’all know how I feel about attention but y’all also know how I feel about my baby.”
He looked at me, and I swear my whole chest flipped.
“Sky been holdin’ me down since day one.
Before the cars, before the money, before the name meant somethin’.
She saw me when I ain’t even see myself.
” He paused, hand rubbing the back of his neck like he was trying to keep it all together.
“And y’all know I’m bout to do this lil’ bid.
Nothin’ major. Just two years. I’ll blink and be back.
But before I go… I want somethin' solid waitin’ for me when I get out. ”
He turned toward me, eyes low, soft but intense.
“I want you, Sky Pie.” He dropped to one knee in front of everybody, and the whole room gasped. Even Rome froze, his hand halfway to his drink. King popped the box open, and a big ass princess-cut diamond sat there gleaming.
“Skylah Simone Haynes… marry me, baby.”
Tears filled my eyes, and my lips quivered. “Yes, babe. A thousand times, yes.”
The room exploded with laughter, whistles, and glasses clinking.
King removed the diamond promise ring and put that fly ass engagement ring on my finger.
Then, he stood up and kissed me like he never wanted to stop.
It was the best night of my life, even with the jail time hanging over us. I had my man. I had our future.
I sat on the bathroom floor sobbing until I finally managed to pick myself up.
I lotioned in a trance and put on an oversized tee and panties.
I could hear Rome downstairs yelling on the phone about something being wrong with a shipment, but I didn’t care.
Nothing else mattered except the hole in my heart and the questions on my mind.