Chapter Tariq “Reek” Horton
TARIQ “REEK” HORTON
Sincere and Rhythm’s wedding was dope as hell. The whole day had Rhythm’s artistic touch all over it. Nothing felt basic or thrown together.
By cocktail hour, all the men had drifted toward the bar. Tall heaters stood around the patio. The bar was lit up. Servers floated through with trays of little overpriced appetizers. Cigars were out too.
I was hot as hell in my suit. The jacket looked good, the fit was perfect, and Ava had definitely tried to make us late by sucking my dick way too long once I put it on, but standing outside in all that body heat and smoke made me want to strip down to a T-shirt and let Rhythm be upset.
Wise glanced over at Rain across the patio and said, “Look at Rain’s big head ass looking like she too good to be standing in the heat.”
That made me laugh into my drink.
Rain had gotten an invite to the wedding because Wise’s best friend, Bishop, and Sincere had started doing business together, and somehow that had turned into him showing up at family-adjacent events with his wife and sister-in-law.
Saint snorted. “Rain ain’t even say nothing to you.”
Wise took his cigar from his mouth. “She don’t have to. I don’t understand why she here. Everywhere I go, she pops up.”
Vega laughed under his breath. “You just hate her because she be getting under your skin.”
“That’s called discernment,” Wise said.
“That’s called chemistry,” Lowe corrected.
That was when Wise looked over at Prodigy and said, “Why you standing over here pouting? You feel like you got left at the altar?”
Prodigy did not even look at him. “Shut the fuck up. I’m not pouting.”
“You are,” Vega agreed. “You been mean mugging all day.”
Lowe laughed. “That’s because his girl still ain’t picked up.”
Big A lifted a brow. “You can’t get in touch with her?”
Prodigy finally looked irritated. “Nah.”
Saint asked, “How long it’s been?”
“A couple weeks.”
My eyes bulged. “Damn, a couple weeks?”
Prodigy’s jaw tightened. “Yeah.”
All of the Street Kings were single, but Prodigy had a dip that had been consistent for over a year.
“That woman blocked him and left town,” Wise taunted him.
Saint shook his head sympathetically. “Damn.”
Icon asked, “What’d you do?”
Prodigy took his drink from the bartender and said, “Nothing.”
“That’s a lie,” Lowe said immediately.
Prodigy scowled. “I didn’t do nothing to her.”
Wise dragged on his cigar, then let the smoke out slow. “That’s the problem. You didn’t do anything. That woman wanted commitment. You kept giving speeches about timing and space and all that fake deep shit. Then she got a job offer, took it, left town, and blocked your ass.”
I looked at Prodigy and asked, “That really what happened?”
He looked irritated with all of us now, which told me yes. “She got an offer and took it.”
“Because you wouldn’t commit,” Vega added.
Prodigy muttered, “I told her I just needed time.”
Lowe almost folded over laughing. “Women hate that shit, bro.”
“They do,” Saint agreed.
“Especially when another city and a new salary is on the table,” Big A added.
Prodigy looked like he wanted to shoot all of us, but he took his irritations out on his drink by gulping it down. That told me he was genuinely bothered.
Wise shook his head. “You should’ve claimed her.”
That made me glance at Wise because the way he said it sounded less like teasing and more like fact.
Prodigy looked off toward the parking lot for a second before saying, “I know that now.”
That quieted the jokes just a little.
I took a slow drink and thought about Ava for half a second. Thought about how close I came to being that nigga forever. The one who kept a woman in limbo so long she finally had to choose peace over him.
Saint must’ve noticed where my mind went, because he smirked and said, “Look at Reek over there minding his business because he knows this conversation was almost about him.”
That made everybody laugh.
I didn’t even argue. “Keyword almost.”
Prodigy took a sip of his drink and stared out into the distance like he was in deep thought.
Vega looked at him and said, “You might as well let it go. Shorty gone. You lost that one.”
Prodigy’s nostrils flared. “I’m not letting shit go.”
Wise laughed and tapped ash off his cigar. “There go the commitment she wanted. Too late now nigga.”
That got us all again.
No matter how much money or bodies a man had, we were all made better or worse by a woman. No matter how dangerous, rich, or disciplined a man was, a woman could still humble the hell out of him if she got tired enough.
The reception was just as dope. The ballroom was glowing with candlelight everywhere.
The music played low during dinner so we could talk over the food without yelling.
And now that the dinner part of the night was winding down, the room was starting to loosen up.
People were taking advantage of the multiple open bars.
Laughter was carrying farther. Chairs were pushing back.
Men were getting louder, and women were kicking their heels off to dance.
Me and Ava were sitting at the wedding party table, and every time I looked over at her, I had to stop myself from staring too long.
Every time I looked at her, I was in awe of her beauty and that she was mine.
All the kids were with nannies for the night because the whole family was in the wedding party.
So, I was missing RoRo. But, for once, nobody had a baby on their hip or a toddler under their chair.
It felt strange and nice at the same time. Legend and Aria was getting lit.
Ava had just taken a sip of her drink when I leaned closer and told her, “I started a trust fund for Cairo.”
She turned toward me, brows knitted together in interest.
“In case something happens to one of us or both of us, I want him straight no matter what. He’ll always be taken care of.”
Ava poked her lip out as if that had touched her.
“I got a life insurance policy too. A big one.”
That made her brows pull together. “Reek.”
“What?”
She looked at me for a second before she answered. “You’re always so scared of one of us leaving him.”
That was true. I couldn’t even front. Once Cairo was born, I started thinking about all the shit that could happen in a way I never had before.
This life we lived didn’t leave much room for pretending tragedy was some far-off thing that only happened to other people.
I had already seen too much, buried too many, and survived too much to play dumb with that.
So, I nodded. “Yeah. I do.”
Ava sat back in her chair and looked down at her glass. “I get it.”
“I know I can’t erase how bad I handled shit in the beginning,” I told her, grabbing her hand. “I know I can’t apologize enough. But everything I do from here forward is going to prove I mean it.”
She turned back toward me then.
“You and that baby are home to me now.” Her eyes softened, as I continued to pour my heart out, because watching Sincere say his vows had a nigga in his feelings.
“I’m building for you, for us, for Cairo.
The way I move about you now is real. I don’t want to do life without you now that I know how life is with you. ”
Her eyes glassed over, and she looked away for a second like she needed a breath. Then she looked back at me and said, “We don’t have to get married.”
I chuckled nervously. “Huh? That’s your response?”
She giggled and shrugged. “I thought we were sharing our feelings and having a moment.” We both laughed as she said, “I just want you to know that we don’t have to do that right away.
You don’t have to feel pressured. It’s already a lot for you to be in this relationship, and you’ve adjusted so much for me and Cairo.
I want you to work through whatever you need to get through so that when you do it, you feel sure and comfortable. ”
I squeezed her hand in appreciation for truly seeing me.
“I don’t need a ring to know I’m yours,” she added. “And I want to feel independent a little longer too. I just got to a place where I can breathe as my own person and as your woman. I want to enjoy that.”
I laughed under my breath and shook my head. “Only you would hear me basically telling you I’m building forever around you and answer with let me keep my independence a little longer.”
She grinned. “And you love that about me.”
“I do.” I loved that she still wanted space to breathe, to feel like herself. I loved that she trusted me enough to tell me that plainly without thinking I would take it as rejection.
I let go of her hand and touched her thigh under the table. “I’m good with that.”
“With what?”
“With giving us time. With building this the right way.” I rubbed my thumb once over the fabric of her dress. “I’m not in a rush to force the next step. I just needed you to know I see one.”
Her expression softened. “Thank you, baby.”
Around us, the room was erupting in celebration. I looked back at my woman and enjoyed the certainty I felt when I looked in her eyes.
For a long time, I thought love was the kind of thing you survived.
I thought it was the kind of thing that could weaken you, distract you, or leave you abandoned.
Then Ava and Cairo got deeper under my skin than anybody ever had.
All the little quiet parts of life I used to think would suffocate me started feeling like the only things that gave me breath.
Now, I was talking about the future with my future like none of it scared me the way it used to. It still did a little, but not enough to run. That was the difference.
Ava rested her hand over mine and said, “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For growing.”
I laughed softly. “That sound like some shit a teacher put on a report card.”
She smiled. “Maybe. But I mean it.”
I lifted her hand and kissed it. When I put it back down, I looked at her and said, “You made it possible.”
Her brows pulled together. “No. You did that.”
“I did it because of you.”
She shook her head, but she was smiling again, and I knew she was taking it in even though she wanted to share the credit.
That was fine. She had earned it.
I sat there for one second longer and let myself understand what had changed in me. I used to think I was a man built to survive, make money, and keep moving. Now I knew I was also a man built to come home to love.
Now I had something clear to protect. Something I would burn the world down over if I had to.
Love had not ruined me. It had given me somewhere real to exist. And once I knew what life felt like with Ava in it, there was no version of mine I wanted that did not end with me finding my way back to her.