Chapter 8
Harmony lay across the bed with Nick’s arm wrapped around her waist while the television played in the background.
The two of them had spent most of the afternoon together, trying to make up for lost time, but even while lying there cuddled against him, Harmony could still feel a weird tension between them.
“You ever think about what I said?” Nick broke the silence and asked.
“About what?”
“Us getting a crib together.”
“No, not really, I told you, my focus right now is making sure my sisters got a roof over their head.”
“Damn, you act like you they mother and that’s your responsibility.”
“I’m not they mother, but them my babies, and I would never just leave them out here fending for themselves.” Harmony sat up and snapped.
“Damn, I wasn’t saying it like that. What I’m saying is, I just thought things would be different when I came home, but it seem like a nigga just in the way with you working all night and that dumb ass rule y’all got about no niggas spending the night.
You had me thinking when I got out we was gon’ start a family and do it big and shit, but I been home damn near a month and we fucked twice. ”
“My apologies for grinding, Nicholas. I’m sorry that when you went away, my life kept going on.”
Nick opened his mouth to respond, but Harmony’s phone suddenly rang, interrupting him. She reached toward the nightstand while Nick looked over at the phone with irritation written all over his face.
“And that’s another problem. Yo line stay ringing.”
“What the fuck that supposed to mean?” She frowned.
“What the fuck you got going on, Harmony?”
“Nothing at all.”
“Yeah, whatever.”
“Nick, don’t start that weird shit.”
He didn’t say another word after that. Instead, he climbed out of bed and started getting dressed. Harmony watched him from the bed while irritation slowly built inside her chest.
“Nick,” she called out after a moment, but he ignored her.
“You doing too much right now.” Harmony rolled her eyes while pulling the blanket tighter around herself.
A few minutes later, Nick grabbed his keys and headed toward the door. Before Harmony could say anything else, he walked out of the apartment and slammed the door behind him hard enough to shake the walls. She let out a deep breath before falling back against the pillows.
“Niggas so dramatic,” she muttered to herself.
After lying there for another minute, she finally grabbed her phone off the nightstand and checked the missed call from Skyy. Harmony stared at the name for a second before dialing her back. The line rang twice before Skyy answered cheerfully.
“Hey girl hey! What you doing?”
“Hey girl. Nothing.”
“What’s wrong? You sound annoyed.”
“I am, and lowkey bored too.”
“Well, I can help with that. Get dressed and send me the addy. Let’s go shopping.”
“You know what? Bet.”
Once the call ended, Harmony tossed her phone onto the bed and got up.
Since she had already showered earlier, getting ready didn’t take long.
She threw on a black Alo jogging suit along with a fresh pair of Timbs.
After fixing her hair and putting on lip gloss, she grabbed her purse and phone just as a text message came through.
Skyy: Outside.
Harmony shot a text back before hurrying out of the apartment. The second she stepped outside, she spotted Skyy’s truck parked in front of the building. Harmony climbed in the passenger seat, immediately hit with the smell of expensive perfume and weed.
“There go my girlfriend,” Skyy joked while pulling off.
“Girl, shut up.” Harmony laughed while fastening her seatbelt.
“Nah, for real, you cute today.”
“Thank you. You too!”
The ride to Rosemont was smooth. Music played through the speakers while the two of them talked and laughed the entire drive. Between Nick stressing her out and everything else going on lately, Harmony was thankful for the distraction.
Once they arrived at the mall, the vibe between them became even more natural.
The two of them bounced from store to store, carrying shopping bags while getting to know each other outside of just being connected through Legend.
At one point while they sat in the food court taking a break, Skyy opened up about her family.
“I’m the oldest of four, so I basically been helping raise kids my whole life.”
“See! That’s exactly how I am with my sisters.”
“That oldest daughter shit be exhausting,” Skyy sighed.
“No seriously,” Harmony agreed.
The conversation flowed more after that. The more they talked, the more Harmony realized they actually had a lot in common, and eventually, Skyy started talking about Legend.
“I met him five years ago, when I first started dancing, and honestly? That man changed my life.”
“How?” Harmony asked curiously.
“In every way! Mentally, financially, emotionally…everything. Before him, I was struggling bad.”
Harmony listened quietly while Skyy talked about how much stability Legend brought into her life. Using that moment as an opportunity, Harmony finally asked the question she’d really been wondering about.
“So how did you even adapt to, you know…. Y’all relationship situation?” Harmony questioned.
“You mean, poly?”
“Yeah,” she nodded up and down.
“Well, I always liked girls, so honestly, it worked in my favor.”
“But do you ever get jealous?”
“I’m human, so of course. But the thing about Legend is he always makes me feel secure. I never gotta question my place with him,” Skyy shared.
“How many women have y’all been with?” Harmony continued to question.
“Only two.”
“What happened?”
“The first girl turned crazy, so we cut her off completely, and the second one just… didn’t fit. Like the vibe wasn’t there.”
“Do you know about…” Harmony started before pausing.
“Who?”
“Never mind.”
“Nah, tell me,” Skyy laughed.
“You know about Queen?”
“Yeah, I know that bitch. What about her?”
“Nothing, she just act like she got some type of rank.”
“Chile please…. That girl wanna be important so bad.”
“I thought that was Legend’s girl, though.”
“Hell no! She helps manage the girls at the club and suck his dick from time to time, but other than that, that bitch ain’t nothing but a stripper with a bad wig.”
Harmony couldn’t help but burst out in laughter.
Her and Tiffany talked about Queen’s wigs all the time, so hearing Skyy call her out almost took her out.
The two of them sat in the food court, cracking jokes and laughing hard.
By that point, Harmony realized she genuinely enjoyed being around Skyy.
Even if she wasn’t into women sexually, Skyy was still cool as hell to her, and for the first time since all of it started, Harmony could actually see why Legend valued her the way he did.