Page 23 of Mister Artist

“Hey.” I spoke.

“Wassup, Sis?”

“I miss you.”

He smiled with the left side of his mouth. “I miss you too. I never meant for this much time to pass, you feel me?”

“I get it. Life gets in the way and if you don’t prioritize talking to someone… you don’t.”

He didn’t respond immediately. Malik shifted his weight from one foot to the other and sighed. “It’s a million niggas out here, Sis. More. Why him? Why one of the very few that I made off limits for you? Why my best fucking friend?”

I swallowed hard as my eyes watered. “Think about what you just said, Leek. If I could have literally any man I wanted and I chose him… that has to count for something. I’ve always been attracted to him and that attraction turned into admiration and respect. My crush and infatuation turned into love. After Kingston, Neko showed up for me in ways no other man ever had. Not just with the way he treated me and prioritized me,but the way he took care of me. He was always so intentional with what he did for me and I just… I couldn’t deny how I felt anymore. I honestly didn’t think it would feel like that big of a betrayal to you, and I really do apologize. It was never my intention to hurt you or to come between the two of you.”

“Do you really love him?”

“I do, but I love you too. You’re my brother and I don’t want to lose you. That’s why we called things off.”

He chuckled and tilted his head. His tongue rolled over his cheek as he stared at me. “The night you came home sad because things ended—”

“That was him. We called things off. That kiss at the house… it was just… residual emotions. He’d given us the painting and I was open, but we were done at that point. We both chose you.”

Malik’s chest deflated as he looked away, and I took that as a chance to step closer.

“Neko didn’t want to hurt you or betray you. He just wanted to love me. When he realized he couldn’t do that and not force me to have to choose… he ended it.” I took another step in his direction. “I know we can’t take away the hurt of our betrayal, but I’m asking you to forgive us and fix things with him, Malik. He was the one who wanted to do the right thing. That’s why he didn’t run away from your punishment. Please don’t keep him out of your life because of me.”

I closed the space between us, and he looked down at me. With a frown, he stared at me with watery eyes.

“I never wanted them to hurt you. I never wanted to have to hurt them because they hurt you. I never wanted to lose them because of you. Especially him. I was so close to him and Michael and if y’all fucking off ruined that, it was going to be a huge loss for me. It hasbeena huge loss for me.”

“It doesn’t have to be.” I grabbed his hand, surprised he didn’t pull away. “Malik, you know if you go to him to reconcile,he will. Neko and I are done. There’s no reason for the two of you to be.”

“You promise it’s over?”

Nodding, I fought my tears. “I promise.”

He pulled me into his arms and told me he missed us both. With a giggle, I assured him that he didn’t have to miss me anymore and challenged him to fix things with Neko so he wouldn’t have to miss him either.

18

Neko

Over One Year Later

It didn’t matterhow much time passed—Malorie’s face was one I’d never forget. Her hair was an auburn brown now, falling just under her armpits, and it looked phenomenal against her honey brown skin. The last time I saw her was at her mom’s wedding. It was hard as hell staying away, but we kept our distance. Tonight, it was Malik’s birthday, and I was surprised he was comfortable with the both of us being in the same space.

We’d reconciled after the wedding, and I loved Mal a little more when Malik told me she was the reason. Regardless, I continued to keep my distance from her. There was no way we could ever be just friends. She was the kind of woman you’d have to be all or nothing with. Since I couldn’t have her all, we’d be nothing.

The liquor and blunts were flowing, and Malorie had cooked a feast for her brother. About two hours of partying had passed before Malik told me he wanted to talk to me outside. He’d rented a beach house for the party, and the shit was lavish ashell. I followed him outside to the pool, and the sight of Malorie being out there caused my feet to stop moving. He looked back at me and chuckled.

“Come on, so I can get back in there.”

“What you doing, mane?”

“Fixing shit between y’all since she fixed things between us.”

With a sigh, I followed him and walked over to her. It had been hard as hell keeping my eyes off her all night. Her skin was glowing, and she looked more toned and firm. Whatever she was doing was definitely working for her.

The only space between Malorie and I was the width of Malik’s body. He looked from me to her.

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