Page 10 of Heavy Is The Crown

Silence.

Yeah, that shut him up. There was no denying that was exactly what he meant.

He let out a low chuckle, one that was just a little embarrassed. “You wild as hell, Krys.”

“And you predictable as fuck.”

Zahir sighed, but she could hear the grin in his voice. “Look, you know I don’t wanna keep doing this back and forth with you. I’m trying to be serious.”

Krys arched a brow, amusement dancing in her voice. “Serious? You?”

“Why you acting like I’ve never been serious about you?”

She shook her head, rolling her eyes again. He was so damn delusional. “Zahir, we both know what this is. You hit me up when you’re bored. Or when your situation at home is stressing you out.”

“That ain’t true.”

“Then why you calling me?”

Silence.

“Why are you calling me, Z?” she repeated, this time a twinge of agitation in her tone.

He exhaled sharply, and Krys could picture his jaw tight, that vein in his temple flexing because she always knew how to get under his skin. She wished she could say she loved it, but actually, she felt indifferent.

“Krys…”

“Yes, dear?”

“You know we got something. You can’t tell me you don’t feel our connection.”

Krys scoffed. “Boy, what connection? Furthermore, you ain’t my man.”

Zahir pressed on like she hadn’t said a thing. “But I could be.”

Now that made her laugh. She genuinely laughed, tilting her head back for a second before refocusing on the road.

“Oh, so now you tryna lock me down? That’s cute.”

“I mean it.”

Krys shook her head. “Zahir, you cute and all, but you ain’t that nigga for me.”

That punched him in the gut; she could feel it through the phone.

He stayed quiet, probably trying to come up with something that would shake her, something that would make her slip, but Krys wasn’t built like that.

“You ain’t even giving me a chance,” he muttered.

“I gave you plenty. You just didn’t use them.”

Another pause.

Then, he tried one more time. “You ever think about how things would be with us now?” His voice had that soft, thoughtful quality to it, the one she used to fall for.

The only difference today, she wasn’t falling for the shit now. Had she thought about it? Yeah, but not for reasons that he’d want her to. Hell, she thought about it more than she wanted to admit, but unlike him, she didn’t live in the past.

Krys exhaled, smooth, final. “Goodnight, Zahir.”

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