Page 18 of Heavy Is The Crown

Also why, despite the warning bells in her head, she didn’t regret it.

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Krys tapped the wheel, exhaling as she turned onto a random street. She wasn’t headed anywhere in particular; not yet. Because what the hell was she supposed to do with him?

She glanced at the stranger, her “boyfriend” for the last five minutes, slouched in her passenger seat like he belonged there. He was relaxed, almost too relaxed for someone who had just finessed his way out of a bad situation.

“You always hitch rides with women you don’t know?” Krys asked, her tone dry as she switched lanes.

Kenyatta smiled, stretching out his legs. “Only the ones with nice cars.”

Krys sucked her teeth, shaking her head. “You bold as hell.”

“Nah,” he drawled, side-eyeing her. “I’m resourceful.”

She huffed out a laugh, but he could hear the curiosity beneath it. She was trying to figure him out.

For a while, neither of them spoke. Krys drove, aimless, her eyes flicking to the rearview mirror every now and then, making sure they weren’t being followed.

Eventually, she sighed. “So…what’s your deal? You a fugitive or some shit?”

Kenyatta let out a low chuckle, his head tilting toward the window. “Damn, you just gon’ profile me like that?”

She arched a brow. “You got two cops prowling around a gas station, looking for you—or at least for the car you hopped out of. So, excuse me if I assume you got some shit going on.”

Kenyatta nodded like she had a point. “I ain’t no fugitive. Just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Krys glanced at him. “You sure about that?”

He hesitated. Not really, but he wasn’t about to lay all that at her feet.

Kenyatta stretched, exhaling. “Look, you already did me a favor, but I ain’t tryna get you wrapped up in nothing.”

She scoffed. “Oh, you think I’m worried about you?”

He looked at her then, really looked at her, smirking at the edge in her voice. There was something different about her. Different from the women he was used to.

“Where we going?” Krys asked after a while, realizing she was just driving.

Kenyatta sat up, rubbing his palms together before he glanced out the window. “You can drop me off at my boy Tez’s crib.”

Krys frowned. “Tez? What, he got a real name or you just giving me the street name of some nigga I don’t know?”

Kenyatta chuckled. “You nosy, huh?”

“Nope. I just like knowing when I’m about to get set up.”

“Nah,” he dismissed. “I ain’t on that type of shit.”

She lifted a shoulder. “I don’t really know that, now do I. But I tell you one thing, I won’t hesitate to put a bullet between your eyes and this Tez person.”

“Dang killa,” Kenyatta chuckled. “You good. Tez solid.”

She rolled her eyes but didn’t push it.

Another stretch of silence filled the car, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. Krys found herself stealing another glance at him, still trying to figure him out.

He felt it.

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