Page 141 of I See You

They neared the finish line. Hassan was trailing, and Sevyn smiled, thinking she had it in the bag—until boom.

Hassan bumped her back wheel, and her kart spun out, crashing directly into his. They slammed into the side wall, laughing like fools. A little boy zoomed by, snatching the win from both of them.

Neither of them cared.

Sevyn hadn't heard Hassan laugh like that before. Not just a chuckle. A real, full-bodied laugh. And it was more than enough of a win for her.

Workers came and helped them out, pulling the karts back in line. As they walked out of the building, ski masks they let them keep in hand, still buzzing off adrenaline, Sevyn pointed at him.

“You cheated!”

Hassan just chuckled and walked toward her car.

“So… did you have fun?” she asked, leaning against the door, waiting.

He didn’t answer immediately, but she could see it in his eyes—the glint of something brighter, the way his body had eased since earlier. The tension he always carried had softened.

“Get in the car, Sevyn,” he said, trying not to admit it.

“Not until you answer my question.”

He chuckled again, shaking his head as he looked off to the side. “Yeah.”

“Ayeee!” she grinned, doing a little dance in front of her car. His eyes followed her, amusement flickering across his face.

“It’s time for you to go home,” he said, voice dropping low again. She paused.

Then, bold as ever—maybe bolder than she meant to be—she looked at him. “Come back to my place.”

Hassan raised a brow.

“You’re not sleeping in my bed,” she added quickly, trying to keep her composure. “But I’m not ready for our night to end.”

Right then, his phone rang. They both looked down. Nova.

Sevyn’s smile dimmed just a little. “Unless you got somewhere better to be,” she said, trying to play it off with a joke.

Hassan glanced at the screen, then declined the call without hesitation. “Nah. I’ll meet you there.”

They got into their separate cars. And as Sevyn pulled off, her heart raced for an entirely different reason now. She couldn’t believe she invited him over—but she meant it.

Hassan calmed something inside her the way only she used to do for herself. She wasn’t sure what the rest of the night had in store, but one thing was clear:

She didn’t want it to be over. Not yet.

???

Hassan gripped the steering wheel as he followed behind Sevyn’s car,shiftinginhisseatwithtensioncrawlingthroughhisbody. The day replayed in pieces—starting with blood on his hands. This morning, he ended someone’s life. Another snake, someone slipping in the business who had to go. With his past resurfacing, Braxton poking around, and Hendrix showing his face again, there couldn’t be any loose ends. No mistakes. No hesitation.

He handled it like he always did—cold and necessary—but afterward, the weight sat heavy on his chest.

So he called Sevyn. Not to see her. Not to talk long. Just to hear her voice, hoping it would ease the part of him that never settled after violence. But even in her laugh, even in the lightness she tried to carry, there was a crack in her tone. Something small, but enough. Enough to tighten something in his chest and make him need to see her.

He didn’t expect the day to spiral into a soccer game, lunch, laughter, go-karts, and her—getting to know her more, watching her light up, watching her bring something alive in him that had long since gone quiet.

For the first time in his life, Hassan felt free. Like he wasn’t just existing but living. He wanted to fight the feeling, wanted to tell himself it was dangerous to feel this good, to let this kind of softness creep in, but he couldn’t deny it. Not when being with her made him feel something close to peace.

Hedidn’tknowifitwasthewayshechallengedhimortheway she saw through him without flinching. But when she told him she wasn’t ready for him to leave her yet, it did something to him. It made him feel wanted in a way that had nothing to do with power or fear.

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