Page 63 of One of Them Girls

Soon. I can hold her longer soon.

10

Cassi

“Hey, your phone just went off.”

I watch as Xavier continues to fold laundry, not paying any attention to his phone.

“Will you grab it and tell me what it is, please?”

“Sure.” I reach over and grab his phone off the desk and swipe to unlock it. “You should really have it password protected.”

“Eh, I do on what’s important.” He shrugs.

I look down and open the text.

Tinsley.

I frown.

“It’s Tinsley,” I mumble.

“Ah, what does she want?” he asks casually.

He doesn’t know what even seeing her name does to me.

“It’s a picture of her with a milkshake and she asked are you jealous?” I tell him, trying to rein in my anger.

Who does this bitch think she is?

“Ugh, that means she’s at Momma’s House,” he says wistfully.

“What the hell is Momma’s House, and why is she hitting on you?” I grit out, unable to hold back anymore.

Xavier laughs. “Momma’s House is a diner. And trust me, Tinsley isn’t hitting on me. Your jealousy is cute though.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“It means you have nothing to worry about.” He drops the shirt back into the basket and sits on the bed, facing me. “Tinsley is unapologetically in love with her boyfriend. You have no reason to worry,” he says reassuringly.

“Was there anything ever between you?”

He sighs. “What do you mean?”

“Did you two ever do anything? Were you in love with her? Because I’m sorry, I have a hard time believing all you’ve ever been is friends with someone as beautiful as her,” I say harshly.

“I don’t see why this matters.” He frowns.

“It matters to me. You’ve been avoiding this conversation. It’s time we’ve had it.”

I meant it too. While our sex life has been off the chain, he is still reluctant to talk about her. That can only mean one thing, but I need to hear it from him.

“You want me to be honest?”

“Yes,” I demand.

“Okay, Tinsley and I have always been friends first. When we met, our fathers pushed us together. They saw it as a business deal. What they didn’t see is that Tinsley already knew who she wanted to be with. Did we try dating to please our fathers? Yes. Did it work out? No. Did we kiss? Yes, but if I recall the line, it felt like kissing a sibling was tossed out.” He raises a brow. “You. Have. Nothing. To. Worry. About,” he says, slowly.

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