Page 94 of Body Language
Kairo popped, grinning wide. “Nigga look like he just lost a custody battle.”
I gritted my teeth. “Shut the fuck up.”
The third box popped up. Kordai was calm and quiet. Just staring at me like he was waiting for me to say what we both knew I was about to say.
“Put Rivah and Khloe on the phone,” I said, leaning back against the wall.
Nobody laughed then.
24
Niveah
From the stage, I could see everything.
The gold lights bouncing off the purple walls, the bills floating through the air like confetti… and Kendrix storming his ass right out the side door.
I smirked mid-spin, because that meant my mission was accomplished.
Men like Kendrix, want you soft, grateful, and waiting for them to “decide” if you’re worthy. Nope. I’ll make you question your breathing pattern while you’re watching me, then I’ll leave you outside wondering who the fuck you even are.
By the time the curtain closed, I was in my dressing room with Ty, peeling off my heels and sipping champagne like I’d just clocked out of a board meeting.
“He’s mad,” she sang, scrolling through her phone.
“Good,” I said, leaning back in my chair. “Mad men spend more money.”
Truth was, I knew exactly what I was doing. I’d planned that set for days. The outfit, the lighting, the song, the way every move would hit him in the chest like a loaded gun.
The host came barging in, breathless like she’d just sprinted across the damn club.
“Niv, you got at least eight requests for private dances tonight. All big spenders. They’re throwing around numbers like it’s tax-free day.”
I shook my head, grinning. “Tell them it’s not happening tonight. But let them know I’m putting together aPrivate Playgroundnight real soon, and may the best price win. Make sure they hear the wordbid. Men get real stupid when they think they have to compete.”
The host nodded like she was about to go start a war and darted back out.
Ty, who’d been lounging in the corner scrolling on her phone, set it down and leaned forward, her eyes soft but serious.
“Real question, Niv. How you feel about Kendrix? For real, not the ‘I don’t give a fuck’ answer you give everybody else.”
I gave her the lazy smirk I save for questions I don’t feel like answering. “What you mean ‘how I feel’? I feel like he fine, he got money, and he knows how to eat coo—”
“Niv.”
Her tone was enough to cut me off.
I sighed, eyes drifting to the empty champagne flute in front of me. “Alright. I like him, Ty. More than I’ve liked anybody in a long time. But I don’t… trust that shit. I haven’t done serious in years. I’m used to moving how I move, answering to nobody. The last time I let a man in, it cost me damn near everything. I’m not rushing back into that trap.”
Ty nodded slowly, her eyes locked on me. “I get it. But you know, at some point, you gotta stop living like everything is a game of survival. You deserve more than this hustle-love. Youdeserve somebody who makes you feel safe enough to take the armor off.”
I tilted my head. “And if taking it off just gives him a better shot at stabbing me in the chest?”
“That’s the risk. But it’s also how you get the reward.”
I let out a humorless laugh. “Ty, I got kids to raise. I’m not tryna be the woman who catches a case because I had to beat my man and the bitch he was playing with. I’ve been through too much to put myself in that position. And honestly, it’s not about softness for me. Softness don’t pay tuition, it don’t keep Hux out the streets, it don’t make sure Heidi has what she needs. Security does. And like I told him, I won’t risk security for romance. Not ever.”
She leaned back, giving me that look. The one that makes you feel both called out and understood. “You say that like you can’t have both. Like maybe he couldn’t be both.”
