Page 98 of Tangled Hearts
“Shit, we ain’t gotta move fast. Let a nigga court you ‘cause you too pretty to half ass it. I want you to see what I’m about now… see if this some shit you want, ‘cause I’m a forever type nigga.”
Noir closed her eyes, letting his words sink in. The steadiness in his tone was different—unrushed and patient like he wasn’t trying to trap her. Only trying to show her something better. It shook her a little. She wasn’t used to being given options. With Christian, it was all or nothing. Love drenched in chaos and ownership. With Cash, it was freedom laced with a pinky promise.
Her heart stuttered in the space between the two. And maybe that was the problem. Her heart had never learned how to beat for one man without keeping rhythm for another.
The truth sat heavy in her chest.Tangled hearts ain’t always broken… but they rarely come out clean.
Sometimes love was a wound that bled out slowly. Sometimes it was a balm that healed you while still leaving a scar. Most times, it was both.
Noir swallowed, whispering, “and what if I can’t give you what you want?”
Cash tilted her chin so her eyes met his. “Then you can’t. But you gon’ know it’s ‘cause you ain’t ready… not ‘cause I ain’tworthy.” His hand slid down her thigh. “That’s the difference. A man who loves you good don’t make you question if you’re enough. He makes you question if you’re willing to meet him where he stands.”
His words cut through her defenses. And deep down she knew—Christian loved her, but his love was fire. Cash’s love, if she let it, might be water.
Her voice trembled even as she smirked. “You be saying all the right shit.”
His husky laugh broke the awkward air. “That’s ‘cause I mean that shit. Pretty words don’t mean nothing if a man can’t stand on them. I been watching you, Noir, since we was kids. I don’t want a piece of you—I want all of you, whenever you ready to give it.”
She leaned back against him, his palm anchoring her at the curve of her waist. Just for a little while, she allowed herself to imagine it… what it would feel like to step into something softer. But then her phone lit up again across the table, Christian’s name burning bright in the silence even with the phone face down. She could still feel him.
Her chest tightened, and she exhaled.
Tangled hearts always left you choosing. Sometimes between right and wrong. Sometimes between two kinds of love. And sometimes between who you used to be and who you still had a chance to become.
With her chest pulled tight, she forced herself to grin. “Go get dressed. I’m the only one putting on a show right now.”
Cash smirked, kissing the top of her head, before he disappeared toward the bedroom.
Noir plopped her body onto the couch after she tied her robe around her body. She sat in his place, scrolling absently through her phone, though her eyes kept straying to the notifications shewasn’t ready to open. Christian’s name was still there, still loud in her peaceful silence.
From the back, she heard Cash’s voice as he handled a call with his team. He was in the big leagues now. Studio bookings, features he needed cleared, and deadlines that kept stacking up. He was always moving. Always working. Watching him made her feel restless with herself, like she should be doing more. His grind made her want to get serious about her own again, and she loved that about him.
By the time he came back, his sisters had already let themselves in. The front door swung open before Noir even realized, and they walked in like they owned the place dropping their bags by the door like they’d done a hundred times. Teenagers now. Fourteen and seventeen, but still loud and full of energy, still sweet.
“Noir?” the oldest, Binky broke into a grin. “Girl, I ain’t seen you in forever.”
Mook, the youngest chimed in, “Remember when you used to braid all our baby doll’s hair?”
Noir laughed, shaking her head as she stood up to hug them both. “Y’all still remember that? Y’all was bad little girls running up and down the street all hours.”
“We wasn’t bad,” Mook corrected lying through her smirk. “We was outside.” She wagged her tongue making Noir laugh.
“Where my ugly brother?” Binky asked, landing hard on the couch.
“Back there finding something to wear,” Noir nodded to the back of the condo.
Mook eyed Noir from her white polished toes to her pinned curls. “Where y’all going or was y’all having sex?”
“Mook!” Noir screeched.
Mook waved her off. “Girl, I’m fourteen… I know what sex is and what it means when somebody walking around naked.”
Binky hollered.
“Girl, I was trying on clothes,” Noir explained, brushing her dress down like she had to prove it.
“Mhm… that’s what my mama say when her little friend be over there,” Mook shot back, squinting at Noir.
