Page 10 of Nothing Like Your Ex

“Mhm. I hear you. But we’re good, though.”

Jabari sighed with relief. “A’ight, a’ight. That’s all I needed to hear. So, what you do today?”

She could hear the smile in his voice, and she subconsciously smiled too. Kwinn shared how her day had gone, and he listened without interrupting. She knew this one conversation wasn’t enough to erase everything that happened, and one apology didn’t miraculously fix months of distance, but it was a start. It made her feel like she wasn’t fighting for their relationship by herself.

They talked for a good hour and some change, making up for the week and seemingly everything in between. Kwinn yawned into the phone and was now snuggled deep under her duvet. “Babe,” she called out.

“What’s up? You ready to go to bed?” Jabari asked.

“Mhm. I can’t keep my eyes open.”

“A’ight. I’ma let you get some sleep. I’ll be through there tomorrow. Maybe we can hit the town or something,” he suggested.

“Un, un,” Kwinn mumbled, disagreeing. “I’m going out tomorrow night.”

“A’ight, well, whenever you have time.”

With her eyes closed, Kwinn frowned. Before today, Jabari would’ve asked her a hundred questions or at least would’ve asked where she was going. Too sleepy to press him about his strange behavior, Kwinn just yawned and agreed.

“Okay. Sunday is fine,” she said.

“A’ight. Sunday it is then.”

“Okay.”

“Love you.”

Kwinn hesitated for only a second. “Love you too.”

When the call ended, she laid still for a moment before setting her phone on the wireless charger on her nightstand. She wasn’t going to pretend the conversation hadn’t affected her because it had. Kwinn was interested in making things right with Jabari or at least seeing if they could get back to the place they’d once been, but she wasn’t throwing away her plans for tomorrow night to be the dutiful girlfriend.

She needed a night out, and by Sunday, the brief time away from Jabari would give her enough space to figure out whether she really wanted to fight for their relationship. For now, she wasn’t making that decision. Her daddy and anyone else expecting an update on her relationship would just have to wait.

CHAPTER 3

“How are y’all late, and y’all got in for free?” Endie, Saiko’s sister, shouted as she met them in the back of the arena.

Kwinn and Saiko both giggled at her confused expression, both tipsy from the tequila shots in their system. Apparently, the concert hadn’t started on CP time, and they’d gotten stuck in traffic. Endie’s question was irrelevant considering they were here now.

“We didn’t think it’d start on time, plus we didn’t care to see the opening act,” Saiko explained and shrugged.

“Yeah, yeah.” Endie grinned as she hugged them both. “Let’s go. Y’all making me miss D’s performance.”

They pushed through the crowd as she led them backstage and up a flight of steps. Saiko held Kwinn’s hand as they ventured deeper onto the stage. Passing groups of men, some women, stage techs, and others gathered to see the show, Kwinn took it all in. The energy inside the arena was absolutely insane as DMacc performed.

The stage lights beamed in deep blue and purple, with white spotlights sweeping across the crowd as thousands of people held up their phones to record. DMacc moved across the stage, working the crowd with the confidence that came from performing enough to know exactly when to let the audience do their thing. He pulled the microphone away from his mouth again, and they screamed the next few lines back at him so loudly that Kwinn felt the sound in her chest.

“Okay! They better rap that shit!” Saiko yelled, rapping right along with the crowd.

Kwinn bobbed her head to the infectious beat as the crowd seemed to grow louder. DMacc fed off the crowd’s energy as he moved from one side of the stage to the other. Even though Kwinn didn’t follow every artist or know who was dropping what every Friday, she could appreciate a good performance when she saw one. DMacc knew how to work the room, and judging by the crowd’s response, he didn’t have to do much to get their attention.

A few feet away, Endie was talking to someone from DMacc’s crew and glanced back at them. Kwinn caught her eye and waved, earning a laugh and a head shake in return.

Saiko leaned towards Kwinn when DMacc started another song. “Ooh! This one used to be our shit.”

Smiling, Kwinn snapped her fingers and grooved to the beat. “It did.”

There was something so nostalgic about hearing a throwback song you hadn’t heard in years. On their morning rides to high school, no matter who was driving, Saiko would blast DMacc’s first mixtape. Eventually, Kwinn had grown to love it too.