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Nas nodded, but I could tell he was tense.

"You still think you better than all this, huh?" Nate taunted. "Think you too good for the city that made you?"

I clenched my jaw, forcing myself to stay calm.

"I ain’t better than nobody. I just know I ain’t tryna stay in the same cycle."

"That why you out here saving Nas?" Nate smirked, eyes dark. "Telling him he too good to make his own choices?"

"Ain’t nobody saving nobody," I shot back. "I’m just making sure my brother don’t waste his life running behind yours."

Nate’s smirk disappeared, but I was already done talking.

I turned back to Nas.

"You know where to find me."

And with that, I walked off, making my way back to my car. I had better things to do then to sit here and deal with Nate’s bullshit. As much as I had missed my boy, being in his brother’s presence was the last thing on my mind. So instead, I made my way to see the one person I had been avoiding since I got back.

"Finally," Gianna sighed, wrapping her arms around my waist as soon as I stepped out of my car in front of her parents’ house.

I let out a slow breath, hugging her back, my hands resting against her small waist as she squeezed me tight.

She pulled back, hazel eyes searching mine, pouting slightly. "You didn’t come see me as soon as you got back?"

"I was with my people, Gi. You know how it is."

She sighed, shaking her head, but she was already dragging me inside before I could say anything else.

Gianna Holloman had been my girl since middle school.

She was beautiful, light-skinned with short red hair that always looked effortlessly perfect, always put together. Always knowing exactly how to present herself.

She was the kind of girl my mama loved, the kind she thought was perfect for me. And maybe, for a long time, I believed that too. But lately, when I looked at her, I saw things I hadn’t noticed before.

The way she always talked about image—how we looked together and how we fit the idea of what people expected from us. The way she only seemed to be interested in what I could do for her, rather than how I felt. The way she always talked about the future like it was already written, like I had no choice but to follow the script that had been laid out for us.

"So, what’s the plan for tonight?" she asked, sitting on the edge of her bed, crossing her legs.

"What you mean?"

"I mean, we finally have time together, and I wanna do something. Take me out."

I exhaled, rubbing the back of my neck.

"Gi, I just got home. I’ve been running since I landed."

"And you couldn’t make time for your girl?" she countered, raising a brow.

"I’m here now, ain’t I?"

She narrowed her eyes but instead of arguing, she let out a small sigh before standing up, wrapping her arms around my neck.

"I just missed you," she murmured, looking up at me.

I forced a small smile, leaning down to kiss her.

But even as my lips pressed against hers, my mind was elsewhere. And I hated that I knew exactly where it was.