Page 1 of Certified Pressure 2

Trill-Land, Jungle Estate

I couldn’t believe this shit. Ka’mari just walked her bold ass straight into my mansion like she just knew this was the perfect time to fuck up what I had goin’ on.

One second, I was about to send either Pluto or Kashmere packin’, the next I’m starin’ at the one woman who could still twist my head up no matter how much I told myself I was done chasin’ her.

I hated that I felt this shit, but I did.

She looked good as hell. That cream-colored dress clung to her body like it was tailored just for her, and the way she carried herself reminded me why I used to lose my mind over her.

I ain’t want to let it show in front of Pluto, or in front of Kashmere…

Shid… not in front of nobody, but in my head I couldn’t front.

Ka’mari still had me feelin’ somethin’ I ain’t wanna admit.

She didn’t say nothin’ for a minute. She just let her eyes run across the women in the foyer. She glanced at Pluto, at Kashmere, at Zaniyah, and even Toni Roc, but her face stayed blank and unimpressed. Then she turned her full attention back on me like they didn’t even matter.

“What the fuck is you doin’ here, Ka’mari?” I asked, my tone sharp because I needed her and everybody else in this room to understand this wasn’t no fuckin’ reunion.

She lifted her chin like she had every right to challenge me. “I been thinkin’,” she said, calm but cocky, like she knew she was about to get under my skin.

I shook my head. “Nah, you ain’t been thinkin’, you been plottin’. You don’t just pop up in my shit like this just ‘cause some shit hit your spirit.”

Her smirk didn’t move, but that was the thing about Ka’mari.

She always made herself look innocent, like I was the one harassin’ her, and I was the one who couldn’t let go, when the truth was we shared some shit that neither of us fully healed from.

She sat up actin’ like she was finished with me, like she was happy with that weak-ass fiancé, but she was never really done.

She fronted like she moved on, but the second she saw me buildin’ somethin’ new, she popped back up to play games.

Before I could say anything else, Kashmere cut in, rollin’ her eyes hard. “Pressure, what the fuck is up? You was just about to send one of us home, so if it’s me, say that so I can grab my shit. And before I leave, you need to replace the phone you broke.”

Ka’mari’s head snapped toward her, her eyes draggin’ down and up like she was lookin’ at somebody beneath her. It was slow, disrespectful and the type of look that said, you not even competition to me.

Kashmere locked her jaw and stared right back. She ain’t blink. Her whole posture screamed, bitch, try me if you want.

Pluto stayed back and quiet, but I caught her watchin’ everything, takin’ it in with that calm, careful way she always had. Zaniyah looked like she wanted no part of it, her arms crossed tight. Toni Roc had this grin on her face like the drama was a movie she wasn’t about to miss.

Renza stepped in before it got any uglier. “Ayo, nah. You gotta roll, Ka’mari. You not supposed to be in here fuckin’ up the order. This ain’t even yo’ lane.”

Ka’mari turned on him quick. “Boy, if you don’t get the fuck out my face?—”

Renza laughed, his hands spread like he couldn’t believe her nerve. “See, that’s your problem. You always think shit revolve around you. You better get yo’ big head ass on somewhere, girl. Don’t nobody got time for the bullshit.”

Ka’mari sucked her teeth, rolled her eyes, and just like that, dismissed him. She turned her back to him and put her whole focus right back on me, like Renza ain’t even deserve more than a sentence.

“You wasn’t complainin’ when you crashed Donovan’s bachelor party weeks ago,” she said, her voice calm but sharp.

“You remember that, right? How you walked in strapped, put a gun to his head, and made him call me to cancel our wedding, all because you couldn’t take me being with another man.

That was cool. That was love, huh? But now I show up here, and it’s a problem? ”

The whole foyer went quiet.

Her words hung heavy, and I could feel the shift in the room.

Kashmere’s eyes were on me, tight with heat, like she was ready to blow.

Pluto’s stare felt different. It was soft, almost like she was tryin’ to read me and figure out if what Ka’mari was sayin’ was real.

Zaniyah’s lips pressed together as she glanced at the floor.

Toni Roc leaned back against the wall with that smirk still on her face, waitin’ to see how messy it would get.

Inside, I was torn. I couldn’t deny Ka’mari still had a pull on me.

I didn’t want to admit it, but that girl knew how to get in my chest. She was right about the party too.

I had damn near lost my mind that night, walkin’ in Donny’s shit and crashin’ it just to prove she was still mine.

That memory burned in me now, makin’ it hard to stand solid in front of everybody.

And that’s what pissed me off the most. She knew exactly what she was doin’.

By bringin’ that shit up, she was lettin’ every woman in the room know I was still crazy about her.

She didn’t need to say it out loud—she already had the upper hand without raisin’ her voice.

She had the whole room spinnin’, and they could all see it.

I hated that. I hated the fact that she still had that power.

I rubbed my hand down my face and shook my head. “Man, you always know how to fuck some shit up,” I muttered.

Ka’mari smiled like she wore that as a crown. She ain’t have to say another word. She had already done what she came here to do.

And right then, I knew eliminations was off the table for now. My head was too twisted. Ka’mari had flipped the whole game upside down, and everybody standin’ there felt it.

“I need a minute, bruh,” I said as I walked off, feelin’ like I ain’t have no control over this lil’ situation.

I couldn’t even look Pluto, Kashmere, Zaniyah and Toni’s way.

I was sure they was pissed, but I couldn’t even think about that right now.

My chest was tight in a way I hated, like Ka’mari’s presence alone had reached inside me and started twistin’ wires I thought I already cut.

Renza and Blaqson called after me and Kay’Lo shifted like he wanted to follow, but I waved them off and kept movin’.

My steps echoed down the foyer floor until I hit the elevator.

I wanted space. I wanted the distance. I wanted anything that didn’t include everybody’s eyes cuttin’ into a nigga.

The doors slid open and I stepped in, leanin’ back against the gold railin’, tryin’ to calm my mind.

That’s when I caught the soft tap of her heels and looked up just in time to see Ka’mari’s frame slip through the doors before they shut.

She didn’t ask if she could come. She just moved like my boundaries ain’t mean shit to her. Same as always.

I let out a humorless laugh and shook my head. “You out your fuckin’ mind showin’ up here. You know damn well I’m done with you. Whatever picture you got in your head about how this gon’ go, erase that shit now.”

She didn’t budge. She just leaned against the opposite wall of the elevator with her arms folded under her chest while her eyes stayed glued to me. “If you was really done, you wouldn’t sound this pressed. You wouldn’t even care that I showed up.”

Her voice was calm but sharp, and I hated how it still got under my skin.

I looked away, watchin’ the floor numbers climb, tryna keep myself from lookin’ at her dress clingin’ to every curve.

“You think this is some type of game, huh? You pop up in my mansion, act like you ain’t ghosted me for two years, and now you wanna stand here like I should clap because you finally realized you almost married a sucker?

Nah, Ka’mari. That’s not how this shit work. ”

She smirked, that same smug tilt of her lips that had me ready to choke her and kiss her all at once like I used to do back in the day.

“Donovan was a mistake, and you know that. I thought I could move on, and run from… what happened to the both of us, but I can’t.

You’re the one I’ve always loved, Pressure.

You know why I left. You’re acting like I had a choice, but you refuse to acknowledge that.

You’ve erased that shit so much out of your mind that you just act like it never existed. ”

My head snapped toward her, my jaw lockin’ as I fought the heat risin’ up inside.

She said that shit so easy, like the weight of her leavin’ and losin’ what meant everything to me, then ignorin’ me afterward was light.

“Don’t come in here throwin’ the L word around like it still mean somethin’.

If you loved me, you wouldn’t have bounced when shit got hard.

You would’ve understood I needed yo’ ass when we was both goin’ through it.

You wouldn’t have let me think you was happy with that clown ass nigga while I was losin’ my mind. ”

The elevator dinged, breakin’ the tension for a second as the doors slid open. I stepped out, my pace steady toward my room. I could hear her heels followin’ me, but her silence louder than words. I didn’t stop her, but I didn’t welcome her either.

When I reached my room, I pushed the door open, lettin’ it swing wide as I walked inside. Before I could turn around to tell her to back the fuck off, she slipped in behind me and closed the door. That soft click felt heavier than a slam.