Page 71 of Kove and Xiah

I burst out laughing. “Fuck ’em freely? Koa…”

“You know that’s what it was. The strings weren’t supposed to be attached but they are. Double knotted and everything. Shit happens, you adjust. If he can’t, then maybe he’s not the one.”

He’s the one…

My one and I don’t know that I can walk away from this and be okay.

“You know what’s crazy?”

“I know a lot of crazy shit, Xi. You don’t want me to run that list down or you’re going to question my morals.”

I grinned. “Girl…”

“But what’s up?”

“I knew he wasn’t going to be one and done. For sure not a fuck ’em freely. Everything about him and us felt like it was supposed to be. It wasn’t like some crazy connection or anythinglike that but the idea of us felt good. I wanted thegoodhowever I could have it. Temporary or not.”

“Is that why you didn’t tell me?” My eyes bolted across the room to find Kove standing with his hands pushed into the pockets of a pair of joggers. He also housed a tense and stormy expression on his face.

“Koa, let me call you back.”

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, everything’s good. I’m about to head home. I’ll call you when I get there.”

“Xiah…”

“I’m fine, Koa. Promise.”

“Okay, love you, friend. Make sure you call me as soon as you walk in the door.”

“I will.”

I ended the call with Koa and clutched the phone in my hands, needing something to keep me from fidgeting. “We talking or you want me to leave?”

He crossed the room and sat on the table across from me. His long body barely fit and looked awkward with his legs forced into the small space, placing his knees against the edge of the sofa.

“I’m not fucked up behind you being married. It’s more about the way that shit came out. A simple conversation could have been had and I would have known how to handle things. This isn’t just about us, Xi. This is my career. One that is just fucking starting and last night wasn’t a good look.”

“I know.”

“Do you?” He frowned, glaring at me.

“Yes, I do, Yaakov. The reason I turned you down in the first place was because of what I have going on in my life.”

He scoffed. “But you still didn’t tell me. Explaining details about your past could have fixed all that shit.”

“I’m not gonna disagree. I don’t have a valid argument for why I didn’t tell you that won’t sound selfish. But my marriage also isn’t an easy topic for me. Regardless, you deserved to know.”

He stared at me for a minute then yanked at his beard. “What’s your day looking like?”

I blinked in confusion at the shift in topic. “Um, I have showings this morning and that’s pretty much it. Oni and Krew Troy.”

“They reached out?”

“Yes, she went on the site and picked four houses to view and selected me as the realtor.”

All four properties were listed under Kinsley as the selling agent, but when Oni requested me, I became their representative as the buyer’s agent.