Page 56

Crown Gravehart

S tanding out on the balcony attached to River's bedroom, I watched the sun rise and settle into the sky.

It was beautiful, peaceful even, but I couldn't figure out what made it worth waking up at five-thirty every morning to see.

To me, once you've seen one sunrise, you've seen them all.

But every morning, like her life depended on it, River dragged herself out of bed, tossed on that ugly pink robe she loved, and stepped out here.

Just not today. This morning, the bed stayed still.

No sound of her wrestling with the blankets.

The robe hung untouched on its usual hook, and on the balcony, it was just me.

Thoughts of River wouldn't leave me alone since I pulled up here.

Every time I closed my eyes, I saw her wrapped in that nigga's arms. The fear in her voice as she called my name ran on a loop in my head.

Fear pitched her tone up a few octaves, but it wasn't me she was scared for.

.. it was that nigga. I caught the look of shock on her face when I shoved my gun in his mouth, like she ain't know the fucking lengths I was willing to go 'bout her.

Her caring about his life proved there were still parts of River she kept from me.

My jaw tightened at the thought. When it unclenched, I let out a low, bitter laugh.

River had me outside my body. I bared it all the night I told her about Emily.

Laid my darkest secret at her feet, let a few tears slip.

That type of vulnerability didn't happen unless a nigga felt safe.

With River, I was the safest I've ever been in life.

Turning away from the street view, I walked back into the bedroom.

I strolled over to my side of the bed and unplugged my phone from the charger.

I flopped down and ran through my notifications.

Wolfe, Chosyn, Gigi, and Syn had my message count looking crazy.

Lynx and Rize both hit me, asking what the word was on Honor.

I scrolled to River's contact and pressed call.

"Hello," her voice was groggy as hell and slightly bitter.

"Don't tell me I woke the early riser up." I chuckled, keeping shit light.

"Well, when you didn't fall asleep until an hour ago, waking up early doesn't seem too important." She yawned.

"Where you at? I was waiting on you to come home."

"The hospital. I stayed thinking you were going to come here since this is where Honor is."

"Wolfe was there with him. I wanted to talk with you and figured you wouldn't go to my crib to avoid me."

"Avoid you for what?" The frown in her voice seared through the phone.

"A lot happened last night, some of which I wasn't a fan of, but I wouldn’t avoid you, Crown. We both needed to calm down. I also wouldn’t leave you to deal with the aftermath of your brother getting shot alone.

Anything else we could've talked about later. "

"Good to know."

Rubbing my hand along my jaw, I tensed as silence started to creep in. It wasn't the type that brought peace or reassurance. This was weighted, blanketed in all the things we weren't saying.

"Four."

"Crown."

"I'm coming to get you, ight? I won't keep you away for long, but we need to talk about ole boy who had his hands on you."

"He didn't have his hands on me. He was holding my hand to help calm me down. Someone shot at us or the hotel... I don't really know, but Rakim pulled me down and saved my life. When we got up, I was a little shaken, so he?—"

"Where you know that nigga from?" I bit back my anger, keeping my tone as steady as I could.

I didn't have a problem with River having other niggas in her life.

I trusted her enough to believe she wouldn't do no bogus shit like cheat.

But the way she kept saying ole boy's name.

.. the way she screamed for Lynx to get that nigga outta there, there was a familiarity in her tone. Heavy, like history lived there.

"Why does it matter where I know him from?"

"River," I exhaled her name like a warning. "Where do you know him from?"

A beat of silence stretched between us.

"I've never dated him, if that's what you want to know. Rakim is a friend of my ex."

"How did he end up at the hotel?"

"I don't know. He doesn't live out here anymore. He showed up, and I brought him outside to talk because he and Chosyn were going back and forth."

"How you cool with a nigga that has static with your sister?"

Her breath caught, and I heard her frustration creep in. "Don't flip this on me like I'm being shady. I don't wanna fight, okay. Come get me and I'll tell you about the part of my life that Rakim was a part of."

"Ight. You need me to bring you anything?"

"A change of clothes. Just pull one of the Essential sweat suits you got me from my closet."

"Ight. I'll be there soon."

"Okay. Do you wanna know how Honor is?"

"Come on, Four you should already know I spoke to my nigga. I called Navy not too long after I made it to your crib."

"Oh... okay." River's voice was low like she felt how off shit was between us.

"Four, I'm not tripping off dude, ight? We're good. I love you."

"I know and I love you, too. I'll see you when you get here," she murmured and hung up.

I stared at the screen, tempted to call her ass back to fix whatever I broke.

Tossing my phone on the bed, I walked over to her closet.

The sliding doors glided open with ease.

I stepped inside, activating the overhead lighting.

Jackets, hoodies, jeans, shirts, and dresses hung neatly on one side.

Shelves housing folded sweats, t-shirts, and boxes were on the other side.

The floor was carpeted, and a full-length mirror leaned casually against the far wall.

River's closet was nice as fuck, and it made sense why she stayed in here for a while after watching the sunrise.

We didn't spend much time at her crib, so I never thought to come in here.

I went through her hoodies first, then grabbed the matching sweatpants and a plain white t-shirt.

I walked out of the closet into her room to lay the fit on the bed, then went back in to grab her a pair of socks and sneakers to match the fit.

To make sure niggas didn't wild out on the racetrack we made everyone wear Crocs to drive in.

Niggas weren't about to do the dash in rubber sandals.

None of River's sneakers were in a box on her shelf except one pair.

I pulled the box wondering what was inside and the whole fucking shelf shifted.

On the wall were pictures of River and what I guessed to be an ex.

In every photo muthafuckin' photo, River and a nigga who seemed familiar were frozen in moments of love.

The smiles she wore for a nigga that wasn't me, her arms wrapped around a body that wasn't mine burned through my heart like acid.

Nestled among the photos were trinkets that her ex must've lied and told her were jewelry.

Looking around the closet, I grabbed one of her backpacks and filled it with all the shit she had on that muthafuckin' wall.

Grabbing the last photo, I studied it, wondering where I knew this nigga from.

River was asleep on his chest and his goofy ass was smiling in the camera.

Sucking my teeth, I was about to throw it in the bag with the rest of the shit when it came to me.

Fucking Emily .

I stared at the picture, jaw flexing, before a low laugh slipped out. If this wasn't a full circle moment, I didn't know what the fuck was. I slid the sneaker box back, and the shelf moved back in place. I shook my head. That was some sneaky shit.

Grabbing her clothes and my phone off the bed, I dipped.

I tossed the backpack and her clothes on the passenger seat, then slid behind the wheel.

Before going to see River, I headed home to shower and change out of this suit.

Staying at River's crib would've had me on some Left Eye bullshit forreal.

I needed to be out of her space to figure out how to handle this shit.

River must've forgotten who the fuck she belonged to, but it was nothing to remind her ass.