Page 67 of Tangled Hearts

“Tomorrow’s crazy, pretty girl,” he warned.

This was only day one of Fashion Week. Each day, the shows got more hectic. He knew he was going to be pulled in so many different directions and wanted to give her a heads up.

“Good,” she murmured, kissing across his cheeks and jaw. “Let’s make it crazier.”

He laughed, flipping her under him again. His lips pressed down on hers, his palm never leaving her hip, holding her like he always did.

Noir giggled, wriggling beneath him. “Having sex on a balcony out of town is on my bucket list.”

Cash nuzzled into the curve of her neck, his breath hot against her skin. “Oh, yea? What else on the list? Let me see how many dreams I can knock off before I gotta give you back.”

Her eyes found his, lashes heavy. She slid her hands through his wild hair, pushing it back to study his face. “I know I should be getting myself together like Knyc,” she whispered, voice trembling with honesty, “but what if I don’t want you to give me back?”

His grin faltered, the weight of her words pushing through his chest.

“What if,” Noir blinked, her voice stronger now, “I’ve been in love with you since you made me drop my freezy cup?”

Cash stilled, searching her face. The noise of the city below faded into nothing. He traced her jaw with his thumb, his words low like they were sharing a secret. “You saying that now?”

“I should’ve said it five years ago,” she admitted. “But I was scared. You were chasing everything you deserved, and Christian was right there. He made it easy for me to choose wrong.”

Cash kissed her slowly, pulling back to look at her again. “Nah, you ain’t choose wrong. You chose what you thought was gon’ love you best. That’s what we all do, pretty girl. We gamble on love. Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose.”

Noir’s throat tightened, but she held his gaze.

He pressed his forehead to hers. “Lesson is, don’t punish yourself for loving somebody. Even if it don’t last. Don’t drown in guilt when your heart finally start telling the truth. If you been feeling me, let it be that. Stop fighting it.”

Her chest rose in rapid spurts. “You think we could work?”

Cash smirked faintly, brushing his knuckles down her cheek.

“You asking me that while I’m laying on top of you?

Look at me, Noir. I wanted you when I had nothing but a mic and a dream.

I want you now when I can give you more.

And I’ll want you when all this rap shit fade.

That’s what love is—choosing the same person in every season. ”

She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. For once, she didn’t argue. Didn’t play it off. She just let herself be wanted, finally giving herself permission to believe it.

Rock parked in front of the building, Rodeisha in the back humming with her tablet.

He looked up at the brick exterior, imagining his name on the front window.

A shop of his own. Something he could pass down.

He stepped out with his daughter’s hand in his.

He was nervous—something he wouldn’t admit.

The door opened from the other side. Qua darted out first, his little sneakers slapping against the pavement. “Cousin!” he yelled, sprinting toward Rodeisha.

“Cousin!” she yelled back, letting go of Rock’s hand to meet him halfway. They fell into laughter, twirling around before collapsing into giggles on the sidewalk.

Rock froze.

Hov leaned against the doorframe with the keys in his hand.

The same Hov who had been his brother, his enemy, and everything in between. Their eyes locked. The months of silence and slick words lived between them.

“What you doing here, nigga?” Rock asked.

Hov shoved his hands in his pockets. “I own this spot. Meeting somebody about leasing it.” His gaze dropped to Rodeisha before moving back to Rock. “Didn’t know it was you.”

Rock smirked, though his chest twisted. “Crazy. Guess that makes you my landlord.”

“Guess it does.” Hov’s words carried an edge.

The kids tore past them into the open building, their laughter echoing off the empty walls. The sound softened the weight in the air.

Hov turned to Rock. “What you need a business for? Thought the streets was enough.”

Rock stepped closer. “I’m tired of the streets,” he admitted.

“I been drawing, inking people inside. Now it’s time I put my money where my mouth is and create something that’ll live past the streets.

I want something that’s mine. Something for her.

” He pointed toward his daughter, who was now showing Qua how to balance on a cracked tile.

Hov watched, then exhaled. “Bout time you thought about more than the block. Come on, so I can show you the place.”

Hov had no ill intentions for Rock so he would give him a tour as if they didn’t know each other since they were snotty nosed kids.

They went inside. Rodeisha and Qua ran in circles, chasing each other until they collapsed near the wall, still laughing.

Rock rested against the counter, eyes on Hov. “You gon’ keep throwing that mug on your face or we gon’ talk?”

Hov’s shoulders dropped. “I’ll talk. I owe you that” He signed. “I shouldn’t have got with Knyc behind your back. That was foul.”

Rock clenched his fists before letting them go. “Yea, it was. Then you ain’t tell me you had a baby with her. That was real fucked up. Had me already loving him like a nephew.”

“We all got secrets,” Hov’s eyes focused on Rodeisha.

Rock stood straight. “That ain’t the same, nigga and you know it. You did some foul shit, don’t try to validate it by showing me how I wasn’t right. Own what you did.”

“I love her,” Hov admitted, voice steady. “Always have. Since we were kids, sneaking in places we shouldn’t. It wasn’t about hurting you—it was about not being able to fight it no more.”

Rock’s chest ached but he nodded. “I get it. I feel that same shit with Shakeisha. I ain’t handle her right either, but when I see her with our baby? That’s my heart.”

They stood in silence, watching their kids race to the back room, voices bouncing off the walls.

Hov spoke first. “We was thicker than blood, Rock. Losing you? That shit been hollow. Nobody else filled that space.”

“Same,” Rock admitted. “You the only one that ever knew me for real. That’s why it cut deep.”

Hov pressed his hand to the counter, leaning in. “I’m getting out the streets too. Got some units, some land. Real estate flipping, paperwork solid. I’m building for Qua.”

Rock gave him a long look. “You serious?”

“Dead ass.”

A laugh slipped out of Rock, shaking his head. “Man… you taking the nickname serious, huh? Nigga wanna be Sean Carter so bad.”

They both hollered.

“Aye, some shit just in you,” Hov popped his collar.

Rock agreed, his smile big again. “You always had something that made you stand above the average nigga ‘round the way. I’m proud of you, my nigga.”

Hov smirked. “Likewise.” They dapped each other up, tension melting off both of them the longer they held each other in a brotherly hug.

What sat between them wasn’t just old beef finally dying.

It was proof that tangled hearts weren’t only about the girls they loved and lost. It was about the brothers who held them down when life spun out.

About surviving enough pain together to know forgiveness mattered.

Their bond wasn’t stitched by blood but by history, by mistakes, by loyalty that kept pulling them back no matter how far they drifted.

Both of them felt it right then—the story didn’t end with women or war in the streets.

It ended with them standing as men, choosing each other, choosing growth, and choosing legacy.

The kids came running back, Rodeisha tugging Qua’s arm. “Uncle Hov, can we stay? It’s big in here!”

Both men laughed, their kids bridging a gap words couldn’t.

Rock pushed his hands into his pockets. “We ain’t fixed everything. Not by a long shot. But I hear you.”

Hov slapped the keys in Rock’s hand.

“What day rent due?” Rock asked holding onto the keys.

Hov smirked. “Shit, nigga, you tell me… this yours.”

“What?”

“I’ll always walk beside you, nigga. Even when we let our pride keep us distant. You’ll always be here,” he tapped his chest. “This yours… I’ll have the paperwork drawn up for you to own.”

“Hell, nah,” Rock tried to hand the keys back.

“When we hit the streets running, we said we’d always do it together. This is our building something good for our seeds. Take it. I ain’t giving you nothing that shouldn’t rightfully be yours anyway.”

Rock’s eyes misted.

Hov pulled him back into a hug. “I love you boy and I’m sorry.”

“I love you too, nigga.”