Page 59 of You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty

Hand in hand, they left the house as Alim led them down a path that curved past his citrus orchard, through an edible garden Feyi hadn’t even seen before, and up to a small wood-and-glass house with French doors and hibiscus lined up against the walls.

Feyi looked at Alim. “What’s this?”

He went up to the doors and pulled them open, standing aside so she could enter. “It’s a studio. Your studio, if you want it.”

She glanced at him as she stepped into the large bright room, taking in the slab worktable, the shelves, the daybed arranged under looming birds of paradise. Cool air whirled around her, and Feyi pushed her braids out of her face. “What d’you mean, my studio?”

Alim raised his hands. “Only if you want it. I know things just got immensely complicated and to make work on top of all this might be excessive. I wouldn’t blame you if you still wanted to leave.” He took a few steps toward her, and Feyi wondered when the sight of his face would stop piercing her the way it always did. “Know that my feelings for you will not change, whether you stay or leave. But if you did choose to stay, I wanted you to have a space that was just yours, where you could make your work.”

Feyi spun around slowly, taking it all in. “You didn’t just build this, right?”

“No.” He laughed. “It was here before. We just cleared it out and set it up for you.”

“Wait, is that what you were doing all day?”

Alim shrugged. “I wanted you to feel welcome.”

“You turned this space into a studio in what, an afternoon? That’s impressive.”

A corner of his mouth tugged down. “It’s really not. You’d be amazed how many things become simple once you throw enough money at them.” There was an undercurrent in his voice, but Alim slipped it off and turned his brilliant smile to Feyi. “Do you like it, though?”

She walked up to him and held his face in her hands. “Alim, it’s perfect. It’s the sweetest thing.”

Relief shot through his eyes and he leaned his jaw into her palm, gazing softly at her. “I want you to stay.” His voice was close, soft and intimate. “I also want you to choose what’s best for you, but if you were wondering where I stood on it, or what I wanted, it’s you. Here, with me.”

Feyi stroked her thumb across his stubble. “For how long?” she teased. “I still have a life in New York, you know.”

“All right, I take it back. I just want you, wherever you want to be.”

He was so beautiful; it made no sense. “What if I want to be here? At least for now.”

Alim slid his arms around her. “Are you sure?”

Feyi nodded and dropped her hands to his chest, feeling his heart beat under the bone. The sun was setting outside, and the room was turning into gold. “Thank you for this,” she said, looking around.

He pulled her close, tucking her head under his chin and hugging her tightly. “For you, Feyi? Anything.”

Feyi wished she could replay that moment for Joy, the way the light wrapped around them, the way their bodies fit together, the easy assurance in Alim’s voice. His feelings are real, she’d tell Joy, you should have heard him. You could build a house on how sure his voice was; you could build a house that would never fall down. And Joy would laugh, but it would be true, Feyi knew it would be true.

Chapter Seventeen

As it turns out, she did tell Joy, a few days later while curled up in the library’s window seat, but Joy had other more pressing questions. “What I wanna know is, have y’all fucked yet?”

“I already told you I was going to wait!”

“Yeah, yeah, I know what you said, but nigga’s been cooking you Michelin meals, set you up with a whole-ass studio—” Joy broke off and gasped. “Oh my God, bitch, you got a sugar daddy!”

“He is not my sugar daddy!”

“I mean, if it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, I’m just tryna find out if it fucks like a duck.”

Feyi burst out laughing. “That doesn’t even make sense!”

“It doesn’t need to make sense. It just needs to blow your back out.” Joy grinned at her. “But for real, though, y’all cuddling every night but no one’s tried to slip some dick in? What’s up with that? You not feeling him or what?”

Feyi pulled her knees into her chest. “I just don’t wanna go there yet. There’s too much up in the air. Plus, it’s nice to just talk.”

“So y’all … talk about fucking but don’t actually fuck?”