Page 78 of You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty

Feyi almost said it was okay, but then she remembered how scared she’d been, his spit flying in her face, her things tossed on the floor like they were nothing, like she was nothing, the rage at the museum, and she felt her neck tighten with anger again. “So apologize,” she said, her voice stiff.

His jaw clenched, but then he took a deep breath. “I’m really sorry I pulled all that shit. It was out of line, and it’ll never happen again.”

Feyi couldn’t quite find words or forgiveness, but she gave him a slight nod, and that felt good enough.

Nasir grunted, then folded his arms. “So. You two are actually a thing now.”

Feyi tilted her head to one side, watching him carefully. “Something like that,” she acquiesced.

“But you’re serious. Like, you’re both serious about this.” Nasir looked like he was making a credible attempt to keep either disgust or contempt out of his voice and face as he spoke to her, and Feyi felt her hackles rise. She straightened her shoulders, refusing to look ashamed.

“Yes, Nasir. We’re serious. Alim wouldn’t be putting either of you through this if it wasn’t serious.”

Nasir raised a hand, grimacing. “Don’t … don’t speak for him. Please. It’s really—” He took a second to compose himself then looked directly at her. “It’s really hard to hear that without getting angry.”

Feyi nodded. “Okay. I can speak for just myself, but—”

“That’s between me and my father.”

She raised her palms. “I hear you.”

Nasir looked at her, his expression flickering between anger, hurt, hunger, and maybe still some hatred. Feyi wouldn’t put that past him. “You look good,” he said.

“Thanks.”

“He fucking you right, huh?”

Feyi blinked, then turned to walk down the steps. “Okay, then. We’re done here.”

Nasir called after her. “No, Feyi, wait.” She paused and turned, watching him bite down on his lower lip. “I’m not going to be able to be graceful about this,” he said. “I’m not that big of a person, and I’m sorry. I just … I need to know some things. Okay?”

Alim was right, he was trying. Feyi came back up and leaned against the entrance, her mouth tight. “Go on, then.”

Nasir nodded his head and moved his tongue over his teeth. “Why him?” He looked up at her and a flood of bitterness drowned out his face. “What the fuck did he have that I don’t? We had chemistry, you and I. We were good together. You never … you wouldn’t let me touch you, not like that. And I tried to make you feel safe with me, I tried to do all the right things, and none of it was enough, but you’re here with him for barely any time, and boom, it’s on? And you two are serious, and he’s fucking up everything for this, for this thing y’all have?”

“He’s not fucking it up, Nasir.”

“Nah … you have no idea, Feyi. It used to be the three of us, for my whole life, and we’ve never, never come apart at the seams like this. And I don’t understand why the fuck this would happen, why you’d do this to me, why he’d do this to me. And I’m sorry for being crass, but I legit cannot stop thinking, maybe that’s what’s happening—he’s just fucking her right, that’s why she left me for him, but that doesn’t make sense, see, because I never got a chance to even get that far with you. I keep trying to imagine how this could have even started, and I can’t come up with anything.”

“Well, apparently you think I’m a groupie and a gold digger who seduced him, so that sounds like a great start.”

Nasir met her eyes. “I was angry. I knew you were a fan, but I don’t think you set out to do all of that.”

“Shit, maybe pass the memo to your sister. Both of y’all were so obsessed with us fucking when we hadn’t even—” Feyi broke off and waved a hand. “Never mind. It doesn’t even matter.”

“Nah, when y’all hadn’t even what?” Nasir leaned forward.

Feyi cut her eyes at him. “Why don’t you take that up with your father when you talk to him?”

“When y’all hadn’t even fucked?” His face was sharp, an odd kind of hungry. “So, when was it then? When did you”—Nasir flicked his fingers at the air—“consummate this relationship with my father?”

Feyi looked at him, and she thought of the clearing and the sunrise and Alim’s face bordered by a new sky, his smile, his body as he moved against and inside her. She blinked and leveled a cool stare at Nasir. “It doesn’t belong to you.”

He frowned. “What?”

“This shit you want to know, it doesn’t belong to you. It’s not your business.”

Nasir raised his eyebrows. “It’s not my business when you started fucking my dad?”