London squealed and practically tackled him, throwing her arms around his neck. “Thank you Dex, for real,” she said,pulling back to look him in the eye. “Thank you for finding a way to get this hardheaded heffa to still come. We needed this.”
Nel stepped up and dapped him with a look of deep respect. “Good looking out man. Not just for the trip but for the lawyer and everything else. You really held it down for her.”
Dex kept his hand in Nel’s but his gaze drifted over to me, locking onto mine with an intensity that made the hallway feel ten degrees hotter.
“Man, I’d cross an ocean for your sister,” he said, his voice dropping just enough to make it clear he wasn’t performing for the crowd.
The words made heat crawl up my neck. I looked away, blushing harder than I had since high school. It was one thing to have him talking that talk in the back of my shop. Hearing him say it in front of my brother made my heart do something it hadn’t done in a long time.
The moment was snatched away when the vibe in the hallway went cold.
“Nique? Can I talk to you for a minute?”
Kel was standing a few feet away.
“Oh, no ma’am,” Paris snapped, stepping forward like a human shield. “Anything you got to say to her you can say to all of us.”
I put a hand on Paris’s arm. “It’s okay P. Let me see what she wants.”
I caught the flash of dark protective anger in Dex’s eyes, but I needed this closure. I needed to finish it properly.
Kel and I stepped a few feet away near the elevators.
"Nique, I'm sorry," she started, her voice shaking. "I never wanted it to go this far."
"You cheated on me Kel," I said, my voice flat. "That's where this went."
"Baby, it was one time and it didn't mean anything," she whispered, her voice getting desperate. "Can't we just get past this? You damn near broke my nose, Nique. We're even."
"We're not even," I said. "I can't trust you. It's that simple."
Kel's face hardened, her eyes cutting over my shoulder to where Dex was standing. "But you can trust that nigga? Didn't he do the same thing to you back in the day?"
"Dex and I weren't a couple," I said, my voice cold and steady. "And the difference between him and you is that when I needed somebody he answered. He showed up. You couldn't even pick up the phone."
She went quiet for a moment. The fight drained out of her face slowly, replaced by something quieter. Something final.
"Two years Nique," she said, her voice dropping low. "I know I messed up but I need you to know it wasn't because I stopped loving you."
"I know you love me Kel," I said, and I meant it. "But love doesn't fix trust once it's gone. I learned that the hard way before you."
She nodded slowly, absorbing that. "You were never really all the way in were you."
It wasn't an accusation. It was just the truth landing between us after the fact.
I didn't answer because we both already knew.
"So what now?" she asked.
"Now I need my things," I said. "I'm leaving for Mexico soon. When I get back I need to be able to come by and get everything without it being a whole situation. Can you give me that?"
Something flickered across her face like she had been hoping the logistics conversation meant there was still a door open somewhere. There wasn't.
"Yeah," she said finally. "I'll have everything boxed up before you get back."
"I appreciate that."
"Take care of yourself," she said quietly.