“I know you stay bullshitting. I know Livi don’t bullshit. I dismissed a bitch today that’ll lace up her boots and ride with a nigga over anybody. When I asked myself why I’d give that up, the shit didn’t even make sense. I don’t do shit that don’t make sense.”

“So, you want her?” Morgan asked. She held her breath because she knew Ahmeek wouldn’t lie to her. If he desired Livi, he would let it be known. He wouldn’t deny it to protect her feelings. Deceit just wasn’t his game. He put his cards on the table faceup every time. If he said yes, Morgan would be destroyed.

“Nah, but she want me, and I ain’t got to second-guess the shit. I ain’t got to think about her with other niggas. I ain’t got to stop myself from killing a mu’fucka behind her, cuz she solid,” Ahmeek stated.

Morgan didn’t know what to say. His praise of Livi made her sick to her stomach. She had no defense. She couldn’t even pretend he wasn’t right. She couldn’t convince herself that he deserved her half-commitment. She may not be with him all the time physically, but he owned every part of her. If only he could measure the loyalty of her heart. He had no idea how much of it he occupied. She was just in a jam, a trap, a maze that she couldn’t find her way out of, and she couldn’t ask for help. It was something she had to figure out alone. She understood his impatience. It didn’t stop it from hurting, however.

“I want you,” Morgan said. “It’s more than a want, Ahmeek. I dream about you every night. Having you in my life in this way—” She paused. “It was never supposed to happen. It’s fucked up, and it crosses so many lines, but it’s like a dream. The way you make me feel is…” She closed her eyes. “I want you, Ahmeek.”

Ahmeek tilted the green beer bottle to his lips. “You like to play with a nigga head, Morgan. With your back and forth. You in and out with it. You make a man feel like he on top of the world. Love on a nigga real good. Say all the right shit. Stroke his ego, put pussy on him, scream his name, smile at him like you can’t see shit else,” Ahmeek stated. He sat with legs wide, beer tilted to his lips and not even looking her. His eyes were on the floor as he inventoried the things she had done to him. “Then you go back home to another man. Then you compare me to Messiah like I ain’t loving you with everything I got, like what I been doing ain’t shit—”