Page 143 of I See You

Hassan chuckled under his breath. He knew she wasn’t going to let it go.

“The man that basically raised me. Taught me everything I know.”

“Jules wrong—you’renot a cold nigga,” she said, the conviction in her voice hitting something deep.

Her tone was soft, but it landed like a truth he wasn’t ready to hear. She saw something in him—the version of himself that existed before the trauma. The boy buried under blood and survival. But he couldn’t believe it. Not yet. Not after everything he’d done. Because no matter how warm her voice felt…he still felt frozen inside.

Their eyes locked, silence stretching between them until she broke it.

“Ariel... my ex-best friend... she’s pregnant. And it’s Braxton’s.” She didn’t sugarcoat it. Didn’t ease into it. She just let it fall into the room, her voice cracking under the weight of it. The sadness in her tone hit Hassan like a punch to the chest. His jaw clenched instantly. Hearing her hurt made his blood boil—and knowing it was Braxton behind that pain only fueled the rage already sitting in his veins.

“Sorry,” she added quickly. “I just had to say it out loud. Get it out of my brain before it exploded.”

She tried to brush it off, but Hassan knew. He’d known that was the pain she’d been hiding earlier on the phone. The real crack in her voice.

“Come here, Sevyn,” he said, his voice low, calm, but softer than usual.

Her body froze. Her grip tightened around the wine glass, eyes flickering with hesitation. “Why?”

He gave her that look—the one that said he wasn’t repeating himself.

With a sigh, she downed what was left of her wine, set the glass down, and slowly stood. She walked over, and he didn’t move to meet her. He just waited, watching.

She stopped in front of him. And that’s when he saw it—tears glinting in her eyes, the ones she was fighting back too hard. Without a word, he reached for her waist and gently pulled her into him. She gasped, stumbling forward, landing in his lap, straddling him out of instinct for balance.

“Hassan…” she breathed, a small panic in her tone.

He raised a finger, resting it gently against her lips. “I just want to hug you.”

Her breath hitched again, but she didn’t move.

He pulled her in tighter, her arms slowly wrapping around his neck, her face nuzzled close enough to inhale the scent of his cologne. He felt her body soften, melt into him, though her heart was racing hard against his chest.

She started to get off his lap, but his hands held her firmly in place. “Whatareyoudoing?”sheasked,voicesoft,shaky,likeshe already knew.

He didn’t answer. Just looked at her. Saw the war in her eyes, the emotion still swirling behind her lashes. Then the tear fell. A single, silent tear that trailed down her cheek. Hassan reached up and wiped it away, his thumb brushing her skin so gently it almost hurt.

“Stop letting people who don’t deserve to be in your life hurt you,” Hassan said, the words slipping out before he could stop them.

He meant it, even if it surprised him.

Sevyn’s eyes widened, the tears still glistening, but now filled with something else—shock, maybe even awe.

“Your heart is full of gold, Sevyn,” he continued, his voice low and steady, but softer than usual. “It’s treasure. And Braxton’s bitch ass— and that hoe? They didn’t deserve to discover it.”

Her lips trembled as the tears fell freely now, his words cutting through the wall she tried so hard to hold up.

Then—she moved. No hesitation. Her lips crashed into his. Hassan didn’t expect it, but the moment he felt her mouth on his, it was like something ignited deep inside of him. Her lips were soft, warm, addictive. He kissed her back, deeper, hungrier, letting his tongue slip past her parted lips when she opened to him.

She melted against him, and he pulled her closer, standing with her in his arms, not breaking the kiss as he carried her through the house like it was instinct. Upstairs. Into her room. Pressed against the wall.

Their breaths collided—quick, shallow, in sync.

He kissed down her neck, tasting her skin, dragging his tongue slowly along the curve of her jaw. She tasted sweet, and it wasn’t just her perfume. It was her.

But then—

“Wait… no… we can’t do this,” Sevyn whispered, breathless, her voice trembling with conflict.

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