Page 69 of My Only

My heart leaped before I could stop it.

Maybe he was outside. Maybe he was on his way. Maybe…

Hassani: I’m so sorry, baby, but I can’t make it tonight. I’ll make it up to you, though. I promise. I love you.

The air in my lungs just… stopped.

My fingers hovered over the screen, but my mind went blank.

I reread the text. Then reread it again. And again. Looking for something more. Some reason. Some explanation. Some proof that I wasn’t slowly losing him to something bigger than me.

I started typing—What’s the hold up?—then deleted it.

Typed again—I told you about this, weeks in advance. Why are you canceling?—deleted that too.

My chest felt tight; my fingers numb.

What was the point?

I settled on a simple reply.

Me: Ok.

That one little word felt like surrender.

“You all right?” Janae asked beside me.

I looked up, met her gaze.

Her eyes softened. Then, she kissed her teeth. “Girl, forget what I said. Please don’t mind me. You know how I can be.”

And I did know how Janae could be. But in that moment, I couldn’t help wondering if she was right.

I shook my head. No. This isn’t that. It can’t be.

This was just work. Just one night. Just… just…

I swallowed hard, but Janae’s words slithered back in anyway.

“Watch the patterns, boo.”

I inhaled a slow, deep breath and flipped my phone over, pressing it face down against the table.

Then, I fixed a smile on my lips, draped an arm over Janae’s shoulder, and forced myself to ask, “How was your summer?”

Because I needed to focus on anything else.

Anything but the fact that, even if it wasn’t a big deal, Hassani had still just canceled on me.

And I had no idea why.

HASSANI

Three Hours Later

“Shit,” I hissed under my breath. “Dammit.”

I sat at my desk, staring down at the model home layout on my tablet, frustration bubbling in my chest. This was one of the five model homes for Greene Gardens—designed to showcase the range of styles, sizes, and layouts we offered.

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