Page 61 of Rose
Savior mugged him. “Nigga, yo ass ain’t even married.”
“Notyet,” Sincere said, grinning now. “Wifey still playing. But don’t trip, you’ll be at that wedding real soon. Shit… I might be atyoursfirst, the way you stuck on this mystery woman.”
He set his clipboard down and sank into a nearby chair, fully locked into the conversation now.
“So?” Sincere pressed. “Who is she?”
Savior didn’t answer right away.
He took another hit from the blunt, but his mind wasn’t in the greenhouse anymore—it was with her.
Savior never thought love—or anything close to it was meant for him. Not someone outside the Carter bloodline.
Because love gets you killed.
And he’d spent his whole life making surethatnever happened.
“Her name’s Ahzii Rose.”
Savior hadn’t meant to blurt it out, but once it slipped, there was no pulling it back.
Sincere’s eyes lit up instantly.
“Damn! For real?!”
Savior mugged him, annoyed at how excited he was acting.
“Why the fuck you so hyped?”
Sincere chuckled, unable to hide his grin. “’Cause, nigga—we might end up brother-in-laws too.”
Savior squinted, completely thrown.
“What the fuck are you talking about? She don’t even got a sister.”
He hit his blunt again, jaw tight. He knew that much already—had Liv run a light check on her. Nothing too deep. He didn’t want her entire life delivered in a file. He wanted to learn the real shit fromher, with his hands in the sand, their feet in the ocean, no one around but waves and peace. That was the only thing he pictured when she crossed his mind.
“They not sisters by blood,” Sincere clarified, grinning. “But my girl always says Rose is like the big sister she never had.”
Savior’s brow furrowed deeper.
“Nigga, who the fuck are you talking about?”
“Ahzii is Rose—she a tattoo artist. Owns that dope ass spot near Midtown. That shit stay booked. My girl’s her assistant—works there while she’s in med school. Smart, beautiful, everything.”
Sincere’s voice softened at the end, clearly somewhere else in his head.
“Focus,nigga.”
Savior snapped him out of it with a glare.
“Damn,” Sincere mumbled with a smirk. “Let me daydream about my baby for a minute. I know you over there thinkin’ about yours.”
Savior didn’t respond, but the way he hit the blunt said enough. Hewasthinking about her. He hadn’t stopped.
Savior leaned forward, teasing. “So… who’s this woman you claiming as your wife now?”
“Her name’s Taylor,” he said, like the name itself meant something. “She an artist like your girl, but she’s studying to become a medical scientist. I be tutoring her when I can… and yeah, I wanna put a ring on it. But she keep curving me. I think she low-key scared.”
