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But for the first time in weeks, walking out of that courthouse didn’t feel heavy.

Xay wasn’t my man.

Wasn’t my future.

Wasn’t somebody I was waiting on anymore.

He was Collin’s father.

And honestly?

That was all the fuck he needed to be.

XAVIER

It was a few days after that fucking court bullshit with Heather, and I was still at Levin’s.

Still sleeping in his guest room.

Still separated from my motherfucking wife.

I was getting tired of this shit.

Sam was stubborn, but I knew her.

She’d break.

She loved me.

Our ten-year anniversary of being together was coming up, and I knew damn well she wasn’t about to sit around acting like this was the end of the fucking world forever.

Was she pissed?

Yeah.

Did I fuck up?

Obviously.

But people cheated every fucking day.

People had outside babies every fucking day too.

Granted, most niggas probably didn’t have them with they wife’s sister and cousin at the same fucking time, but shit happened.

Didn’t erase ten years.

Didn’t erase four kids.

Didn’t erase everything me and Sam built.

Eventually she’d remember that.

Until then, at least I had somewhere comfortable to stay.

And surprisingly, Levin hadn’t judged me.

Out of everybody, my brother was probably the only motherfucker who hadn’t sat there giving me speeches.