Page 57

I unlatched the case and froze. Paints, brushes, charcoal pencils, oil pastels, sketching pencils, and two thick sketchbooks. Everything was organized in its own little section, and none of it was cheap shit. I pulled out one of the brush sets, stared at it, then looked at Em.

“You remembered which ones I use?”

“You talk about art shit more than you think you do.” He shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal. “And I took pictures of some of that stuff at your place when you wasn’t looking.”

My chest tightened. The ring was beautiful. The bag was fly as hell. But this was my favorite.

“You really pay attention to me.”

His brows pulled together. “Why wouldn’t I?”

I stared at him for a second before climbing right back into his lap. He laughed as I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed all over his face.

“Damn, Vannah. All I had to do was buy some paint?”

“Shut up.” I kissed him again. “Thank you. For all of it.”

“You welcome, baby.”

I settled against him, still staring at the case lying open on the floor. Emery knew I painted. He knew I drew when I needed to get out of my own head. He knew what brands I liked without me ever handing him some damn Christmas list. He knew me.

My phone buzzed somewhere beside me, and I ignored it at first. Christmas morning was loud enough without work finding me. When it buzzed again, I reached between the couch cushions and grabbed it.

It was Selene. My smile faded before I even opened the message.

Selene: Merry Christmas. Call me when you can. Me and Khalil got into it again last night. He left and still hasn’t come home.

A second message came through before I could respond.

Selene: I’m tired, Sav. I don’t know how much longer I can keep doing this.

I stared at the screen. Just minutes ago, I’d been sitting at the table with Emery’s parents, talking about marriage like it was the natural next step. Like you loved somebody, got married, had babies, and figured the rest out along the way. But I’d watched Selene and Khalil love each other too. That was the scary part. Love wasn’t always enough to keep shit together.

At sixteen, I thought I knew who I was gon’ spend the rest of my life with. I hadn’t thought about that in a long time, and I damn sure wasn’t about to sit here on Christmas morning and start digging through it. Selene needed me to call her, and I needed to stop letting everybody else’s marriage make me question mine before it even existed.

“You good?” Em asked, rubbing my thigh.

I locked my phone and looked at him. “Yeah. Selene’s going through some stuff. I’ll call her later.”

He nodded and kissed my temple. “Aight.”

I rested my head against his chest, and his arm tightened around me. I loved Emery. There wasn’t a question in my mind about that. But forever was a long-ass time. And I wasn’t in any rush to promise it before I knew I was ready.

White backdrops hung from one end of the studio to the other, with lighting rigs and umbrellas set up in every direction, and monitors glowin’ where the photographer’s team huddled, checkin’ shots. Racks of clothes and a whole table of watches sat off to the side. Music blasted through the studio speakers, keepin’ me focused on gettin’ this shoot done. I didn’t want to drag this shit out for two days at Audemars.

Being in L.A. felt good. The weather was warm. My niggas, Rue and Don, asked me to slide through a party they were throwin’, and I’d get a chance to drop in on Coach Les.

The dressin’ room was small. Mirrors were lined with bulb lights, and garment bags hung wall to wall, each one taped with my name. I was changin’ into my second suit when Juicy walked in, her head down on her phone. She wasn’t payin’ attention to shit but work. Her fingers moved across her tablet as she chugged the rest of her Red Bull.

“Okay, Juvie. We didn’t get the chance to discuss the rest of your schedule. I have three more opportunities for you. After you decided you wanted chicken one night, Celine reached out. I think you should jump on that first.”

Juicy wasn’t movin’ right. She had been all over the place all day, didn’t eat, and she didn’t stop workin’ no matter what was goin’ on.

“You good?”

She raised her head from the screen wit’ her lip curled. “Yeah. Why?”

“You talkin’ fast as hell. Slow down. When’s the last time you chilled the fuck out? You been on wheels this whole time.”