Page 11 of Certified To Handle You 2

“It mean somebody outside this marriage can tell you not to say somethin’, and you comfortable keepin’ it from me.”

“It wasn’t about us, though,” I said. “It was about my cousin. If she trusted me enough to tell me she was dealin’ with somebody else, I wasn’t finna run back and tell her business.”

“But she was just fuckin’ on Renza,” he replied. “Now she show up with another nigga, and you don’t think that’s somethin’ I should’ve known before we walked into that party with the rest of our family?”

I let out a slow breath ‘cause I understood where he was comin’ from, but I still wasn’t changin’ my mind.

“‘Lo, I ain’t got nothin’ to do with who my cousin date. That’s her life. If she wanted everybody to know, she would’ve told everybody. I wasn’t about to make that decision for her.”

He nodded like he heard every word I said, but I could tell he still wasn’t buyin’ it.

“So you really think that was the right move?”

“I do.”

“You don’t see nothin’ wrong with keepin’ somethin’ from me ‘cause somebody else asked you to?”

“I see it as respectin’ my cousin.”

He looked at me for another second before pushin’ himself away from the dresser. The closer he got, the more I had to tilt my head back to look at him, and I hated how fine this man was when he was aggravatin’ me.

His shirt still fit him like it had been made just for him, and the chain around his neck kept catchin’ my attention every time he moved. If we wasn’t standin’ here arguin’, I probably would’ve wrapped my arms around him.

Instead, I folded mine tighter across my chest.

He reached up and tucked my hair behind my ear before lettin’ his hand fall.

“So you think you just gon’ do what you wanna do?”

“It ain’t about doin’ what I wanna do,” I answered. “It’s about me not betrayin’ somebody that trusted me.”

“I ain’t ask you to betray her.”

“That’s exactly what it would’ve felt like.”

He held my eyes for a long second before givin’ a slow nod.

“A’ight.”

The way he said it made my stomach tighten.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “What that mean?”

“It mean I heard what you said.”

“That’s not all it mean.”

A light smile pulled at the corner of his mouth.

“I’on know what it mean yet,” he said. “But we gon’ find out.”

I stood here lookin’ at him for another second, but he ain’t give me nothin’ else.

I shook my head, grabbed my towel off the chair, and headed toward the bathroom. Right before I walked in, I looked back over my shoulder.

“You keep sayin’ a’ight like that, and I don’t like it.”

The corner of his mouth lifted just enough for me to notice.