Brielle's face was pushed into the pillow as she struggled to control her breathing while Hakeem continued to fuck her from behind.

Neither of them could explain how they ended up having sex, it just sort of, happened.

"You said you wanted rounds." Hakeem taunted, pressing on the small of her back so the arch would be deeper, "You done already?"

His definition of rounds was clearly different than hers. She just meant maybe a lil two round session.

Did he take a gas station pill? Brielle wondered I believe it's time to call on my Lord and Savior.

It didn't help that Hakeem had already come once so he had no problem holding off while Brielle continued to writhe in pleasure every time another orgasm hit.

When she offered no response, Hakeem changed the angle, making Brielle feel an entirely different sensation, "Getcha' face out the pillow. I needa hear you."

Brielle moved her face, allowing Hakeem to hear her every intake of breath, every whimper or moan that left her throat "There you go. Let me hear how that dick make you feel."

She was never vocal during sex, but didn't hesitate to tell Hakeem how much she enjoyed the feeling of him inside her, "I love it."

Her words weren't loud enough for Hakeem, "You what?"

"I- shit, I love it."

"Nut on it then."

Hakeem watched as she did exactly that, Brielle's orgasm coating his dick with more wetness, "You get so fucking wet for me baby." Hakeem told her with his voice barely above a whisper.

A condom hadn't been used this time around, and Hakeem found himself wishing he didn't have to pull out.

The more he watched himself slide in and out of her and listened to her noises of appreciation, the closer he got to cumming, "Ride my dick."

Brielle's legs felt like jello as she climbed on top of him, using his shoulders for balance while easing down. Hakeem surprised her by pulling her face to his for a kiss. It was different from the other kisses they shared, this one slow and unhurried.

When she pulled away, the way he was looking at her made her breath catch. There wasn't time to figure out what the gaze meant since she was unexpectedly lifted up as Hakeem pulled out, letting the semen fall against him."

"I hate that shit." Hakeem complained when both of them were in the bathroom, "All on a nigga stomach."

"Better out than in."

"Shitttt. I give out Plan B's like candy."

Brielle snorted and flushed the toilet, "That's nothing to be proud of. These girls be treating you like a slut."

He looked towards her as she continued to talk, "I was a hoe, you probably still a hoe, we Santa Claus."

"What about the other hoe?" Hakeem asked with a smile, following her back to the bed, "Who that is?"

"You must've forgot about Josiah hoe ass."

The t.v. played at a low volume while Brielle pressed herself into Hakeem's side. Their post-coital bliss was disrupted when she had a question, "Can I ask you something?"

A phrase no man wanted to hear.

Hakeem tensed in preparation for what she was about to ask, "Wassup?"

"Did you believe your sister when she said I had herpes?"

That wasn't what he was expecting her to ask, his body relaxing back into the bed, "Nah. I saw your papers and shit, plus I feel like you wouldn't lie to me about nothing like that."

Since Brielle knew they'd both had sex with the same person, she followed Grace's advice and went back for more tests, this time asking that they specifically look
for herpes, and she didn't have the disease.

Hakeem trusted Bri before she got tested again though, not just because of what he did for her, but because he saw her as a genuine person.

The problem with that, was that weeks had passed since the disastrous Thanksgiving dinner, and she still hadn't told him about Travis.

At this point, Brielle was scared to tell him because she'd lied to his face and let him think she didn't know Travis. The once small lie had continued to expand until now, Brielle was in a pile of shit.

"My sister just be talking shit anyway." Hakeem explained as he pulled Brielle closer to him, "You gotta ignore her."

"No you gotta ignore her. First time I catch sis outside of your mama house I'm beating her ass."

"I can't just let you fight Grace. I mean I fuck witchu', but-"

"I'm not asking you to let me do anything." Brielle cut him off, "I'm telling you that she talked too much shit to
me, and now she gotta give me my rounds. That's just how it's gone be."

Hakeem snorted, "We just found out you can't go more than 2 rounds. Y'all not finna fight."

Brielle felt the least she could do was tell Hakeem that she planned on fighting his sister. His response didn't really matter to her since she was still going to do it anyway.

The only thing he could've said to stop her was that he'd put her out if they fought, but he didn't.

"I really just don't want it to be a problem between us. That's why I'm telling you."

Oh, the irony.

Hakeem lay silently before answering, "Can't nothing be a problem with us unless you let it. If I'm there, ain't nothing gone happen, but Grace know what she be doing."

He was partially surprised it took Bri so long to get to this point. Grace stayed coming at her crazy and he couldn't really blame Bri for wanting to fight her.

Shit, he wanted to fight her too. Maybe hit with her a bat or some to add some seriousness so she knew he wasn't playing.

"Okay cool." Brielle said through a yawn, "Let's take a nap."

"I can't. I'm finna go meet somebody in like a hour and I already know Ian finna wake back up."

"I wanna go."

Since Brielle finished her classes, she didn't really do anything. Kyra was the only person she talked to on a daily basis, and she was busy with school.

"You know damn well you can't go with me. Jo going though so go hang with Kyra."

Brielle sighed, "I'm always over there. She gone get tired of me."

"You and Maya the only friends she got that ain't tried to fuck Jo. Trust me, she ain't gone get tired of you."

Hakeem's explanation made Brielle focus on something else, "Something about her throws me off."

"Who Kyra?"

"No, Maya."

He remembered then that he never told Bri that he and Maya used to fuck from time to time, "What she be saying some out the way shit to you?"

Brielle let her shoulders rise and fall, "Not really. It's just something."

"We fucked."

"I don't think that's it. Why would she care if we had sex?"

Hakeem tried not to laugh, "Nah, me and Maya fucked." He wasn't expecting her to get mad because in his mind, she didn't have a reason to.

"....Oh."

Other words men didn't want to hear.

"Yeah, my bad. I prolly should've said some but my mind wasn't on that forreal."

Even though he didn't have to tell Bri who he was fucking with, Hakeem still felt he could've said something since he knew Maya was around her.

Brielle remained quiet, only speaking again when Hakeem's mind had drifted elsewhere, "I know Travis."

He didn't even look at her, "I know." Hakeem mumbled, not understanding why she was telling him when he was there when they first met, "I was there."

"I knew him-" She stopped talking when Hakeem sat up to answer his phone, watching a look of what she perceived to be disappointment come over his face.

"You can come with me." He told Bri as he slid from the bed, "I'm finna go to Jo house."

On the drive over, Brielle reflected on the fact that she had almost built the courage to tell Hakeem about her situation with Travis only to have it ruined, and Hakeem wondered how Josiah planned on getting Kyra to stay after finding out that Raelyn was pregnant.

When they came to the house, it was eerily quiet for a house containing an angry Kyra. The voices became louder though with every step towards the back door.

"The one fucking thing you can't even give me, you're giving to another bitch?"

Kyra's sentence confused Brielle but not Hakeem, as he was more than aware of the multiple miscarriages Kyra experienced.

"Bae on my life that shit was not supposed to happen. I barely know that hoe."

"Bitch that makes it worse! You're so embarrassing! You make these hoes think they have the right to send ultrasounds to my house? Even if I was fucking with another nigga I'll never let him think he was nowhere near your spot. This bitch think she neck and neck with me!"

Hakeem and Brielle looked around the kitchen seeing nothing out of place except an envelope they assumed held the ultrasound Kyra was speaking of.

"On God she nowhere near you Kyra. You know that."

Tears were still streaming down her face, "You right. She got more than you ever gave me."

Josiah reached for her, taking his hand back after she gave him a look, "Just tell me what to do. I'll do whatever."

The pause made Josiah think she was considering his request, "You can't do shit. I'm going back to my mama house."

In every fight, Josiah was always told to leave. Kyra never made any effort to fully walk away.

"You really finna sit here and let that girl fuck up what we got going? That's what she want.

Her laugh was bitter, "Well she got it. How many times do you need to show me I'm dumb as fuck? I don't need shit outta this house, give it to your baby mama."

It seemed as if Josiah's reasoning for calling Hakeem was pointless since he wasn't the one being put out. There was nothing he could think of to say as Kyra quickly took her key off the ring, dropping it on the table before walking out of the house.

You could hear a pin drop until it was overshadowed by the sound of a phone smashing into the wall, "I hate this bitch!" Josiah yelled.

Hakeem sighed and walked towards the refrigerator, "Charge it to the game."

"How I'ma charge that to the game? She at my shit where my girl stay, leaving love letters. Ima slap the shit out that hoe." He looked at Brielle and had a different idea, "I'll pay you to beat her ass."

"She's pregnant."

"She won't be no more if you stomp her ass out."

"I would never." Brielle rolled her eyes, "And I'm saving my energy to beat Grace up."

Josiah nodded, "I fucked this one up bad huh?"

"You got it bro." Hakeem replied in between eating the fruit cup, "I say give her a few weeks."

"Ian never got no bitch pregnant. This different....Why the fuck you ain't just get a spoon you ghetto ass bitch."

Brielle laughed loudly, "Don't talk to him like that 'cause you mad."

"You right. Lemme go buy a radio so I can sing outside my baby window."

• • •

Later that evening, Brielle was downstairs when she heard the doorbell ring.

Hakeem wasn't home, so Brielle stomped up the stairs towards the door, peeping outside before opening it, "What?"

"Let me borrow $400." Darnishia demanded.

She didn't care to ask how Brielle was doing since she could look at her and tell that life had changed for the better. Darnishia wouldn't say she was necessarily jealous, she just felt like if anyone deserved to live a happy life, it was her.

Brielle scoffed, "I don't have $400. And if I did, I wouldn't give you shit."

"Doesn't he have a safe? This not the time to play with me Bri."

There was an underlying twinge of anger and sadness in Darnishia's voice, but Brielle ignored it, "Good thing I'm not playing then huh? Bye."

"I just need it until next week." Darnisha spoke through clenched teeth, "Just next week."

Brielle stared at her, "Go find some money."

Darnishia needed the money so that she could continue seeing her therapist. Alisha had taken her last two checks from work, telling her she needed to pay bills. The therapist Darnishia saw made her feel okay, normal even, and she couldn't even make it to her sessions.

She'd told Alisha what her money was for, but Alisha didn't believe in therapy, telling Darnishia that if she wanted to talk to somebody, she could talk to somebody in their house.

It'd been more of a necessity since she'd run into Maya that day, knowing that she'd seen her and Jerome leaving a hotel that morning. She never said anything about it, just gave her sympathetic glances around school. Seeing her that day brought back emotions she'd worked hard to bury.

So Darnishia was indeed very angry.

Which was the main component behind her saying, "If your daddy wasn't a fucking pervert I wouldn't need therapy."

"What?"

"I said if your trifling ass daddy wasn't a pedophile, I wouldn't need to ask you for money to see my therapist. Maybe if he knew how much you liked giving out pussy he would've fucked you instead of me."

There was a brief moment of silence before Brielle lunged at Darnishia, the both of them rolling down the front steps.

Darnishia landed on top, but her inability to fight aided Brielle in flipping them over, her fists connecting with as much of Darnishia's face as she could before she covered her face.

She took nearly every hit until Brielle felt herself being yanked back by an older man who was driving by and happened to see them fighting, "Turn her loose."

Both of them were breathing heavily, and Darnishia's smile was bloody, "You can beat my ass all you want. You still crying about a child molester being dead."

"On my life when this man let go of me I'm finna beat the shit outta you."

Brielle didn't believe her. She'd never even seen her dad glance at Darnishia, barely even talk to her, now she's claiming all of this.

Darnishia continued to laugh, "Why you think he made mama give me my own room? Everybody else had to share but I got my own so he could bring his crusty ass in my room damn near every night. Why the fuck you think he told mama to let me get a hotel on homecoming night. Did he ever come home Brielle? No because he was in the same room, the same bed as me breathing down my fucking neck while I laid there wishing I could just die."

She remembered him not coming home that night, and when she asked her father where he was, all he did was smile slightly and tell her, "I was handling business."

The man who had broken up the fight listened in partial confusion and horror as Darnishia gave details about what had transpired a few years back.

Her therapist had advised her long ago to tell Brielle, even bring her to a session to do it, and Darnishia said she didn't care to.

Shrugging out of his grasp, Brielle silently walked back into the house, closing the door behind her. She headed straight for her room, stopping suddenly when she was realized she wouldn't find what she was looking for in there.

She wouldn't find what she was looking for anywhere in the house because in one of her sensible moments, Brielle flushed any remaining drugs she had down the toilet.

There wasn't even any weed around since Hakeem stopped smoking in his house in an effort to help Bri.

Blowing out a breath, Brielle went to grab her phone, calling the only person she could think of in that moment.

When the call went unanswered, she grabbed her house key, locking the door behind her before beginning her walk in the direction of Travis' house.

• • •

The muscles in Mario's face strained to remained relaxed throughout his conversation with Grace, "Think about it Grace. Why would I lie 'bout some shit like that?"

Grace had finally come to the tentative conclusion that a Mario was lying to her about Bri giving her herpes. When he first told her, it was around the time that she'd expressed to him that Brielle was wearing out her welcome.

It wasn't like she could walk up to her and ask if she had herpes, so Grace took Mario's word for it, which she was now finding may have been premature.

"Well somebody lying, and she got papers to back her story. All you got is your words and you been lying like shit lately so."

Mario moved closer to Grace, stooping to eye level with her, "Was I lying when I said I was gone handle Keem? He ain't fucked with you since I shot his shit up right? Only reason Ian kill him is 'cause you said you didn't want me to."

Everytime they had a conversation about trust, he brought up this scenario. The part that Grace didn't know, was that he wouldn't have done it if Travis wasn't out of jail to take the fall.

She inhaled slowly, "Okay."

"I gotchu' forever." He lied with a smile.

Mario had been biding his time until he could get the maximum reaction from Hakeem, ensuring the maximum amount of 'pain' for Brielle.

Maybe, however, it was time he told exactly what he knew.

• • •

Blinking once, twice, a third time, Brielle tried to make the car in Travis' yard disappear.

When she, Kyra, and Maya attempted to get a car that wouldn't exactly stand out to Josiah, the first option had been Kyra's cousin's car.

Her mind went to when Maya suggested Kyra get a side nigga if she decided to stay with Josiah again. The timeline was off though, and she was wondering how they could've gotten together so quickly.

An alternative would've been that they had already been messing with each other, but Brielle struggled to wrap her head around the fact that Kyra would pick Travis as a sideline when she knew nearly everything Bri did.

Deciding to find out for herself, Brielle knocked on the door, shoving her hands in the pockets of her hoodie as she waited for him to open the door.

It took longer than she expected and her hand rose again to knock, when the door opened revealing Travis in only a pair of sweatpants, "Yeah?"

Brielle looked over his shoulder, seeing nothing but a dark room behind him, "Are you dumb?"

"Am I dumb? You gotta be if you showing up at my house. You think I'm still fucking witchu' after that shit you pulled?"

"I don't care if you fuck with me or not. The question is why are you fucking with Kyra?"

He glanced over his shoulder, "I forgot you knew her." He looked back towards Brielle, "I get hoes Bri. I can't be stuck on one bitch."

Despite how disrespectful his words were, Brielle focused on something she should've realized long before now:

Travis was only looking for a way to antagonize his cousin.

He seemed to do it at the risk of his life, and anybody else's apparently. As Brielle stared at Travis, she finally came to the conclusion that she had severely misjudged him as a person, "All that to make somebody who doesn't give a fuck about you mad."

Travis shook his head, "Nah I really thought we was cool. You the one sat up there and lied to ya' boyfriend so he wouldn't put you out,"

"Travis you literally tried to use me as get back! I was trying to be a friend to you."

"If you felt like you wasn't doing shit wrong you would've told him, right? You sneaky as fuck bro, I can't fuck with that."

She ignored him, "And you're still doing the same shit. Why Kyra of all people?"

"Good pussy." Travis shrugged, a smile playing on his face, "What you needed though? I'm busy."

Brielle had forgotten all about the reason why she'd come here, "Don't worry about it."

She'd finally accepted that Travis wasn't who she thought he was at all.

Only it was too late.

• • •

i'm sorry for these raggedy ass sex scenes but i needed to update so we gone pretend it was good okay!

soooo travy didn't shoot at Hakeem car 🥴 y'all owe my bby an apology!

anyway, im happy bri finally picked a side bc someone has to die tbh, and that death is ret round da corner. y'all know i'll kill a mc w/ the quickness lmaoo so don't think hakeem safe.

thank you my bbys for 9k votes & 100k reads we lit asf 🕺🏽