Page 67 of Lennox Lane

“I’m not playing with her.”

“You already did,” KC said.

The words landed hard enough to irritate him.

Lennox’s jaw tightened. “I know that.”

“Do you?” KC asked. “Because showing up cold, hacking her, acting territorial after you pulled back? That’s little boy behavior.”

Tariq nodded. “Entertaining, but messy.”

KC looked back at Lennox. “Cadence doesn’t tell me everything because Lane’s story isn’t hers to tell, but I know enough. Nova knows enough too. Lane had a rough life, man. Rougher than she lets most people see.”

Lennox had said nothing.

He remembered the way the air in the room shifted. The humor leaving without a fight.

KC’s voice lowered. “Cadence told me Lane was the lavender that grew through concrete.”

That sentence had stayed with Lennox.

The lavender that grew through concrete.

Beautiful and impossible. Soft and stubborn. Rooted where nothing should have been able to survive.

Tariq leaned back, no longer laughing. “Nova said something similar. Said Lane jokes like a weapon because life taught her softness was something people tried to steal.”

Inside, Lennox had felt something heavy settle over him.

KC continued, “Whatever happened before we knew her, that woman has been carrying too much for too long. She deserves somebody who can be a soft place for her to land. Not another man she has to recover from.”

Tariq pointed at Lennox. “And definitely not a nigga who gets scared and starts acting like an emotionally constipated Bluetooth speaker.”

Lennox had glanced at him. “A Bluetooth speaker?”

“You loud, wireless, and only connect when you feel like it.”

KC nearly laughed, then caught himself.

Lennox had not.

Not then.

Because beneath Tariq’s foolishness sat truth, and Lennox hated truth when it arrived wearing jokes.

KC walked closer, his expression serious in the way that made people remember Concrete had not built an empire by accident. “If you’re not serious about Lane, leave her alone.”

Lennox’s eyes snapped to his.

KC didn’t blink.

“I mean that,” KC said. “I love you like a brother, but Cadence loves Lane. Nova loves Lane. That makes Lane family. If you’re just caught up because she bruised your ego and gave you something better than you were ready for, back off before you do more damage.”

Tariq nodded. “And if you are serious, stop moving like a thief. You keep sneaking around her life trying to prove you can protect what you haven’t earned access to.”

Lennox’s mouth had gone dry.

Tariq, unfortunately, was not done. “You want Lane? Be the soft spot. Be the nigga she can breathe around. Be the one who asks before moving furniture in her life. And if you can’t do that, go find somebody who thinks cyberstalking is foreplay and leave that woman alone.”