The Perks of Having a Nikah (A Muslim Love Story) *BACK 2023*

18.

❝While they all fall in love with her smile, she waits for the one who will fall in love with her scars.❞

"I'm going to the store. You want anything?" Zane asks me as he throws his jacket and boots on. It's been a few months now since Zane and I have done the Nikah and so far our marriage has been amazing.

"Yeah," I nod, getting up off the couch. "Take me with you."

"Why don't you just tell me and I'll get it for you?" He raises his eyebrow at me, amused by my urge to go with him.

"Because I want to come with. I'll be right back." I say and rush up the stairs two at a time to my room to get dressed. Going downstairs and finishing my ensemble with my black leather jacket and combat boots, I smile at him through my niqab and he chuckles.

"Alright fine, you can come, Wifey."

I roll my eyes. "You'll never stop calling me that, will you?"

"Never." He laughs. "Unless you have something better?"

"Nope, Wifey's good. Now let's go, slowpoke." I grab his arm and rush him outside. "You're taking forever."

"Wow, you want to be alone with me that badly?"

"Ha, don't flatter yourself, pretty boy." I wave my hand at him. He's such a cocky guy.

"Correction, handsome boy. I'm handsome."

He opens the passenger door for me before going into the driver's side and buckling his seatbelt.

"Who cares?"

"I do." He mocks hurt. "There's a difference, you know."

"Right, okay. Just drive."

"Aren't you going to put your seatbelt on?" He glances over at me quickly, then averts his gaze back to the road ahead of him.

"Nah. I'm too badass for seatbelts, bruh."

"Please never say bruh again."

"But why, bruh?" I look out the window, my breath fogging it up because of the cold weather.

"Because you just sound weird saying it."

"Says the one with the accent."

"I'll have you know that girls absolutely adore my accent, fam. They drool over it." He says cockily.

"There goes the Arrogant Zane." I roll my eyes for the second time that afternoon. "You really need to work on that. It's not cute."

He starts to laugh but gets distracted by the buzz of his phone. He looks down at the screen and is quick to turn the phone over. I look at him suspiciously but mentally shrug and decide to think nothing of it.

He turns the radio on and Drake begins to blast through the car. "Had hit records on my demo," Zane raps along. "Did you boys not get the memo?" He slightly bobs his head to the beat. "I do not stay at the Intercontinental. And anything I got is not a rental, I own that." He pauses at the curse.

"Can you not?"

"What?" He looks at me quickly and turns back to looking where he's driving.

"What do you mean what?"

"Well what only has one definition, doesn't it.."

"Music's haram."

"I know."

"So why are you listening to it?"

"It's still a struggle for me."

"Maybe you should stop listening to it now then."