Page 102 of Chemistry: The Chemist

Milo and Makai were next. They’d rode together. Rubber burned as they exited the lot. Chem and I were last to go. He held the door open, waiting for me to climb in. As he locked the seatbelt around my body, his lips caressed mine. Passion erupted as emotions encouraged the vulnerability between us both.

“Hi.” I breathed heavily when he finally released me.

“Hi.”

Unable to contain myself, I wrapped my arms around him, peering into those dark rounds, searching for his depths. Searching for his core.

“I enjoy spending my days with you.”

“You have the rest of them to spend with me, Choc.”

“Yeah?”

With a nod, he responded.

“I admire the love between Anna and Malachi. It’s so pure. So effortless.”

“They’ve been together since they were kids. If you’ve never seen soulmates, there you have it.” He tipped his head in the direction they’d gone in. “In this lifetime and the next.”

“Do you ever dream of a love like that? Like theirs?”

“I never dreamed of love a day in my life, Eden.”

Disappointment scrunched my nose and brows.

“Until you,” he continued, finally bandaging my pain. “And it’s nothing like what my brother has because that’s theirs. What I want with you, for us, is something unlike anything else. Monumental. A little dysfunctional, possibly. Very fucking intense. Unshakable. Unbreakable.

“Something that can’t be penetrated. Something solid. Something real and unconditional. Something that remains the same through the good, bad, ugly, and unfathomable. Something misunderstood by most, but makes perfect fucking sense to us. Is that something you dream of, Eden?”

“Yes.”

It was like he’d stolen the vision right out of my head. One word in particular stuck out to me.

Unconditional.

In a perfect world, he’d mean that in every way, and what was on the verge would only be an obstacle we both used to build our bond. But, that was a perfect world and we didn’t live in one. Once everything erupted, I’d be happy to still have breath in my body. Even that would be a blessing because having Chem wouldn’t be in the prayers of things God granted me.

“You’re staring,” I teased.

“Can you blame me?”

I shook my head. “I’m guilty, too, thinking about the things I want you to do to me tonight.”

“I’m thinking about the number of zeros that’ll be absent from my account after tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

“We’re shopping, Choc. So, after I fuck you good, I need you to sleep good because we have a long day ahead of us.”

Learning how freely he moved in Berkeley was rewarding. He was quieter, less visible in Clarke. If you weren’t searching extremely hard for him, then you wouldn’t find him. He was invisible.

“Yes, sir.”

After another peck on the lips, he made his way around to the driver's side. 6lack played as we cruised through Berkeley. The city was beautiful with a skyline worth drooling over. Chemistry took the scenic route, in hardly a rush to get back to the immaculate home we’d be in during our stay.

This is it.

The sunroof was pulled back, blowing my hair in the wind. I reached out, catching it in the palm of my hand. Equanimity calmed my being. Freedom toyed with my happiness. If only life for me was as simple as this late-night, slightly inebriated night with Chem, all would be well.

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