Page 41 of Full Throttle 2

Brian tried a different approach. “Can’t you do it at my place? You’re really going to send me home to celebrate my win alone?”

Lila raised her head slightly. “Nope. I want to graduate.” She laughed. “Anyway, I gave you the best cake I’ve ever made this afternoon.” She smirked. “That wasn’t enough?”

“I ain’t going to lie. Yourcakeis the best I’ve ever had. Don’t think I’ll ever get enough of it. Matter-of-fact, I want more.”

Lila giggled. “I wish I could, but my mom is in town, and I need to make sure she’s settled. Plus, I have to finish my paper for tomorrow.”

Brian was surprised. “Your mother is in town, and this is the first that I’m hearing of it?”

“There was so much going on, and today was about celebrating Lockwood. I wasn’t going to allow anything to take away from that.”

“We could have invited her, and I would finally have had an opportunity to meet the woman who gifted me you.”

Lila frowned. “That would have been a huge mistake.”

“C’mon, now. I know things haven’t been easy between you and your mom, but a mistake?”

Lila was adamant. “Yes, a mistake. My mom would have made the entire event about her. She has no idea how to be supportive.”

As they approached Cyrus’s street, Brian slowed the car. “I know you two have had your challenges, but maybe now is a good time to try and fix things. It’s been a while since you were both in the same place at the same time, right? I’d give anything for one more moment with my mom and even my dad.”

Lila was grateful her cell phone vibrated. She did not want to discuss her mother anymore and used the interruption as a small reprieve. “One second. This might be important.” She glanced down at the text, and her whole body went cold.

My beautiful Raven. You’ve flown free long enough. Time to come home. Call me.

C.

Brian pulled the car into the driveway. “What’s wrong?”

“Hmm.” Lila could barely tear her eyes away from the screen.

Brian could tell something was up because her entire body tensed. “What’s wrong?”

His genuine concern cut through Lila’s shock. Still, her mind was a whirlwind of thoughts. “N-nothing.” Just the thought of Carrington was enough to cause a full-on panic attack, but Lila managed to hold it together—barely.

The night she fled her situation with just the clothes on her back flashed before her eyes. She tried hard to lay low so that Carrington wouldn’t find her.

Maybe it’s not him. Right?!

Right?Carrington was the only person who ever called her Raven. As beautiful as the name was, Lila hated it—simply because it was his pet name for his fetish of her dark skin.

Lila fidgeted. “I-I should go inside.”

She stilled when Brian placed his hand on her arm. “Not until you tell me what the hell is up? Who was that? And don’t tell me nobody because we both know that would be a lie, and we promised that from now on, we would be honest with one another.”

His words hit her hard. Lila didn’t want to keep anything from Brian. Not when secrets and lack of communication had kept them apart for so many years.

She blew out a breath before turning to face him. “You’re right. This...”—she lifted her phone—“is someone from my past that I’m determined to keep in the past.” Lila made a big show of swiping left and deleting the message.

“Are you sure it’s not something I need to handle?”

Lila looked him in the eyes and caressed the side of his face. Even in the darkness, with only the streetlights illuminating them, she could see the worry in Brian’s eyes. “I promise. It’s not. I was shocked but not surprised to receive this text. I’ve started a new life, and for the first time in forever, I’m happy.” Slowly, Lila leaned in and gently pressed her lips against his.

Their kiss went from a tender expression of emotion to something else entirely, each speaking through it. Brian tried toconvey how much she meant to him and that he would protect her from whatever was freaking her out, while Lila sought to show Brian that he was truly the love of her life.

They held each other for a few moments more before Lila whispered, “It’s late. I’ve got to go inside.”

Brian didn’t want to let her go and nuzzled the side of her neck. “Let me at least walk you to the door. Who knows, maybe the infamous Faye James will open it, and we’ll have a chance encounter.”

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