Page 37 of Jagged Edges

“Then, what is this feeling?” I grabbed his left hand and placed it on my chest. “Why can’t it start, now?”

“You can’t tell your heart when to start loving someone, baby. It just happens.”

“Then, it has to be happening, Bello. Otherwise, why do I feel like this? I have nothing so you feel like everything to me.”

“It’s okay to care, Brisk. That makes your heart feel funny, too. Caring deeply for someone and that’s what we’re both on. In just this small amount of time, there’s absolutely nothing in this world that I don’t see myself doing for you and that’s how I know that I care… deeply.”

“It’s love,” I stated as a matter of fact.

“Is it?” His hand slid the length of my cheek.

“You just said that you can’t just tell your heart when to start loving someone. I can’t tell it to wait a month or two or three just because the world says it’s ideal or logical. Nothing is logical when it comes to the heart or love. This feeling just runs so deeply through my core that I don’t want to cancel it out or dumb it down for the sake of what society thinks, Bello. I’m falling in love with you,” I closed my eyes as I made the announcement.

His silence wasn’t alarming and neither was it offensive. It wasn’t my ministry to force my feelings onto him. They were mine to have. In time, he’d feel the same.

“Me, too,” his tenor released, causing me to reopen my eyes.

“Really?” My brows furrowed as I scooted closer. Suddenly, skin-to-skin contact wasn’t enough. I wanted to be near his soul.

“Yes, love,” he confirmed, taking the opportunity to kiss my lips since they were already so close.

“Don’t ever regret it.”

“You, either,” he chuckled, “Now, get up so that we can get dressed and get out of here.”

“I feel like I’ve been hit by a Mack truck,” I complained, groaning at every move I made.

“You were,” Bello boasted with a shrug.

“Whatever!” I lifted a pillow and tossed it at him.

My center was fine. It was the rest of my body that was aching. From my thighs to my arms, I was tender. Even the part of my waist that Bello gripped was in extreme pain. I barely made it out of the bed without wincing fifty times.

“When we’re finished with errands, we’re going to a parlor to get those knots and kinks worked out.”

“I should be fine. We really don’t have to. I don’t want to be a pest.” The last thing I wanted was to be a brat.

“We’re going. It’s settled. I’ll be right beside you because I could use a massage.”

Silence followed his words and I was lost for mine. The light traces of pink fluids that rested where I’d just gotten up caused my breath to get caught in my throat. My cheeks flushed and my heart pounded loudly in my chest.

“Baby, shower,” Bello pointed, pulling me from my thoughts.

My eyes found the floor, remorse and regret at the top of my thoughts.

“Brisk, I’m a grown ass man, baby. We’re not going to fuck up our morning worrying about a stain. Go get dressed. I’ll handle this,” he told me, circling his hands over the faint markings on his sheets.

“Okay. Okay. I’m going, baby.” It slipped from my mouth, again. The baby word that I’d honestly never used in my life unless referring to someone who was unable to manage even the weight of their head on a daily basis.

I rushed to the bathroom with my cell pushed against my chest. The only person on earth that I wanted to call and relay the good news to, I couldn’t. As good and as justified as they felt, my actions were foul. A direct violation to the girl I loved most in this world. And, that in itself was capturing the bit of joy that I wanted to bask in this morning.

Oh, Melonie. I’m so sorry, babe.

I stoodmere feet from Bello with my pants pooled at my feet and my shirt folded neatly on the chair next to us. Nude. That was the request for our massages to happen. This was all new to me. I’d seen a few movie scenes that featured parlors, but I never considered the amount of nakedness underneath the sheets. Apparently, it was full-blown, because I didn’t start for my table until I was completely undressed, only to be stopped.

“Come ‘er,” Bello grabbed my arm and pulled me into his chest for a kiss.

Standing on the tips of my toes, I let him have his share. He smelled divine. The veins of his arms flexed as he let me go. Still, he followed me to my side of the room and helped me onto the table, knowing that I was still feeling tenderness throughout my entire body.

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