Page 53 of Revive

After a brief nod, he turns to Emerson, hugging and kissing her goodbye. I take it as my cue to do the same and fold Taylah in my arms. “I’ll see you soon okay?”

She tips her head up, welcoming my goodbye. The minute I feel her mouth on mine, I regret making plans. And her tongue seeks out mine, I know she’s thinking the exact same thing.

Jagger clears his throat, and I still waiting for his comment. “Was this how I was going to make it really uncomfortable?”

Embarrassed Taylah lowers her head, and I glare at Jagger. Lifting her chin up, I give her a quick peck. “Best weekend, remember.”

With nothing but affection in her eyes, she repeats after me. “Best weekend.”

* * *

“You’ve been tooquiet for too long. Just say what you want to say already,” I urge Jagger. We’re fifteen minutes into the drive back to my place and he hasn’t said a word since we got in the car.

“What do you want me to say?”

“Anything.”

“That wasn’t what I expected.”

“What? Taylah and I?” I know he has something to say, but what shocks me is how much I want to hear it. I don’t need his approval, but time and time again, I go seeking it, and I don’t know why.

“No. Yes,” he switches on a frustrated sigh. “I mean, I assumed something was going to happen, you’ve brought her enough the last few times we’ve seen each other. But I thought it would be a more of a feel-good time than what I just saw.”

“What you just saw?” I echo with confusion.

“I’ve never seen either of you with other people, so I could be way off, but that looked a whole lot more than something casual.”

It feels it too.

“I don't think it's casual,” I admit to myself more than him.

He turns to me with curious eyes. “So you’re really going there?”

The disbelief in his voice reminds me why I’m an idiot for having this conversation with him. “Do I have your permission?”

“That’s not what I meant,” he huffs. “I shouldn’t have said what I said last week. You can be with whoever you want to be.”

“Considering you didn’t ask my permission before you slept with Sasha, I wasn’t planning on listening to your warning anyway,” I throw out angrily.

“That was low.”

A small amount of guilt washes over me, but not enough to regret saying it. “It's still true.”

After a few missed beats, he responds. “Hendrix, I’m sorry.” He hangs his head in shame, his apology as sincere as ever.

“I know you are.”

“Are you ever going to forgive me?”

“I forgave you the second I met Dakota, but some days I still find it really hard to forget.”

We arrive in my driveway in silence, knowing words provide little to no comfort. I lead us inside, throwing my keys on the dining table and heading straight to the kitchen for some coffee.

Hesitantly, he follows my footsteps. “Tell me about Taylah.”

I wait for the drone from the coffee machine to slow itself down into a stop before answering. “What do you want to know?”

“What changed your mind?”

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