Page 57 of Made to Love Ya

Leaning forward, I kissed her lips. “So are you.”

I turned sideways and propped up on one elbow. I loaded both pictures to my Instagram feed and captioned it: “My li’l homie from day one. #queenofmyheart.”

“What are you doing?”

“Sharing with the world who owns my heart,” I answered and turned my phone to her.

I chuckled when Talia blushed and shoved my chest.

“Why’d you do that?”

I pushed up on my elbow and kissed her neck. “I want the world to know who the most beautiful girl in the world belongs to.”

“More like you’re trying to warn those scallywags that you’re no longer on the market so they won’t hit you up in your DMs.”

I laughed. “Is that what you think?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Never been known to mess with scallywags. Maybe not the baddest woman in the world, but definitely not scallywags. They’ve all had some sort of class about themselves.”

“Is that right?”

“Hell yeah. Nothing like them losers you be sporting.”

“Well, damn. You act as if I’m just out here in the streets.”

I laughed again and pulled her down beside me. “Never said that.”

“What are you saying?”

“Just that people like that Ricky character left much to be desired.”

“We will no longer talk about he who shall remain nameless.”

“That’s cool.”

“Izael, in case I haven’t said it lately, I love you.”

“I love you, too, girl.”

I pulled her close to me and cupped the back of her head. The kiss that we shared was intense and slow. Talia’s little ass was moaning underneath our kiss and breathing hard. She had a nigga’s jeans stretched with all that shit, but my focus today was on loving my girl.

Although I knew she needed time for her heart to heal from what she’d gone through with Ricky, I didn’t plan on giving up on showering her with love. She needed it, and I loved being in her space.

When we pulled back from the kiss, she stared at me with soft eyes. Her hand cupped the side of my face, and she gently stroked it and didn’t speak any words. After several seconds, she pulled her fingers through my beard.

“Izael, you make me so happy. Everything you do is about loving me, encouraging me, and strengthening me. Never have I ever felt so protected and cherished in my life, aside from my parents and brother. But this right here…everything that you give to me makes me feel seen and wanted. Thank you for seeing me, baby.”

“Thank you for loving me back, girl.”

“Always. I want to give you my best, and I really want to put the past behind me. At first, I freaked out when I thought about you moving out. I was scared that things would fall at the wayside, and you would back up. But you’ve been so intentional about keeping us connected through daily texts, phone calls, and FaceTime.”

“It wasn’t an easy decision for me either, baby. I wasn’t ready to not see you every day. But I understood that we both needed this. I think it’ll make us stronger and better in the long run.”

“I agree. Thank you for knowing what we needed and making sure that we got it.”

“Always. You hungry yet?”

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