Page 66 of Continuum

“I’m just kidding,” he said in a rush. Letting out a little chuckle, he shook his head. “Come with me. Both of you are wound a little tight today, I see. He’s been on edge since this morning.”

“Did your meeting go well?” I wondered, praying that our little slumber party didn’t throw him off.

“Did it?! We crushed it. I mean, we didn’t really have to do much but since the president came into the meeting, it raised the stakes. He asked K some questions about his time there and he sold that shit! I’m telling you… He had me almost want to pick up an application and apply to HU!” He laughed. “It went so well that they hinted at the athletics department needing an overhaul.” Eli wiggled his eyebrows. “Extending this school account is going to make K a rich man. And in turn, K is going to make me a rich man.”

“Congratulations,” I told him sincerely. “I’m very happy for you.”

“Thanks, Aish.”

I scowled at the sound. “No. Don’t call me that.”

“Ah… that’s the look he was talking about.” He smirked. “I get it. I’m into it.”

I rolled my eyes. Before I could say anything in response, he looked to his left. “K, look who I ran into.”

Kwame turned around in his seat and as I came into his view, his eyes widened. He rose to his feet. “Aisha.”

Once his gaze locked with mine, tears pricked my eyes. “Hey, Kwame.”

Without another word, he took the three steps that separated us and enveloped me in his arms. Just as it was before we went to sleep, we just held on to one another. My face buried in his chest. His head resting in my hair.

“Good afternoon passengers,” the airport attendant announced. “This is the pre-boarding announcement for flight 1590 to Chicago. We are now inviting those passengers with small children, and any passengers requiring special assistance, to begin boarding at this time. Please have your boarding pass and identification ready. Regular boarding will begin in approximately ten minutes. Thank you for traveling with Meta Air.”

We only had ten minutes.

I withdrew from the hug only for our lips to meet and we kissed as if we were the only two people in the airport.

“Kwame,” I purred against his lips.

“You’re going to make my dick hard saying my name like that.”

I smiled, contemplating saying it again. But then when I remembered why I was there, my smile dimmed, and it was hard to maintain eye contact. “You left without saying goodbye.”

He cupped my cheeks. “Because I don’t want to say goodbye to you.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that I want you,” he told me with certainty. “I wanted to talk to you, but with our meetings and my flight…”

“There wasn’t much time,” I finished his sentence softly.

His thumbs stroked my cheeks as he gazed at me. “You’ve been the ghost I’ve been chasing… and then I got a chance to spend this weekend with you only to find out that you’re real and even better than I imagined.” He searched my eyes. “I’m not ready to say goodbye to that.”

“I’m not the same person I was when we were in college.”

“Neither am I.” He pressed his forehead against mine. “I was chasing the ghost of who you were only to find that the reality of who you are is so much better.”

“I think… I’m falling in love with you.” Before he could respond, I rushed to continue, “And I know how that sounds because it’s only been a weekend, but I’ve never connected with anyone the way I connected with you. It isn’t just on a sexual and physical level even though that was”—I fanned myself before putting my hand back around him— “it’s deeper than that. It’s emotional and it’s spiritual. I feel it on a cellular level. There’s something different with you that I can’t explain. So yes, I think—” I took a deep breath— “I know I’m in love with you Kwame Mitchell. And I can’t let you leave Richland not looking you in your eyes and telling you how I feel.”

“I love you, Aisha.” He kissed me gently at first, but then it intensified. “I’m in love with you,” he uttered against my lips. All the pent-up emotions, all the uncertainty, and all the love was poured into that kiss.

I didn’t know when I started crying, but the saltiness from my tears mixed with the bittersweet kiss. When we finally pulled apart, my lips felt bruised.

“And I’ll be damned if we don’t try to make this work,” he growled. “I have a lot of frequent flyer miles.”

“Good because I’m going to need to see you frequently.”

“And you will. No matter where I am, I want you there.”

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