Page 31 of Loyalty, Lust, Love
Fateema gasped. “For real? By who?”
Lynx chuckled. “I’m not telling you.”
“When did we start keeping secrets?” She bumped his shoulder with hers.
“We don’t, but I don’t want you looking at those girls sideways.”
“Lynx, just tell me.”
“Fine. It was Brenda, Mackenzie, Jackie, Lilah, and the girl from our third-period history last year. Umm, what’s her name?”
Fateema’s eyes widened when she remembered the quiet, pretty girl in their history class. “Saige?”
“Yeah, that’s her name. Saige.”
“Saige sucked your dick? Wow! I would’ve never guessed she was that kind of girl, but I wasn’t surprised by those other girls. I haven’t even kissed a boy, and you got half the girls in the school putting their mouth on your dick.”
“It’s nowhere near half, and you act like it’s nasty.”
“Boy, are you crazy? It is nasty.”
“I made sure it was clean before they did it.”
“You know what? I’m done talking about this with you.”
They laughed it off and changed the subject. As always, they enjoyed each other’s company. The last year of high school would start soon. The days and evenings they could spend talking in the treehouse were winding down, so they cherished each moment.
Chapter 11
Present Day
“It sounds like you two were a handful,” Cornell said. “I’ve never gotten into a fight. I always felt that people who resorted to violence lacked problem-solving skills and didn’t have the proper vocabulary to talk things out.”
“Nigga, did you not hear me say we were co-valedictorians for middle school and high school?” Lynx reminded him.
“Yes, but—” Cornell began.
“But nothing, nigga. If you were paying attention, we were defending ourselves. Only a fool would stand there and get their asses kicked.”
Cornell removed his arm from Fateema’s shoulders and lifted his hands in surrender. “My bad, man. No need to get so riled up.”
Lynx wanted to check Cornell again but let him slide… for now.
“Violent nerds… you don’t hear that every day. That’s probably why nobody wanted to date you,” Shyla surmised with a look of satisfaction.
“Where in those stories did you hear nobody wanted to date us? You and Cornell are clearly listening with the same clogged ears,” Fateema said.
“I’m just saying, you both went through all of middle and high school with barely any friends and without a single love interest. That’s weird,” Shyla continued.
“We may have been weird then, but you’re weird now for flying halfway across the country uninvited.”
“Oop!” slipped from Octavia’s mouth while the others, including Cornell and Ryan, held in their laughter.
Shyla didn’t have a rebuttal, and thankfully, someone changed the subject. The tension lessened once the focus wasn’t on Fateema and Lynx, and the conversation flowed smoothly as they discussed work and world issues.
“Did I tell y’all I damn near had to quit my job to get them to approve my days off for Jamaica?” Joaquin asked.
“You don’t have vacation days?” Meaghan asked.
