Page 68 of Loyalty, Lust, Love
“You’re right.” She paused for a moment before speaking again. “This is everything. I could stay here with you forever.”
“I knew you’d love it. We can’t stay forever, but I wish we had more than a weekend.”
“I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you putting so much thought into this weekend. I feel so special.”
“You’ve always been special. There isn’t anyone, dead or alive, who will ever take your place in my heart. My soul will never connect with anyone’s the way it connects with yours.”
“Same.”
“I know I have some work to do?—”
“We have some work to do.”
“I mean, I feel like this is more on me than you. I told you before you were wrong about me not being in love with you. You probably weren’t listening because you were trying to chase a nut.”
“I vaguely remember.”
“Baby, I fell in love with you the day we went prom dress shopping. You walked out of the fitting room with that first dress on, and it took my breath away. I immediately felt shit that I’d never felt before. My dick got hard, and I was fighting for my life to keep my cool.”
“Oh, wow. I didn’t know that.”
“That’s why I’m telling you. I’ve been in love with you but mishandled your heart, and I’m sorry. You’ll never have to worry about me doing that again. When you went off on me a few weeks ago, it hurt more than I cared to admit. The thought of losing you fucked me up. You’re my best friend, Bunny, but you’re so much more. I can’t even put into words how much you mean to me and how much I love you. You are my calm, my peace, my refuge, my home. You soothe every damaged part of my soul. I not only need you in my life, but I want you, baby.”
“Lynx, I don’t know what to say. That was beautiful and spoke to my heart in ways I can’t explain. Thank you for being transparent with me. I love you so much.”
Chapter 23
Present Day
“Damn, Lynx ain’t playing no games about you,” Meaghan said.
“It’s about damn time. He played games for long enough,” Octavia remarked.
“It wasn’t all him. I acknowledge my part in our mess,” Fateema admitted.
They were on their almost nightly FaceTime call. It was actually the first time they’d spoken outside of texting all week, because Fateema had been working late hours.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, friend. You played a teeny tiny role, but it was mostly his fault,” Octavia continued.
“She’s not wrong,” Meaghan agreed. “What time do you have to pick him up from the airport?”
“He doesn’t want me to pick him up, so I booked some clients for the morning. I assume he’ll be here mid-morning or early afternoon.”
“I’m so excited for y’all. I really thought Lynx was about to fumble you. I’m glad he got it together,” Octavia said.
“Speaking of fumbling… have you heard from Cornell?” Meaghan asked.
“Umm, what does fumbling have to do with him?” Fateema questioned.
“Nothing. I just didn’t know how to bring him up.”
The ladies laughed before Fateema responded to Meaghan’s question. “I guess he took Lynx’s threat seriously because I haven’t heard from Cornell.”
“Why doesn’t that surprise me? He seems soft as hell,” Octavia said.
“He’s definitely not about that life,” Meaghan agreed. “What do you and Lynx have planned?”
“I tried to plan something for us because he did so well with last weekend’s plans. I don’t think I could’ve topped it, but I wanted to try. However, he made me promise to let him handle everything.”
