Page 27 of The Love Duet
“I would murder an entire village if any of them ever hurt your mother, so I’m the last person to talk about ethics when it comes to love, son.”That surprised me.My father usually never advertised his inner caveman.“Your greatest accomplishment in life will be your wife’s happiness.Don’t ever forget that, Royce.”
“Thanks, Dad,” I replied, meaning it from the bottom of my heart.
“Well, it helps that we absolutely adore that girl,” he added.“She’s positively beautiful, inside and out, and she’s going to give us stunning grandchildren.”
“Just her, huh?”I teased.
“Well, you’ll have a little to do with it,” he teased back.
I let out another deep breath.“Well, I better get going.I need to let Roxie know what’s going on, then pray that she’s onboard with it all.”
“That girl loves you, Royce,” he said seriously.“I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
After giving my dad one of those man hugs, I left to go see Roxie.I knew that her parents were home, but privacy wasn’t an issue.They trusted me with their daughter, and I just prayed that they trusted me with her future, too.Especially, since Roxie wasmyfuture.
~
Roxanne~
Looking down at my phone, I smiled.While Royce and I were usually attached at the hip, his surprise visits always made me smile.
Royce:I’m parked out front
Me:I’ll b right out
While it did seem rather odd that Royce was waiting outside, I wasn’t going to question it too much.As much as he got along with my parents, their presence hung heavy whenever they were home.Even if it wasn’t about sex, privacy was still a comforting thing when you were hanging out with your boyfriend.Sure, we’d hung out in my bedroom before, but the door had always remained open, and that was a Royce rule, not one that my parents had implemented.
Slipping my phone back in my pocket, I made my way out of the house, and as I shut the door behind me, I saw Royce leaning up against his car, huddled in his warm jacket.The middle of January was no joke, and I knew that there was only one reason that Royce would be waiting outside his car for me; to open the door, so that I didn’t have to.
When I reached him, I stood on my tiptoes to kiss him, and after kissing me thoroughly, he reached back, then opened the passenger side door for me.After securing me safely inside, he walked around the front to get into the driver’s side of the car.
Once we were both inside, Royce adjusted the vents, so that the heat was warming me.I hadn’t grabbed my jacket, though I should have.However, in my defense, I figured that we’d be going into the house after I greeted him.I didn’t think that he’d want to talk in his car.
“What’s up?”I signed.
He looked serious enough that it gave me pause.“We need to talk,” he signed back, and I immediately felt the pit of my stomach down in my feet.Nothing good ever came from that sentence, and my biggest fears started ricocheting inside my head.Was he going to break up with me now that he’d gotten what all guys wanted?
Had I really misread him so badly?
Doing my best to tap down my nervousness, I signed, “Okay.”
Royce looked edgy, and it was all that I could do to stay seated in his car.There were all kinds of debates about breaking up with someone through a text message, but screw dignity.If Royce was dumping me, I’d rather he’d have done it through text.This was not something that I was eager to experience face-to-face.I was fine being dumped through a cold text.Who in the hell wanted to look into the face of the person that they loved just to hear that person tell them that it was over?
Not me.
“I did something that...I did something questionable,” he said and tried to sign.
The word questionable didn’t come out quite right.Still, who cared about that, right?If Royce was here to tell me that he cheated on me, who cared about how accurate his signing was?After today, he probably won’t have any need to ever sign again.
Taking a deep breath, I bit the bullet.While he might not deserve to get off easily, I didn’t want to be here for this.I didn’t want him to see me fall apart.“It’s fine,” I signed.“No hard feelings.”
Royce’s head jerked back, and his brows knitted, angry confusion on his face.“What does that mean?”he asked and signed.
I shrugged, doing my best to remain strong.“If you’re here to tell me that you cheated on me or that you want to break up, it’s fine,” I said, using my voice to showcase my seriousness and foolish bravery.“I won’t cause you any drama at school or anything.”
“What the fuck?”While he hadn’t signed it, I could read his lips perfectly.
“You said that you did something questionable,” I reminded him.“What else could it be?”
