Page 14 of Her Exception 2

“I really do love you. Please tell me you believe that.”

Walking forward, I placed my hands on the edge of my desk as I pulled in a deep breath.

“Yeah, I do,” was what I said, but my tone didn’t match the declaration. “And I love you too. Goodbye, Darron.”

I was able to maintain my composure until I heard the door close behind him. Then, the tears started to pour more. Up until dinner, I didn’t allow myself to believe I loved Darron. Hearing him speak up for me and make plans for our future shifted the comfort I felt for him into something deeper. Now, it was over.

“Milli, I…”

Sniffling, I tried to get myself together so Mecca wouldn’t see me like this, but it was too late. Cursing under his breath, he made his way over to me and pulled me in for a hug that I desperately needed.

Nine

Amaru

My heart ached for Milli when she called and told me what happened. The first thing I did was make sure AJ had his homework done before deciding to go and get my girls. When I knocked on her bedroom door, she told me to come in. The sight of her lying down with Alisia on her chest as she rubbed her hair made me smile. Gasping, Alisia sat up in the bed.

“Ru!” she yelled, hopping out of bed to hug me. “Is AJ here?”

“Nah, he’s at home. Go pack a bag.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Pack a sweater for tomorrow, sunshine, and put on your black coat.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

Sitting up, Amelia stretched her arms out for me. I made my way over to her, even more concerned. She hated when anyone got in the bed with their outside clothes on, so if she wanted me close without me getting undressed, she was desperate for the affection. I climbed into her bed and pulled her onto my chest, stroking her hair the way she was doing Alisia’s.

“You wanna talk about it?”

“There’s nothing to really talk about. He got an amazing opportunity and he’s moving, so we’re over.”

“How does that make you feel?”

She took deep breaths as she considered my question. “I feel… disappointed and angry more than anything. I was sad when it first happened, but now, I think anger is consuming me most.”

“Because he left?”

Milli’s head shook as she laced her fingers with mine. “No, more so because I feel like I wasted a year with him. I wasn’t completely satisfied with him, but out of comfort, I stayed. Plus, he was good with Lis and that meant a lot to me. She’s hurting over him leaving too. I feel like I failed her all over again. Darron is just another man who came into her life and left because of me. It makes me not even want to date anymore.”

I considered her words and feelings before responding. There was a time I felt the same way about dating after Veronica. I didn’t want my son to get attached to women and hurt after they left our lives. What I’d learned over the years was, though children attached easily and sometimes quickly, it was a necessary part of life. While I didn’t bring every woman I dated around AJ, if it was someone I felt had good qualities and could help me teach him about healthy relationships, I did.

Oftentimes, people kept the romantic love between them and their spouse away from their children, not realizing they needed that picture as an example. I wanted my son to not just see me as a father and as a man, but as a lover and gentleman when it came to women too.

I shared that sentiment with Milli, and it caused her to give me a smile.

“Thank you, and thank you for being a constant in me and my baby girl’s life. No matter how inconsistent my dating life is, or how distant my father and brother are with her, you’ve always been the one man I could count on to be there for her. I’ll forever be grateful for that.”

“And that will never change. Y’all are my girls. Well, our girls. AJ would kill me if he heard me say that.”

With a soft giggle, Amelia sat up and looked down at me. “True, you know he don’t play about us. Especially Lis.” She cupped my cheek and stroked it with her thumb. “Thank you, Ru. Seriously. You two are the best thing that has ever happened to us.”

I pushed her messy hair out of her face. My hand rested on her neck and chin. I lowered her to my lips, and instead of kissing hers like I wanted to, I kissed her forehead. She wrapped her arm around me and rested on my chest until Alisia came back. I’d accepted the fact that my feelings for my best friend were turning into something deeper. No matter how deep they got, I’d never express that to her—especially now that she’d reminded me of how important I was to her and Alisia.

Regardless of the romantic desires bubbling within me, I would never awaken that kind of love between us and risk losing the most important woman to me, outside of my mother, in this world.

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