Page 34 of Forever Yours

Lamar kicked out at Shawn’s leg, missing it by an inch. “Domicile? Really?”

Shawn flipped him the bird.

“Hey, congrats on the win today,” David told Julien.

“Thanks.”

“When does football start up?” I asked. It would be fun to go see them play sometime.

“Next week is the season opener.”

Shawn added, “Against South Carolina in Charlotte.”

A window opened next to us, and some guy smushed his face to the screen and yelled, “Julien! Get your ass in here! We’re about to do celebratory shots.”

There was a raucous of whoops, followed by Julien’s name being chanted. Julien’s face split in a wide smile when the chanting reached a crescendo.

I gave him a small push toward the house. I didn’t want him to miss out celebrating with his team because of me. In all honesty, I was tiring of the party scene. It wasn’t fun for me anymore. And college was supposed to be about new things, not rehashing the same old shit from high school. I’d had enough of being around drunk people to last me a lifetime. It was getting old.

But I didn’t want to ruin things for him. Like me, Julien was trying to find his place there and where he fit in. His teammates knew he was gay, knew about us, and supported him one hundred percent. He’d been suffering for months over what happened to Liz. He missed her. He didn’t know where she was or how she was doing. And it had been killing him.

I had seen him smile more in the past three days. Seen the light flicker back to life in his beautiful gray eyes. Seen bits ofmy Julien, the Julien he used to be. I just wanted him to be happy. Would sacrifice everything to make that happen.

Because that was what love meant. Love was selfless. Loving someone meant that you wanted what was best for them, not yourself.

Love could also be a shackle. Binding you to a life that was theirs and not yours. Destroying who you were fundamentally because you gave up your dreams, gave up everything, to conform to what that person needed.

I ignored that tiny voice in my head.

“Go.”

He grabbed my hand to pull me with him. “Aren’t you coming?” he asked when he met resistance.

“Headache,” I said and kissed him lightly on the lips. “Go. I’ll stay out here.”

He hesitated. “You sure?”

“Positive. Go. Be with your team.”

Julien grabbed my face in his hands and kissed me hard. “Love you. I won’t be long. Still owe you that dance and that promise.”

At the reminder of his whispered words, goosebumps erupted, and my face grew hot.

He kissed me one more time, short and sweet, then bumped fists with the guys before walking off.

There was a beat of silence, then, “How long have you two been together?” Lamar asked once Julien was out of earshot.

David flicked his braids, causing a few to slap across his face.

“Quit it, jackass.” Lamar took the elastic band from his wrist and re-tied his hair into a low ponytail.

“Don’t be a nosy shit.”

I hopped up onto the railing and let my legs dangle. Even though the sun had gone down a while ago, the ambient temperature was sweltering, and the mosquitoes were out in droves. There were several citronella tiki torches planted around that helped keep most of them away.

Lamar gruffed at David. “It’s not a nosy question. Would you give a shit if I asked Shawn when he met his girlfriend?”

“You should know since she’s your sister,” Shawn fired back.

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