Page 72 of Evil King

“Nothing. It’s just good to know that the more time we spend together, the more you’re returning to your old, sailor-mouth, one-of-the-boys self.”

She snickered. “I guess I have gotten a little prim and proper since you left.”

“A little?”

She gave my stomach a little punch. “Are you saying there’s a problem?”

I thought about some of the outfits I’d seen Cherri in already that I don’t know if she ever would have worn were it not for the influence of The Royal Court. “Nope. I just like knowing that you haven’t really changed, not that it matters. I love all versions of you.”

“Don’t you forget it,” Cherri quipped. “What else?”

I spent the next hour talking to Cherri about how my life was behind bars. I didn’t realize it until I was explaining it to her, but a lot of that stuff still weighed pretty heavily on me. The food was disgusting, the guards were corrupt, and the cells were small and uncomfortable. Eventually, though, I got to talking about Venom, and his goofy smile splashed across my brain again. He was the only person who really looked out for me while I was locked up, and no matter how hard I tried, I would never be able to repay him for what he did for me. He kept me out of trouble, helped me study and get ready for school, and made sure I was released on time. More than that, I never knew why he liked me so much. He freaked me out a little too much to ask, but with Venom on my side, people didn’t mess with me, and I was able to just focus on getting back to Cherri. Talking about him, I was a little afraid I’d scare Cherri, but when I looked down at her, she had a cheery glint in her eye.

“I’d like to go visit him sometime,” she said. “I have a lot to thank him for.”

“Me too,” I said. “Actually, once I’ve graduated and can get a job and shit, I’d really like to start sending him money. Just little bits. Nothing that would break me or anything. I’m never gonna be able to repay him for everything he’s done, but anything helps with commissary and stuff.”

Cherri nodded. “I think that’s a great idea. He did a lot for you, so the least we can do is pay back the favor.”

“We?” I said. “Is this it, then? We’re in this together? No looking back?”

Cherri looked up at me. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, we’re done with back and forth and uncertainties and friends with benefits and dating brothers,” I said with a forced laugh. “It’s me and you, right?”

Cherri craned up a little so she could drag me into a kiss. “Deon Keane, are you asking me to be your girlfriend?”

“Cherri Goodson, are you accepting?” I asked.

She nodded. “Yes.”

My arms already held her close, but I coiled around her even tighter. She didn’t seem to mind as I pulled us back into another kiss. I was floating so high that I was becoming increasingly more afraid that I was dreaming. If I was, hopefully, someone killed me in my sleep. For three years of falling in love with Cherri and through four years torn apart, I’d wanted her for so long. Now I finally had her. She was mine forever, and I was never going to let her go again.

“I love you,” I said. “I love you so much.”

Cherri’s already brilliant smile and sparkling eyes doubled in beauty. “I love you too.”

“I think,” I said, “that we should have more sex in this car.”

Cherri giggled. “I think that’s a marvelous idea.”

She shifted until she was straddling me again, giving me that picturesque view of her bare torso, the night sky forming a perfect blackened blanket behind her. I smoothed my hands up over her stomach and cupped her breasts, and she rolled her hips forward.

“You’re a breast man, I think,” she joked.

“So I’m learning,” I said. “When such a beautiful pair are presented to you, what else can you do?”

“Are you saying my ass isn’t beautiful?” she asked, raising an eyebrow and grinding herself down on my already hardening shaft.

“Cherri, every fucking thing about you is beautiful.”

She winked at me, and I almost came on the spot. “Good answer.”

She reached behind herself and started to grab at me when, all of a sudden, my phone rang. My fist flew out and bashed against the door. “I don’t know who is on the other end of that call, but Ihatethem.”

Cherri chuckled, fished my phone out from my jeans pocket, and peeked at the screen. “Oh. It’s your mom.”

“Ugh. I don’t hate my mom.” I reached out, and Cherri handed me the phone. Even though she’d stopped moving, that didn’t make her any less of a distraction as I answered the phone. “Hello?”

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