Page 40 of Love Set Me Free

“Me too,” Kydrick replied with a big smile. He felt more relaxed than he ever had, and it showed. He peered over at her and spread his arms across the back of the couch. “Come here.”

As always, she followed the command because there was nowhere else she’d rather be, even if being with Kydrick caused a certain amount of fear to build up within her.

Once she was in his arms, she tilted her head to look up at him and asked, “What are we doing, Kyd?”

“Right to it, huh?”

She nodded, and he chuckled before kissing her forehead.

“Do you know how much I missed you?”

“Couldn’t be more than I missed you,” she uttered.

“Doubt that. You crushed me when you told me you couldn’t be my friend anymore, Pooh. We always been homies.”

“It couldn’t be like that anymore,” she replied, pulling away just enough to look into his eyes but not enough to be out of his arms.

She welcomed his warmth and prayed she could stay in it for good this time, but she had to be certain before she allowed her hopes to skyrocket.

“Besides, I realized I probably needed that break more than you.”

His brows rose. That was news to him. “How you figure?”

“I needed some time to soul search and figure out what made me happy for once.” She shrugged and looked at Kydrick’s chest. “I decided to go back to school.”

A grin spread across his face. “Yeah? For jewelry design?”

She nodded.

“It’s the only thing I’ve really been certain about. I traveled all around the world, and it helped me to put things into perspective. I still don’t know exactly what my life will shape up to look like, but I know designing jewelry will be a part of it.” She chewed on her bottom lip for a moment before she asked, “Do you think it’s too late for me?”

“Look at me.” When she did, he continued. “You just watched me graduate with a bunch of knucklehead twenty year olds and afew teenagers who are pretty much fresh off their mama’s titties. If it wasn’t too late for me, it damn sure isn’t too late for you. Is that what’s stopping you? Doubt?”

She shook her head. “Not exactly. I don’t want to graduate with a bunch of debt, so I’ve been looking for a job to help get me through school. I just haven’t found anything yet. Turns out I’m overqualified for a lot of shit since I have my law degree.”

“Apply for school.”

“What?” She cocked her head to the side as if that would help her understand his words any better.

“If you can huh, you can hear. Apply for school. I’ll pay the tuition and anything else you need. Mortgage, whatever.”

Her jaw dropped. “What? No. You can’t do that. You just graduated and have to find work for yourself.”

“I was offered a job already. I start in a couple of weeks, not that I need it for real.”

“How did you get a job already, and why wouldn’t you need it?” Paisley asked, her nose scrunching up as she waited for him to answer.

Because he couldn’t help himself, Kydrick leaned in and kissed her scrunched nose and then her soft lips before he responded.

“My instructor put in a good word for me, and I was offered the job. It might have something to do with who I am. A lot of people seem to know who I am and want to help. That took a lot of getting used to. I don’t pay it any mind for the most part, but for a good paying job in my field, I took advantage.”

“I’m happy for you. Seriously, you deserve it, but why did you say you didn’t need the job?”

“Because your parents helped me find a new lawyer. We went to civil court and won.”

That was news to Paisley. She hadn’t kept up with any type of news source or legal jargon in the past six months, and hersiblings nor her parents said anything to her about Kydrick going to civil court.

“You settled?”

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