Page 147 of Love, Rekindled

I don’t correct him. At times I’ve felt the same way, even though I know it’s not actually true, a kind of survivor’s remorse.

“Believe me,” he goes on, “Mama has told me a million times I’m wrong. Everyone told me at some point, and I know it’s true.”

“You do?” I ask, my voice gruff with skepticism.

“It’s easier to blame you than to see in you all I could have been and had,” he says, a muscle clenching along his jaw. “And know I got nobody to blame but me.” He looks me in the eyes. “So I’m sorry. It’s overdue by years, but I’m sorry.”

“I appreciate that,” I tell him, nodding. “In a short time, I’ve come to care about your sister a lot. Scratch that. I’m in love with her.”

His stare is glued to my face.

“I hope one day we’ll be related,” I say with a wry smile, ignoring the surprise flashing across his expression. “And I want a better relationship with you, so I need to tell you something from jump.”

“All right,” he says. “Yeah,”

I pause, give it a second to make sure he’s looking right into the sobriety of my eyes. “If you ever disrespect Takira again like you did last week,” I say quietly, “I’ll fuck you up.”

“She’s my sister,” he says, not with anger, but just as a statement of fact.

“If you treat her like it, we won’t have a problem.”

For a moment, tension coils between us again, and I’m not sure he won’t punch me the way he did that coach, but then he cracks a wide smile.

“My man,” he says, patting me on the back. “Better you than me. She’s a handful to protect.”

I release a laugh, surprised and relieved by his comment. “I know, but I got it.”

He nods and looks back into the gym. “Well, I’m staying for the dinner. You?”

“Nah. I fly out tomorrow. Gonna go back to the hotel and get some rest.”

“So you ain’t leaving here and going by my mama’s house to see my sister?”

I can’t stop the smile that spreads over my face. “I might make one stop before I turn in, yeah.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

~TAKIRA~

“Mama, I got this,”I tell her, loading the dishwasher. “You can go on up.”

“You sure?” she asks.

“Daddy went upstairs like an hour ago.” I laugh. “Go be with your man.”

“Your daddy hasn’t washed a dish in forty years.” Hands on hips, she rolls her eyes up to the ceiling. “You know that man leave the kitchen still chewing.”

I nod, grinning and clearing the table of the dinner dishes.

“Ain’t heard from Cliff,” Mama says. “You suppose he all right?”

I freeze, my hand hovering over the stack of plates. I came this week because I love my brother, and if he needs me, I want to be here. That doesn’t mean I’m not still pissed for how he handled our conversation last week.

“I’m sure he’s fine.” I give her a reassuring smile. “Myron would have called if something bad had gone down.”

“Or Naz would have told you, I’m sure.”

I can’t fight off my smile. As much as I want to be here for Mama and for Cliff in case anything goes left, it was hard not driving over to Naz’s hotel last night.

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