Page 162 of My Only

She pressed her lips together, clearly holding back a smile.

“Oh, nah.” I turned fully to her. “You can’t just drop that and go silent.”

I gestured at Dr. Aldridge. “Please tell her she can’t do that, Doc.”

Dr. Aldridge chuckled. “How about you, Hassani?”

I tore my gaze from Ayla, grinning as I nodded my head.

“Definitely love at first sight. Definitely.”

Ayla’s smile spread, slow and sweet, her dimples showing.

“I actually pestered my dad a few times in high school about asking Ayla out. I was more direct with him our freshman year, straight-up telling him I wanted her to be my girlfriend. But after that, I started asking more roundabout questions, hoping he’d changed his stance. It was always a no, though.”

Ayla’s eyes widened. “Really?! No way.”

“Yup.” I nodded, watching her reaction.

Ayla’s jaw dropped. “You never told me that.”

I smirked. “You never told me it was love at first sight.”

“So it seems like you two didn’t date when you first met?”

“Nah.” I shook my head, turning back to Dr. Aldridge. “We became friends and stayed friends straight through high school and college. But when I was finally ready to make things more than just friendship, Ayla didn’t want that… even though she was my first.”

Dr. Aldridge’s brows arched. “Your first?”

I nodded. “My first love, my first intimate partner.”

“Same,” Ayla echoed. “For both.”

“It was her idea, actually.” I gestured at Ayla with my thumb. “Changed my life completely.”

Dr. Aldridge’s smile could probably be spotted from the opposite skyscraper. “So you were friends first?”

I nodded. “Yup.”

“My dad passed away in 9/11,” Ayla said next.

Dr. Aldridge pressed a hand to her chest. “Oh… my condolences.”

“Thank you,” Ayla replied. “Hassani became a really good support system and still is.”

Dr. Aldridge leaned in. “So you two said you were only friends from high school to college. How did we get here as Mr. and Mrs. Hassani Franklin?”

“Well…” Ayla snickered. “He sent me an invitation to his wedding… to a different woman.”

Dr. Aldridge’s gaze flicked to me, her expression making it clear she had questions. I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing.

“Hassani?”

“It’s true.” I moved my head up and down. “I was engaged to a woman I started dating in the last few weeks of college. We were together for five years, and marrying her just seemed like the right thing to do. So, I asked her to marry me, and she rewarded me by cheating with the man I made my best man.”

“Oh.” Dr. Aldridge dropped her eyes to her notebook. “Okay.”

“It was a blessing in disguise,” I noted. “Something I only realized when my ex-fiancée confessed she’d slept with my childhood friend.”

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