Page 13 of Lore
They both study me, and I don’t know what they see, but Prez sighs. “War, go and ask Ora to watch the kids while we speak to…” He looks at me with raised brows.
“Atiana.”
War gets up and leaves the room.
“Never thought I’d see the day,” Prez mutters, rubbing the back of his neck. “You fuckers are being taken down one by one.”
“There’s no other woman on this fucking planet who would have me wanting to change my lifestyle. You know I love my life,” I say, tapping my knuckles down on the wooden table. “But fuck… Atiana.”
I fucked up when I walked away from her. And for what? Yeah, I’ve lived a good life. I’ve had fun. I’ve experienced all that I wanted to. I know who I am and what I want now. I’m not that young stripper being led by his dick and just wanting to try new pussy.
Karma got me for leaving Atiana because no pussy was ever as good as hers was.
We have a lot to work out. A fuckload. But seeing her again feels like a second chance, one I’m not going to mess up. And even if we can’t make it work, she’s still mine. Rider is mine. I’m going to be in his life, whether she wants that or not.
“She hid your kid from you,” Prez reminds me, eyes narrowing.
“I know,” I reply, gritting my teeth. “Trust me, I fucking know, but I don’t want anyone to take that out on her. That’s between us. She had her reasons.”
And I’m still angry and hurt about it. I also feel a lot of guilt and a heavy dose of regret. But that’s not going to help anything right now.
“Why did you break up?”
“She thinks I fucked her cousin,” I admit, and Prez laughs, shaking his head. “In all the years I’ve known you, I’ve never seen you with one woman, Lore. You’re known for it. Your exploits are fucking lore around the club… that’s how you got your name.”
“You don’t think I can be faithful to one woman?”
He goes silent, which is answer enough.
Did anyone ever bother to wonder why I don’t get attached to any one woman?
I don’t stick to one woman because no one was ever her.
And I knew that. I knew that I’d already met the love of my life and lost her.
Back then, I was young and dumb, but I did not fuck her cousin. As soon as Atiana walked out of that house, I kicked Gina out too. Atiana came back and got all of her belongings the next night when I was at work.
And then she was gone.
It didn’t take me long to know that I’d fucked up.
Atiana couldn’t be replaced.
No one smelled like her, no one tasted like her.
And no one ever looked at me like she did again.
Oh, I’ve seen lust in countless women, but have they looked at me like I was their whole-fucking-world? If they did, I didn’t notice.
War steps back inside, opening the door for Atiana. Her honey-brown eyes scan the room before landing on me.
I’ve only ever loved one woman, and she’s standing in front of me.
And I walked away from her.
I slide out the chair next to me with my foot, and she sits down, her vanilla scent making me want to moan. She’s both familiar, yet different and new.
She’s still my butterfly, but she’s grown some claws.
