Page 131 of Lily In The Valley
“No promises,” Lynn replied.
Once the door closed, she turned to me, falling back dramatically on the couch. Karter jumped off the cushion with a yelp and trotted to his cage.
“Shower sex, forehead kisses, eye contact. You win,” she whined. “Universe, send me my man. I’m ready. I swear I’m ready.”
“And you still won’t give Wesley a chance?”
She shivered. “No. And I seriously considered it, when we…you know. He’s too emotionally constipated for something real.”
“I could see that,” I said, sipping more wine.
“Besides, I don’t care how good his stroke game was, y’all are not about to clown me in the group chat.”
I reached over and grabbed her hand. “Lynn, if he makes you feel good, even for now while you wait on the universe, that’s okay. You deserve softness, too.”
She sighed, her eyes glossing. “That’s the problem. I know I do. It’s just hard not to feel like I’m chasing something I’m not supposed to keep.”
I squeezed her hand. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s about letting it keep you.”
Lynn wiped the corner of her eye and reached for her wine. “If you keep saying stuff like that, I’m going to get emotional, and I can’t touch up my Botox until I secure the bag. Fuck what Khalil was talking about. Where’s the tequila?”
The rest of the night unfolded like one long exhale. I pulled out popcorn and the tequila. We laughed and it felt like medicine. We took shots until my chest warmed, and my cheekshurt from smiling. Lynn made a playlist called “Soft, Rich Bi$h” and we danced until the room swayed.
Lynn poured another round of shots. “To hoe phases and healing.”
“Bitch.” I cackled. “Not too much on me.”
She laughed until she braced herself at the waist. “I’m sorry, girl. How about, to softness and second chances.”
We clinked glasses, threw the shots back, and continued dancing and singing. It was silly and sacred. Exactly the kind of night that reminded me I wasn’t doing life alone.
Chapter 39
Khalil
I satin the parking lot outside of some loud-ass arcade and restaurant hybrid. Neon lights from the large sign atop the building bounced off my windshield like a warning. Kahlia had picked the place. “Something casual,” she’d texted me. “So it won’t be awkward.” But the second I pulled into the lot, my stomach dropped. Because I wanted to see them. See her. My mother. And that made it worse. I stared at the steering wheel, the engine still running, then reached for my phone.
Pops answered on the second ring.
“Hey, son. Everything alright?”
“I decided to stay,” I said, swallowing the knot lodged in my throat.
“Where you at now?”
“Some game place my sister suggested.” I blinked.My sister.How was it the recognition flowed so easily, yet I stayed stuck in the driver’s seat. “Just been sitting in my car.”
He chuckled softly. “You want me to say you ain’t gotta go?”
“No. I want to go in.”
Silence stretched between us. I heard the buzzing of his ceiling fan and his girlfriend yapping away in the background.
“You nervous?” he finally asked.
“Yeah.”
“Don’t be. You remember when I taught you how to swim?”
