“Can we explore this?” she asked softly.
“Is that what you want?”
“Yes,” she whispered. “But this isn’t just about whatIwant. You spend so much time making sure everyone else has what they need. I recognize it because we’re alike in that way. But I need to know… What doyouwant?”
The part of me that recognized that we might not be ready for this had been drowned out by the part of me that wanted to see where this could lead. I’d never been the type to rush into anything, but I couldn’t stop myself from wanting to push past the doubt and move forward full steam ahead. I rested my forehead against hers. “You,” I murmured against her mouth before I kissed her.
I lost myself in her scent, in her soft moans, in the feel of her body. She’d awakened parts of me I didn’t know existed. I wanted to drop to my knees and worship her. I wanted to strip her bare, take my time with her. But I didn’t want to be in my mother’s she shed when we made love for the first time.
I groaned and pulled back, raking my gaze over her face. Her eyes were still closed, her mouth was swollen from our kiss, and the high ponytail she’d come to the party with was now hanging low. “Char?”
She stared at me through hooded eyes. “Yes?” she breathed.
“As much as I want this, we’re in my mother’s she shed.”
“Right.”
Standing, I pulled her to her feet. “Let’s table this for a more private place.”
She pouted. “Okay.”
I ran my thumb over the slight frown that had formed on her brow, then brushed my lips over hers again. “We have time.”
She nibbled on her bottom lip. “So what happens now?”
“Whatever you want to happen?”
Charlye quirked a brow. “Another orgasm? This time for both of us?”
I rubbed my nose against hers. “Multiple orgasms.” I kissed her. “Soon.”
She wrapped her arms around my neck and smiled. And I felt like she’d bathed me in sunlight. She was so beautiful, so perfect. “I’m looking forward to it,” she said.
I walked her back to her car, opened the door for her. “Text me when you get home.”
She agreed. “Eat lots of cake. And send me pics of Naija covered in frosting.”
Laughing, I agreed to take a video. When she was safely in the car and buckled in, I shut the door. As she drove away, I thought about everything that had happened in the she shed.
Experience told me to stop, to take a moment, to create some distance between us. But my heart… Years of desire had rendered me incapable of making a decisionnotclouded by my own feelings. And, for once, I wasn’t going to question it. I wanted to risk it all.
ChapterEight
YOU’RE THE SWEETEST ONE
Charlye
“Ithink this is the last one.” Mom walked into the kitchen carrying another floral arrangement, a bouquet full of pink snapdragons, lilies, hydrangea, and roses. The flowers had been arriving throughout the morning and into the afternoon, before our walk, during breakfast, while we were out running errands, and after lunch. They were everywhere, on the kitchen island, on the table, on the counter, in the living room.
I leaned in and inhaled the sweet fragrance. “Smells so good.” I opened the card.
“What does it say?” Mom asked, a wide grin on her face.
“Because you’re everything,” I read, clutching the small piece of paper to my chest.
Each note that had accompanied the flowers had a message that filled me to the brim with excitement.Because you’re worth it. Because your smile is like the Sun. Because you’re intelligent.Because you deserve it.Because you’re my favorite.Because you’re a survivor.Because you’re always on my mind.Because you’re beautiful. I tucked the latest card away in the small box where I’d kept the others. I wanted to save them, I wanted to remember this day for the rest of my life.
Mom ran her finger over a pink rose. “Who do you think they’re from?”
