“Albany, please …”
“I can move past it. I cannothate you. I can know that things were beyond your control as a teenager, but—”
“The past is behind us,” I said. “We can get this right.”
“It’s not, Wes. Our past is all around us.” She gestured to the space. “Mostly, here.” She placed a hand over her heart. “And here.” She pressed her other hand against my heart.
“This”—I held her palm to my chest—“my heart is not an obstacle to overcome. It’s just yours.” I kissed her softly. “Bug, there’s no one for me but you.”
“That’s not true,” she insisted. “I think Ms. Tea would like a word.”
“Fuck Ms. Tea,” I roared. “She doesn’t know anything. She doesn’t know me. And she damn sure doesn’t know us.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“You keep saying that, but I would argue that it does.”
She let out a heavy sigh. “I need some time.”
Tipping her chin up, I whispered, “I told you I would let you set the pace.”
“Is that what you’re doing?”
I held her hands in mine. “I also told you earlier that I can’t walk away from you again.”
“Yeah, I read that message.”
“You didn’t respond.”
“Because I didn’t know what to say.”
I tilted my head to meet her gaze. “I don’t believe that.”
“Why can’t you walk away? It’s not like I’m nice to you. I don’t even like you that much.”
I laughed. “Maybe. But you love me.”
She frowned. “I don’t.”
“Yeah, you do.”
“Actually, I think I’m teetering toward I-can’t-stand-you.”
“You still love me, though.”
“This is stupid. Tell me why I should believe you when you say you can’t walk away from me. Because we already established that you did before.”
“Walking away from you would destroy me. I meant what I said, you own my heart. Since I can’t live without it, I will die.”
She gasped. “Wes.”
“I’m joking, but I’m serious, too. It’s really that simple.” I placed a tentative kiss to her lips. When she didn’t pull away, I deepened it, pulling her to me. And she let me.
A soft knock broke the haze of desire simmering between us, and she jerked away from me. She didn’t speak, though. Instead, she rushed over to the door and opened it.
Mo walked in, followed by Erica and Whitney.
Albany glanced back at me. “I told you your time was up.”
