Page 22 of The Way Love Heals

“Hey, Nyle. Come in. Dinner is almost done.”

I stepped to the side and allowed him entrance into my home. When I shut the door and turned around, he stood only inches from me. Goosebumps prickled my skin as he closed the distance between us.

With his lips extremely close to mine, he asked, “May I?”

My tongue parting his lips was my response, and it was right then I knew it was impossible for me to only be friends with him. Anytime Nyle asked to touch or kiss me, the only response I gave was ‘yes.’ I craved that man’s touch like crazy, but I had been lying to myself about it. In my mind, I tried to make it seem as if he didn’t drive me wild, but my heart and body said otherwise.

Our lips departed, and I missed his already. I held my hand out, and Nyle allowed me to lead him to my kitchen, where I poured each of us a glass of wine while I finished cooking.

As I took the cornbread out the oven, I questioned, “How are you?”

“I’m good, especially since I’m with you. Your house is nice as hell.”

“Thank you. I was extremely picky when it came to what I wanted, and my realtor did me justice finding almost everything.”

I set the cornbread on the stove to cool, grabbed my wineglass, and stood in front of Nyle. Never breaking eye contact, we clinked glasses and sipped from them. There was a question resting on the tip of my tongue that I was a little shy to ask, only because I had an inkling on where his manners stemmed from. The last thing I wanted to do was trigger him, so I swallowed it with my wine and decided to visit it later.

“What’s on your mind, Brittish? I can tell from the way you’re looking at me that you have something you want to say.”

Well, damn. Why did he read me like that?

“It’s more like something I want to ask,” I admitted, tilting my head to the side.

Nyle leaned back in his chair and wet his lips. “I’m listening.”

“Why do you ask for permission to touch me?”

Silence lingered between us, and I immediately regretted asking that question. Nyle polished off the remainder of his wine before asking for more. I poured him a hefty glass before doing the same for myself.

I knew better than to ask. I mentally chastised myself as I watched Nyle. Behind his eyes, I could tell he was processing my words.

Guilt ate at me worse than termites to wood, so I took a gulp of my wine and apologized. “I’m sorry for asking, Nyle. You don’t have to explain. It’s just something I’ve been curious about. I think it’s extremely respectful of you to do so, so there’s nothing wrong with it.”

“Don’t apologize, Brittish.” Nyle took another gulp of his wine and clicked his tongue. “Can I explain while we eat? I’m starving, and you have it smelling good up in here, but not as good as you.”

I blushed and nodded, instructing Nyle to go sit at the table. Since it was already set, all I had to do was plate our food. Once I set my wineglass down, I went to wash my hands and fixed our plates. I’d been in the mood for some good soul food, so I made fried chicken, yams, macaroni and cheese, fried cabbage, and homemade cornbread. Knowing AJ would be mad if I didn’t take him a plate, I put him one to the side to take to him tomorrow and went to join Nyle.

When I placed his plate in front of him, he rubbed his hands together while intently studying everything. He waited for me to sit down, before holding his hand out and bowing his head. After grace was said, Nyle wasted no time digging into his plate. I did the same, going straight for the yams and macaroni.

“Mmm.” I moaned and did a little dance in my seat. “I’ve been wanting this so bad. It reminds me of my great aunt’s cooking.”

“This is good as hell, Brittish. Why you ain’t tell me you could throw down like this?”

“I can do a little something when I’m in the mood. I’m always busy, so I usually throw something together that can get us through for a few days, but I had time today.”

“I’m glad you included me because I needed this. I haven’t eaten much today since I’ve been on the go, so you just blessed my soul.”

Nyle and I shared a laugh before silence fell over us. It might have been a little weird of me, but I watched him eat, taking in the way his jaw moved with each bite. When his plate was clean, Nyle sat back and rubbed his stomach. I snickered, happy to know I could satisfy him in more than one way.

He broke the silence, saying something that completely shattered my heart.

“I ask for permission to touch because I know what it’s like to be touched without permission.”

My fork hit my plate as I peered over at him. He massaged his beard and gazed at me with those pretty brown eyes that were swirling with emotion. I wiped my mouth, got up, and went to sit in the seat next to him. Softly, Nyle shook his head.

“Don’t do that.”

I frowned and slightly jerked my head back. “Do what?”