Page 265 of When a Soul Cries

“Then let me.”

“You can.” He took a drink, watching me over the rim of his glass. “With the money I sent.”

I grabbed my napkin and threw it across the table.

Rome caught it against his chest and laughed, which only irritated me more.

“Stop laughing. I’m serious.”

“Aight, damn.” Still smiling, he tossed the napkin beside his plate.

“I want you to let me pay you back for something.”

The smile slowly disappeared from his face.

I pushed my plate away and started counting everything on my fingers. “You paid my rent for a year. You paid my utilities. You bought me a brand-new car. You’ve bought things for Halo. You let us stay in your house when we had nowhere else to go, and now there’s fifteen thousand dollars sitting in my account for furniture.”

Rome leaned back and let me finish.

“You’ve done too much.”

“According to who?”

“According to me.”

He studied me for a second before pushing his chair back and standing. He gathered his plate and mine and headed toward the kitchen.

I turned in my chair. “Don’t walk away from me.”

“I ain’t walking away from you.” He glanced over his shoulder. “I’m cleaning up while you fuss.”

I followed him into the kitchen, leaving Halo happily occupied in her high chair a few feet away.

“I’m serious, Rome.”

“So am I.”

He set the plates near the sink and started rinsing them. I leaned my hip against the island, watching his back.

“You have to let me pay you back for something.”

“No.”

“Rome.”

He turned the water off, dried his hands, and faced me.

“I don’t want your money, Sol.”

“Then what do you want?”

The question slipped out before I could stop it.

Rome went still.

His gaze moved slowly over my face, and suddenly I became very aware of the distance between us.

“You really asking me that?”