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“Amir,” Mama called, grabbing his hand when he made it toward me. “Can’t you just call someone to pick you up, baby? Please?”
He stared at me for a few seconds before jerking his hand away from her and storming off. I watched as he paced outside on the porch, talking on his phone. Mama and Adam’s conversation was going in one ear and out of the other. I hoped he would leave, because I didn’t want him ruining my mood to cut my visit with Mama short. And if he stayed, there was a chance I’d end up popping him in his mouth because he loved to talk shit.
When he came back inside, he was talking about how I was being a bitch as he walked through the living room toward the hallway. Chuckling, I stood and gave Mama a kiss on the cheek. “I’m going to head out before I end up beating this mane ass,” I told her, handing her the key. “Do not let him drive, Mama. He’s already inebriated and it’s only going to get worse.”
With a nod, she thanked me for leaving and not putting my hands on him. Adam promised to stay until Amir was gone, which I appreciated.
When I made it to my car, I sat in it for a while with no clear destination in mind. I realized I was so upset with my brother that I didn’t even tell AJ I was leaving. I went back inside to say goodbye, and it took everything inside of me to remain silent as Amir continued to talk his shit. I asked AJ if he wanted to come home with me, but he was enjoying spending time with his GiGi. So as irritated as I was with my brother, I wouldn’t let him ruin that.
With no clear destination in mind, I pulled out of the driveway. I decided to send Mecca and Parker a text to see what they were up to along with Amelia. Amelia was the first to respond, letting me know she was heading to one of our favorite chill spots since Alisia was spending the rest of the day with her grandma. Deciding to pull up on her, I made my way onto the expressway to head out to Cordova. If nothing else could make me feel better, spending time with my best friend always could.
Fourteen
Amaru
Milli and I were kid-free with no solid plans in mind. Her mom had stolen Alisia after lunch and told Amelia not to bother making plans with her for the rest of the day. More than anything, I think Caroline wanted Amelia to enjoy herself and get her mind off things. My girl had a tendency to stress when things changed, and she had a lot of things changing in her life right now. I made it my mission for the night to make sure she enjoyed herself. Somehow, all the plans I had in mind went out the window, and we ended up grabbing a couple of bottles of wine, a pizza, and talking for hours down by the river.
We were sitting on the blanket with another wrapped around us. Her arm was wrapped around mine as she rested her head on my shoulder. It was a beautiful evening, the kind I thought I’d be sharing with my life partner. I was just as honored to be sharing the moment with Amelia, though.
She released a soft sigh as she rubbed her free hand up and down my arm. “Ru?”
“Hmm?”
“You love me?”
I was stunned by her question. It came out of nowhere.
“Of course, I love you. You’re my best friend.”
“In all these years of our friendship, we’ve never said those words to each other.”
I could only chuckle in astonishment because she was right. We said it to each other’s kids, but I don’t think we ever said it to each other. That was odd, because I loved Amelia more than anyone else in this world outside of family. Hell, I loved her more than I loved the mother of my child. We showed each other our love and I couldn’t help but wonder why we’d never actually said it.
“Do you know why, because I don’t?”
She sniffled, snuggling up closer to me. “I’m not sure. Maybe because we’ve always shown it and didn’t think the words were necessary. I’ve always felt loved by you, but never hearing those words was always odd to me.”
“What made you finally say something about this now?”
“Truth?”
“Like always.”
“I was sitting here thinking about how perfect this night has been. How I feel so comfortable with you. How blessed we are to be in each other’s lives. How much I love you. And I wanted to tell you, but I didn’t want to get all weird if you had a thing about that.”
I was smiling so hard I couldn’t respond immediately. Taking a deep breath, I placed a kiss to the top of her head.
“I’m not weird about it, Milli. Loving you comes so naturally the words didn’t seem necessary. But you can tell me. I’ll say it back.”
Silence passed between us. I’m not sure how much time passed, but in the thick of the silence, her low, raspy voice almost whispered, “I love you, Ru.”
She lifted her head from my shoulder, and I looked into her eyes. They were softer than usual. My denial made me want to believe it was because of the wine; my heart told me it was because of love.
Love for me.
“I loveyou, Milli.”
The left side of her mouth lifted into a smile as she held my gaze. I’m not sure why, but the eye contact was sexy as fuck. Everything about Milli these days was sexy as fuck.
