True.
“Okay. Should we go?” I slipped my jacket on.
“I’m ready.”
“Oh, wait. I forgot one thing. Come inside for a second while I get it.”
He entered, and I closed the door behind him, then caged his long body between my arms.
“Hi, again.” I lowered my mouth to his, and we kissed. Our tongues slid together, and I hummed a satisfied sigh of pleasure. I molded my body against him, and he cupped my ass, rotating his pelvis against mine. I could feel his hardness resting on my thigh.
“Nice way to end the day.” Roe feathered little kisses along my jaw and sucked my earlobe. “I’m glad you asked to go together. It will make my grandmother happy.”
Our cheeks rasped together, imprinting his orangey scent on my skin. “I like making you happy.” I slid my hand between our bodies, cupping him. “And you feel pretty happy right now.”
“And if you don’t stop, I’ll be way too happy.”
Laughing, I gave him one final squeeze and stepped away. The conversation with my father faded to muted noise, and I vowed to put it from my mind for the rest of the evening.
Sunny had already left, and I turned off the lights and locked the door behind us. The car I’d ordered waited for us at the curb. Roe alternated between tense and flirtatious, and I figured he was nervous about facing Nettie again.
“Hey. Stop worrying. It’ll be okay. How could it not be after last night?”
He shot me an odd look from beneath his dark lashes. “I’m still confused.”
“Why? I thought we talked it out. Waking up with you was pretty damn perfect, but now you’re so jumpy.” I played with his fingers. “What happened?”
“I’m still trying to process everything that’s happening between us and where it’s leading.”
“And I’m learning not to think too far ahead. Speculation never ends well for me.”
“What do you think is going to happen between you and your parents? Did you hear from your mother today?”
My throat dried, and my tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth. The back of an Uber in Midtown traffic was the last place I intended to bare my soul to Roe and ask him to forgive me.
“No. She didn’t call.” It was the truth, though I’d omitted the important fact of who did. But that could wait.
I retreated to the opposite corner of the car and stared out the window. This whole acting as fake boyfriends might’ve begun as a way to help an old lady, but I’d been fooling myself into thinking this wasn’t about getting a second chance with Roe. The attraction between us was not only still alive, but if our night together was any indication, it burned hotter and brighter than ever. I knew I loved him, but would he believe me?
By the time we arrived at Deborah and Nettie’s, I was a mess of jumbled nerves, the chaos of my life a tangled ball of threads, and I wasn’t sure if there was time to undo the knots or if Roe would even give me the chance.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Whatever bothered Ezra remained a mystery. By now I knew him well enough to see that when he didn’t want to talk, he shut down, giving me short answers to my questions, only skimming the surface of his emotions.
I wondered if he’d let me see his true face. In bed, Ezra had been the most sensual partner I’d ever had, and the sex had been nothing short of explosive. But having sex didn’t equal intimacy. I knew the difference, and I’d believed when Ezra touched me, there were moments we’d stripped ourselves down, past being merely naked. I wanted to know not only the sound of his breathing, but what made his breath catch in his throat. I wanted to hear not only the beat of his heart, but what made his heart pound.
I loved him and wanted him to love me back.
Stunned, I sneaked a glance at Ezra, hoping I didn’t speak out loud, but he was busy with his phone, his face placid and unperturbed. I unlocked the front door to the building, and we entered, the familiar mingled aromas of the neighbors’ cooking hitting me. Ezra’s chic building smelled of lemon cleaner and polish. It was like comparing a five-star luxury hotel to a budget inn. I hadn’t moved the dial much from where we were at seventeen to where we were at forty. I might have more money these days, but the insecurity remained. Even after the night we spent together, I was still uncertain of my place in Ezra’s world. His parents were so important to him, I wasn’t confident he could withstand their pressure, and if he turned away from me now, after everything that happened between us, I wasn’t sure what I would do.
“Do we tell Nettie we were only pretending, or do we let it slide, especially now, after last night?” Ezra put a hand on my arm. “We need to be on the same page.”
“We do.” And not only about my grandmother, I wanted to say. Why did he have me so tangled up? “What do you think? What do you want to do? It was your idea.”
“I’m not sure it matters anymore.” He mounted the stairs, leaving me at the bottom of the steps, wondering if we were talking about the same thing or not. I took the stairs two at a time, reaching him when he stopped in front of my mother’s apartment.
“Wait, what’re you talking about?”
