“Z couldn’t have cared less.He’s had every minute and intimate detail of his life spread across the world so many times that being caught lying in bed with me was nothing.Helped he already knew he was in love with me.”
So casual, a shrug like it was no big deal.
“Did you know?”
“That he was in love with me?Oh, honey, that guy’s been smitten with me since day one.”
She laughed.“That you were in love with him?Did you know you loved him then?”
With an eye roll, Roxie tsked at herself.“I didn’t know it even when he hit me with the proverbial two by four.Zairn Lomond and me?”She scoffed.“Not a chance.He was a playboy and…” Roxie exhaled.“The world see what they want to see in Zairn.My life was my life and I was set in that.One of the greatest gifts my Casanova ever gave me was vision.Our life experiences were so different.Zairn knew there’s nothing that can’t be achieved.Love is a choice.He couldn’t force me into it, which was part of the reason he dumped my ass in LA.”
“He dumped you?”
“After I’d already broken his heart a dozen times.”
What a love.“You got him back.”She remembered theTalk at Sunsetengagement tale.“He came back to you.”
“Sweetie.”Roxie spread her hair across her shoulders.“That man never left me for a second.Not one, single second.He’d gifted me his heart and I didn’t recognize it until mine shattered.”
Her own guilt crept in.“Did I ever love Spence?It didn’t feel like this with him.”
“Love isn’t one thing.”Roxie cradled her hand again.“And sometimes love needs a dry run.Our hearts practice once, twice, however many times it takes to get ready for the big whammy.I’ve seen love.All kinds of love.A bunch of our friends have found their forever relationships and I can tell you, not one of them is the same.If one size fits all love was generically handed out to us all, it wouldn’t matter who we’re with, would it?One heart would fit another.No two loves are the same.And think about how much you’ve changed in the last couple of years.”
“Since losing Spence,” she murmured.“Cam would never have fallen in love with me as I was back then.With Spence I was different… I don’t think… the love was…”
“Security?Faith?Gratitude?All reasons are valid.You probably wouldn’t have fallen in love with Cam as he was back then either.”
“True,” she said.“Think you would’ve fallen in love with a teenage Zairn?”
“For about twenty minutes, maybe.I was a flutterer.”Uh, okay.“He’d have fallen in love with me, for sure, and I tell you something, he’d have dedicated his existence to being with me.There would be no Rouge, no Crimson, no any of it.”
“Proving the moral of your story.”
“We become who we are with life and experience,” Roxie said, fingertips touching Ariella’s jaw.“Love’s a gift.Embrace it.Don’t run from it.”
“Rox!”
That call came from somewhere in the house.Hands linked, they hurried out to Tripp in the hallway.
“What is it?”
“Press statement from the Raiths.We’re getting it now.”
Tripp put an arm around her to take both women into the large den.Everybody was there.It was a full house.
“What does it say?”she asked again.Someone came in to hand Cam a sheet of paper.“Unicorn?”
His brow furrowed as he concentrated on the page.“Love for Spencer,” he said.“Valued member of the family.Missed greatly.”Okay, okay.She didn’t want to hurry him but held her breath for fear she’d scream.“No wish to revisit the difficult past… Respect for Ariella…” That was something.“Appreciate privacy.Wish her well for the future.”
He looked up and Knox went to take the page.
Breath left her body, but… what?“That’s it?”she asked, crossing the room to read the sheet Knox held.“They just…”
What the… In the interest of fairness, she had to admit that she couldn’t anticipate the Raiths.For the most part, they put up barriers, closed ranks and kept to themselves.Ish.
“If they came in too hard, they’d be the aggressors,” Knox muttered.“Neutral is smart.”
“Yeah,” Honey said.“It helped to see you next to the Colliers.”
