Couldn’t lie about it.
Not when it was the god’s honest truth.
We swayed as I moved her across the cleared space that acted as the dance floor.
What I didn’t know was that the other couples hadn’t stayed to dance for this song. Only Lila and I, Bax, and Kendra remained.
I also noticed a few women were wiping tears from the corners of their eyes as the men looked on with pride shining in their eyes.
“What happened, Lila?” I asked low.
She sighed, then she looked away for a beat, and then she looked back up at me, “My dad beat my mom, Bronson. Badly. Over stupid stuff. That time I burned water?” she asked.
I nodded, knowing I wasn’t going to like this.
“It was to try to make her homemade chicken noodle soup because he had beaten her so badly and tried to choke the life out of her. I was trying to tend to her cuts and things and forgot about it.”
She swallowed, then looked away, then, tentatively, I asked, “Did he ever hit you?”
She winced, “Once.”
I stiffened, ready to track that motherfucker down and beat the holy hell out of him, but she didn’t need that anger.
And I couldn’t help myself, “What happened?”
She looked up at me and shared, “I told him to stop hitting her. He backhanded me and then beat my mom worse. Because I dared to tell him what to do.”
Before I could stop myself, I leaned my head down and pressed a kiss on the top of her head, and pulled her even tighter into my body.
Wanting, needing to absorb some of her pain.
And we stayed like that.
Her tight to my body as the song and the lyrics filled the space.
Then I glanced at Kendra and Bax. And seeing the love there... it hit me like a ton of fucking bricks.
The way they both looked at each other... fuck me.
That was the same way Lila looked at me, Cole, and Madalyn.
And I knew... fucking knew, that when she found the one, we would lose it.
But.... maybe... just maybe...
The moment the song was done, Lila smiled up at me, “For that dance, you can have some of the honey chicken.”
I grinned, “Then I’ll be your dance partner whenever you want it.”
I meant every word of that statement, too.
‘Would I recommend this to anyone? No.
But if I knew their heart wanted what their head wouldn’t allow? Then fuck yes.’
– Lila’s Secret Thoughts.
Chapter 10
