“I’m serious.” I lifted myself up, allowing her to turn on her back. I kissed her stomach, then sucked a nipple into my mouth. “You should take that ibuprofen.”
She wrinkled her nose. “I don’t want to. It makes my stomach hurt.”
“I’ll run out and get something else.”
“No.” She tugged me forward and rolled into me. “This is perfect. Just being in your arms.”
I wrapped my arm around her. “You know what else is perfect?”
“Hmm?”
“The phone hasn’t buzzed.”
Giggling, she said, “Right? I’m surprised.”
“I’m not. Dex would cuss every one of them out for blowing up his phone on his wedding night.”
“Dallas doesn’t care.”
“She does. Don’t let her fool you.”
Silence enveloped us, and my thoughts wandered back to the wedding. Pastor had recited the scripture I’d learned in Sunday School—First Corinthians. “…love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things, but above all, love never fails.” I loved my family, my friends. No doubt. Yet, for the first time in my life, I had a different interpretation for that particular verse because I felt that type of love for Demi. My haunted memories, the crazy experiences, the bad decisions… none of that mattered. It almost felt like my life was starting fresh, starting new. The women in my life… Chastity, Carolyn, the random ladies in every city… none of them were her. It all came down to her.Only her.
“What are you thinking about?” she asked after a few minutes.
“You,” I told her.
Demi perched herself up on her elbow, wincing a little. “Ouch. That hurt.”
“Lay yo’ ass back down then.”
She searched my eyes. “Are you okay?”
I’d told myself time and again that I didn’t need to tell anyone about my past because it was mine. I’d reasoned that I wasn’t hiding, but I was. Because I could’ve shared it. I chose not to because I didn’t want to taint my family’s perception of me. But if I was going to be with Demi…She should know everything.
Letting out a slow breath, I said, “Remember when Tristan told you that I wasn’t who you thought I was?” She nodded. “He was right.”
Demi sat up, a confused frown on her face. “What are you talking about?”
“I’ve done things in my past that I’m not proud of.”
“You’ve also worked hard to put those things behind you.”
“How can I, though?” I challenged, shifting so that we were facing each other. “It’s easy to hide pieces of myself when no one knows what I’ve done.”
Demi didn’t blink, she didn’t even flinch.I love her so much. “You can tell me anything. I won’t judge you.”
“Even if you knew that I caused someone’s death?”
Trinity. I wasn’t driving the car that killed her, but I was the reason she was on the road that night. “Carolyn’s daughter, Trinity. You remember her?”
“You dated her before you got with Carolyn.”
I nodded. “She blew the whistle on us.”
“I know all of this. And I know how she died. Her mother was driving the car.”
“Trinity was driving the car. She was drunk.” Carolyn had covered for her daughter that night with the hope that Trinity would be spared from prosecution. It didn’t matter, though, because Trinity had died from her injuries.
