Page 152 of The Sweetest Return

Pops nodded.

“So what? I chase her?”

“You done chasing or running people over?”

I looked at him.

“You asked for advice.”

“Not like that.”

“I heard it that way.”

I rubbed my face.

His expression turned serious.

“Don't chase her like she's something you're scared another man will catch first. That's fear with good shoes on. And don't sit back acting too proud to move because she left first either. That's how young men lose things and rename it dignity.”

That one had my name written all over it.

“What do I do?”

“You go to her like a man. Leave the celebrity, the athlete, and the boy hoping she understands what he can't say out of it. Tell the truth.”

“And if she doesn't answer?”

“Leave the truth somewhere she can find it. Then make sure your behavior don't contradict it while she decides what to do.”

Hard things always sounded like yard work when Pops explained them.

“You hurt that girl once because you were scared and proud and young enough to think letting her go without saying everything counted as love.”

My eyes dropped.

“Don't do it twice.”

“I don't want to lose her again.”

“Then stop acting like wanting her is enough.” His hand closed around the back of my neck. “Love got legs. Put some under it.”

For a second, all I heard was wind through the trees and Kayla laughing inside.

Love got legs.

Put some under it.

The panic that had followed me since waking alone changed into something I could use. I couldn't control the pictures or the comments. I couldn't take back what Aubrey had endured or force Imani to answer before she was ready.

But I could stop hiding behind silence.

Pops glanced at me. “Where you going?”

“To put legs under it.”

His smile came slow.

“Eat first.”