We sat staring at each other for a while before I finally said, “You know I’m fucking kicking myself for wasting a year, don’t you?”
She smiled that smile of hers that pressed all my buttons. “Yeah, baby, but maybe we both needed that extra year. Life happens in her own good time. Our job is just to be open to it so that when it happens, we can catch it and not let it pass us by.”
Fuck.
She amazed me.
I was going to crack myself wide fucking open so I didn’t miss a damn thing this woman was offering me. Life wasn’t going to pass me by anymore. And although I had a lot of demons still to put to bed, I knew she’d be there right by my side, helping me.
I brushed my lips over hers again. Tightening my grip on her neck, I said, “Thank you for the gift you’ve given me.”
Confusion flickered on her face. “What gift?”
“You accepted me for who I am. Unconditionally. And you’ve stuck by me, even when most women wouldn’t.”
She placed her hand against my cheek and whispered, “I love you, flaws and all, Donovan Brookes, and don’t you ever forget it.”
THE END
Epilogue
Blade
“Blade!” Ashley called out to me.
I turned to see her running towards me with a smile on her face.
I stopped and waited for her to catch up to me.
She held something out to me and said, “You forgot this.”
I looked down at what was in her hand. A key. “What is it for?”
As she put it in my hand, she whispered, “It’s the key to your heart.”
I had no idea what she meant so I waited for her to explain.
She pressed her hand to my chest. “You locked your heart and threw the key away when I died. You’ve found someone to love you now, but you need to open your heart to her completely.” She nodded at the key in my hand. “You’ll need that.”
Fuck.
Stepping closer to me, she brought her hands to my face and held it. Her lips lightly dusted mine, and then she said, “I’ll always love you, Blade, and I know you’ll always love me, but you need her now.” She let my face go and took a step backwards. “Goodbye.”
I watched as she disappeared right in front of me.
I waited for the pain to slice through me.
It never came.
I sat bolt upright in bed and turned to the bedside clock.
Seven am.
Layla’s arm reached for me. “Baby, what’s wrong?” she asked, sitting up next to me.
I looked at her.
Fuck, she was beautiful. Even with messy hair and that first-thing-in-the-morning look.