“And you’re …”
“Uncertain. Definitely uncertain. Not about the cause, not about the movement. But about where I fit into it. About what my lane is.”
“Well, the sad thing is, I think you’re gonna have plenty of time to figure that out. Because this …” I pointed at the television where images of unrest played unabated. “This isn’t about to be resolved anytime soon.”
“I know,” Lila said, leaning her head against my shoulder again.
I turned my head to look at her and my lips landed, sort of by accident, on her forehead.
At that, she let her head fall back and I leaned in. I felt her soft exhale and pressed my lips to hers. She molded hers around mine and we lingered, just like that.
When I pulled back, she was smiling, and rested her head on my shoulder again.
I don’t know what time it was when we finally fell asleep, me on my back, Lila on her side next to me, one leg slung over both of mine, her arm across my chest and head on my shoulder. She felt perfect, like it wasn’t even the first time she had been there.
I opened my eyes around dawn and she was still sleeping against me. I didn’t want to wake her, but it was that, or relieve my bladder all over us both. I extricated myself slowly, and quietly made my way to the bathroom where I pissed and then grinned at myself in the mirror while I washed my hands. The day felt bursting with exciting possibilities.
Before going back to the living room, I went to check my phone which I’d left charging overnight in my bedroom. I had a text from Lamar. No words, but a picture of him with a swollen eye, busted lip and a wide grin.
I called him right away and was surprised that he answered. It was only just daybreak.
“Yo,” I said. “What the …?”
“Fishtown,” he said, referring to the part of the city where we heard white dudes were running their own modern-day slave patrols with bats and bottles.
“Nah,” I said. “You went over there?”
“Yes indeed.”
“Lamar. Why would you …?”
“Because they need to know. There is nowhere we can’t go. Those days are over.”
“I feel you, man,” I said.
“Anyway, I just got in. Lemme hit you later …”
“Yeah, yeah.” I hung up, still smiling, feeling myself burst with admiration, with love, for my boy Lamar and for my people and their indomitable spirit.
In the living room, I hoped to find Lila still asleep, and she was, almost. She stirred and looked up when I entered the room. With heavy-lidded, sleepy eyes, she extended an arm, calling me to her. I went, and sat at the edge of the sofa, then lay down.
She arranged herself around and on top of me the way she had the night before, like it was already a habit.
“Kai,” she whispered, her voice thick with exhaustion.
“Yeah?” I said.
But she said nothing else. She sighed and moments later was breathing evenly, and was fast asleep.
Chapter Eight
Lila
I woke up because the light was bright, and my left leg was stiff and cramped. I rearranged myself a little, feeling a tingling sensation as blood rushed back into it.
Kai was still sleeping, his chest rising and falling.
He felt familiar. He looked familiar. I inhaled his shoulder and learned his scent so he would begin to smell familiar.
I had two very distinct thoughts.
Yesterday I was arrested.
And yesterday, I met the man I’m going to marry.
About the Author
Nia Forrester lives and writes in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where, by day, she is an attorney working on public policy, and by night, she crafts woman-centered fiction that examines the complexities of life, love, and the human condition.
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Reach her at: [email protected]
Also by Nia Forrester
The ‘Commitment’ Novels
Commitment (The ‘Commitment’ Series Book 1)
Unsuitable Men (The ‘Commitment’ Series Book 2)
Maybe Never (A ‘Commitment’ Novella)
The Fall (A ‘Commitment’ Novel)
Four: Stories of Marriage (The ‘Commitment’ Series Finale)
The ‘Afterwards’ Novels
Afterwards (The Afterwards Series Book 1)
Afterburn (The Afterwards Series Book 2)
The Come Up (An Afterwards Novel)
The Takedown (An Afterwards Novel)
Young, Rich & Black (An Afterwards Novel)
Snowflake (An Afterwards Novel)
Rhyme & Reason (An Afterwards Novel)
Courtship (A Snowflake Novel)
The ‘Mistress’ Novels
Mistress (The ‘Mistress’ Trilogy Book 1)
Wife (The ‘Mistress’ Trilogy Book 2)
Mother (The ‘Mistress’ Trilogy Book 3)
The ‘Acostas’ Novels
The Seduction of Dylan Acosta (The Acostas Book 1)
The Education of Miri Acosta (The Acostas Book 2)
The ‘Secret’ Series
Secret (The ‘Secret’ Series Book 1)
The Art of Endings (The ‘Secret’ Series Book 1)
Lifted (The ‘Secret’ Series Book 3)
The ‘Shorts’
Still—The ‘Shorts’ Book 1
The Coffee Date—The ‘Shorts’ Book 2
Just Lunch—The ‘Shorts’ Book 3
Table for Two—The ‘Shorts’ Book 4
The Wanderer—The ‘Shorts’ Book 5
À la Carte: A ‘Coffee Date’ Novella—The ‘Shorts’ Book 6
Silent Nights—The ‘Shorts’ Book 7
Not That Kind of Girl—The ‘Shorts’ Book 8
À la Carte: The Complete ‘Coffee Date’ Novellas
Standalone Novels
Ivy’s League
The Lover
Acceptable Losses
Paid Companion
The Makeover
Resistance Page 8
