Page 55 of After the Knockout
“I figured.” A small smile pulled at her lips, and for a second, neither one of us said anything. We just sat there eating. Then she opened that damn folder.
“Okay, so I think this is probably the best schedule. Obviously, if there’s something you want changed, we can talk about it. And holidays are flexible.”
My eyes moved down the page. It was pretty standard shit. Every other weekend. One evening during the week, alternatingholidays and summer breaks. The schedule was reasonable. Exactly what I’d asked for.
“On the weekends you don’t have him, you can always come by and see him. And if there’s a school event or?—”
“Nah.”
She stopped talking. “What?”
“I don’t want a schedule.” I closed the folder and tossed it in her lap. Confusion flashed across her face.
“KO.”
“I’m serious, Lyrius.”
“This whole time, you’ve been talking about a schedule, and now you don’t want one?”
“No.”
“Then what do you want?” She stared at me.
I looked down at the food, then at her, then back at the folder sitting on her lap. The answer felt a whole lot easier now than it had thirty minutes ago.
“I don’t want to move out.”
“What?”
“I don’t want Dakoda bouncing between two houses.”
“KO.” She sighed. “Us living together isn’t realistic.”
“Why not?”
“Because—” She stared at me for a second. Like she wasn’t sure where I was going with this. “Because we’re not together, and lines are crossing.”
“What if we were?” The words slipped out before I could stop them.
“What?” Lyrius blinked.
“What if we were?”
Her mouth opened and closed like she didn’t know what to say. “KO, what are you talking about?”
I laughed softly and rubbed my jaw. I was tired of this shit. Jalen and Pops were right. I’d brought my ass to Shoreline for more than just Dakoda, and I was tired of pretending.
“I love you, Lyrius.”
“What?” Her eyes widened.
“I love you. I spent five years trying to hate you and couldn’t. That’s how I knew I was still in love.” The words barely left my mouth before I leaned forward and kissed her. She gasped against my lips, and the folder slipped from her lap as I grabbed her waist and pulled her onto my lap.
“I love you too,” she whispered, and that was all it took. I grabbed her face and kissed her again. She wrestled with my shorts while I held her against me. Neither one of us could slow down now that we’d finally said the shit we’d been carrying around all these years. My hands found her thighs on instinct. Her sundress gathered higher as I lowered her down onto my already hard dick. Her tight, wet walls sucked me in like a riptide, and a collaborative moan escaped our lips. Five years, and somehow, she still felt like home. I kissed her forehead. Her cheek. Her mouth. Anywhere I could reach as she moved up and down on my dick.
“KO . . .” she moaned.
“Nah.” I shook my head, gripped her ass, and rocked her against me. “Come here,” I said as if I wasn’t already damn near inside her cervix.
