Page 100 of Lyric Squared

“For you,” he answered, never batting an eye and looking me square in mine.

He stepped to the side and it wasn’t until then that I noticed the display behind his shirtless frame. Crumbled petals lined a huge sign that sat on an easel. As my eyes glossed over, it became harder to make out the words. But, eventually, I did.

Be My Lady?It read.

Turning toward Keanu, again, but this time with a tear-stained face, I nodded my head.

“I’m already your lady! Aren’t I?”

I hated the validation I sought so often. It almost made me cringe after certain questions were asked or certain responses were anticipated. But as much as I disliked what I’d always thought of as a flaw, it was a part of me. The fact that the people I love dearly recognized it from the time I was a little girl and validated me every step of the way, I didn’t seek it from outsiders. They didn’t mean well, so their cents would never make sense in my world.

“Yeah. I just felt like you deserved to be asked. You know, for memory sake? Shit, for you to plan money-guzzling anniversaries and shit in the future. You know, a day that actually means something for us both.”

“Yeah?” I nodded, wiping the corners of my eyes.

“Yeah, baby.”

“I think you just wanted to mark an anniversary so you can have an excuse to spend money, not me,” I corrected.

“Aight, you got me. But, still. You deserved this too,” he told me. “Crybaby.”

He stretched his arms. Still fully clothed from head to toe, I ran into them. It wasn’t until I heard him wince that I realized I might’ve been a bit too excited. As quickly as I’d collided with his chest, I backed away. It was then when I noticed the clear patch over the left side of his chest.

“Oh God. What happened? Are you okay?”

Keanu nodded. “I’m okay, baby.”

“Then why… what happened?”

“I got a new tattoo,” he explained.

“Today?”

“Yeah, to kill time before dinner.”

“I had no idea.”

I made my way to the tub and turned the knob. The water was full and near overflowing. So lost in each other, we weren’t paying attention to it.

“You want to see it?”

Keanu moved closer. When I stood upright, again, he was already in my face.

“Uh, sure.”

Slowly, he peeled back the clear wrapping that actually made it pretty hard to see what was underneath. Keanu’s skin was so dark and blended so well with ink that it was sometimes hard to tell that he even had so much ink on his body. It was only in the beaming sunlight and when we were cuddled in bed that I was reminded.

Once the wrapper was off completely, he moved underneath the light and waved me over to join him. I stood on the tips of my toes to get a closer look and the moment it was clear to me what was written on his chest, my eyes bloomed from their sockets.

“Keanu!” I fanned my face, stepping away from him as I tried lowering my body’s temperature. The coat was the first thing to come off as I walked toward the bedroom. I needed to put some space between us because he was simply too good to be true. He was too good to be mine. He followed me into the closet where I hung my coat and turned to meet his eyes, again.

“You like it?”

“I love it,” I admitted, “I just… I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t have to say nothing. As long as you like it, I’m good.”

“I love it.”