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He held up a finger before he poured himself a cup of strong black coffee and drank it down.

“Go ahead.”

“He hacked Graham’s social media—”

“What social media?” I asked.

“Wait, how do you know it was Donovan?” Neko asked.

“I found the IP and traced it.”

Something sounded sketchy when she trailed off and started tapping away on her phone. She held it out for us to see. The account was under my name, but the photos linked to the accounts were old ones of me and my ex, Hensley.

“Why?” I asked.

Echo’s eyes scanned the text and spoke as she read. “This says she’s your wife and you’ve admitted, in a public and definitive way, you’re cheating on her.”

“Do you know her?” Neko asked.

“Yeah, she’s my ex.”

Neko turned wide-eyed toward me, a look of shock on his face, before he scoffed. His disbelief turned into hysterical laughter as he pointed at the screen. Echo turned the phone around and stared at the picture.

“Holy shit balls, hot tamale, you have great taste in women. She’s gorgeous. Platinum blonde hair, what, at least five eleven, long legs, and… are you fucking kidding me, she’s a model. Like, Paris, London, New York kind of famous.” The twins and Neko’s parents walked behind Echo as they continued to search through the fake accounts.

Although in the privacy of my own thoughts, I could admit my fantasies in the past weren’t exactly sexual. For me, it wasn’t the outer package which attracted me to them in the first place; it was a connection to one person I didn’t share with anyone else.

When I met Hensley, she wore a form-fitting dress, six inch cherry-red heels, but it wasn’t her outfit which drew me. It was when she’d lifted a wriggling puppy into her arms and let the little thing lick her face while she laughed before she landed on her ass as she continued her cooing. I approached her, and we talked about our separate childhood dreams to adopt a dog, but it turned out neither of our parents allowed such ‘nonsense’ as mom called it. That had started our relationship. And less than a year later, we parted as friends.

But Neko, by being himself and laughing to near hysteria as his eyes darted between me and Echo, was the one who elicited an entire side of me I never believed I’d see. By being himself, he had me believing in soul mates, forever after, along with all the good, mundane, and difficult times to come.

“Sweetheart, you need to breathe.”

“I… can’t. You dated… you… her and you.”

When kissing him didn’t work, I hauled him close and whispered in his ear, “You are my forever, Neko.”

He sobered at my words and allowed me to continue.

“Even before we admitted what was palpable for weeks, I knew we belonged together. You are the light and laughter in my life, and although we’re far from knowing everything about each other, I envision nights lounging in bed or snuggling on the couch as I discover the sum of what makes you, you. We have our entire lives to catch up on all the time we missed before we met. And I, for one, know not to ignore fate when someone as dazzling as you—”

The doorbell echoed throughout the house. “I didn’t know you even had one of those.”

Neko glanced at me, wide-eyed, and said, “Me either. Anyone who comes to the house are those who already have keys. We don’t order takeout and they drop the groceries at the back door. No clue who that might be.”

“We’ll see who it is,” the twins responded.

“Um, is that a good idea?” I asked.

George, without a word, strode from the room to monitor whoever stood at the door.

I leaned over and whispered in Neko’s ear, “We’ll finish our discussion later. I prefer after you’re naked and panting. But know you’re mine as much as I’m yours. Nothing will change that.”

“Okay, I’ll stop getting all teary-eyed at, well, everything.”

“It happens whenever there’s a threat. Instead of getting mad, you have an emotional response. It’s natural.”

When he relaxed and smacked a kiss against my cheek, we both turned back to breakfast. I finished mixing the batter and started creaming the cream cheese, lemon juice, powdered sugar, and sour cream together. With that done, I opened one of the homemade jars of cherry preserves, warming the contents in a pan on the stove.