Page 17 of Always There Bayou (The BR Bayou #3)

Admittance Bayou.

One minute, I was talking with Katori, a gorgeous woman who had been giving me heart eyes for months now, and the next, I was being pulled away by the one woman who wouldn’t leave my mind, no matter how hard I tried to make her.

Seeing her for the first time in almost two weeks had me freezing on the spot, and I didn’t fight her as she guided me into my office and closed the door behind us.

I sat on the edge of my desk, crossing my arms over my chest as I stared at her.

She looked so fucking good in the black, short-sleeved button-down and black pants.

Her locs were tied up in a bun, and I could tell that it was time for a retwist. Usually, that was my job, but since I hadn’t been speaking to her lately, she hadn’t gotten them redone .

I don’t know why, but that small fact made my heart skip a beat.

She hated anyone but me to touch her hair.

I was the one who started her locs all those years ago and the only one who’d ever retwisted them.

She has always been very particular when it came to physical touch.

She hated hugs. She hated holding hands.

Hell, she even hated women touching her when they were being intimate.

She’d told me many times before how she preferred to be on the giving side of things.

That didn’t even change when she was with Christie.

I’ve always had special privileges. I’ve always had the special privilege of getting to run my hands through her hair as she rested her head in my lap.

I was the one who got to cuddle with her, feeling her warmth envelope me.

Yeah, what we had was different, but for some reason, she couldn’t see that.

We continued to stare at each other in silence. Neither of us said anything as the air around us got thick with tension and…something else I couldn’t place. I wasn’t sure what the next moments would bring, but I did know that I was tired of us not talking.

“Cory,” I say. She finally makes eye contact with me as she steps closer, not saying anything. “What do you want?”

“Are you fucking ‘ole girl?” She asks, and I’m taken aback.

“I don’t see how that’s any of your business,” I sigh, annoyed already. “Whether I am or not, what do you care?”

“Denny, don’t fucking play with me right now,” she replies, clearly agitated.

I instantly clock the jealousy in her voice, and for some reason, it feels refreshing to be on the opposite side of this feelin g.

“That’s what you’ve been doing these last two weeks?

Laid up under some bitch you don’t even know. ”

“Well, yeah, since the woman I do know chose to cuss me out and still hasn’t apologized for it,” I snap, and her mouth falls open.

“Contrary to what you want to believe, Cory, I’ve always had options.

I just chose not to date because I was stupidly waiting for your oblivious ass.

So, excuse me for wanting to get my back blown out every now and then. ”

I move to get up, but she stops me by placing her hands on my hips. I’m annoyed with how my body reacts, making me sit back down. Her hands move to my thighs, and she leans in a bit closer. I could feel my heart pounding like crazy.

This is what you wanted, right, Denny?

“First of all, lose the lil attitude, Denali,” she replies, calling me by my birth name. I sigh, rolling my eyes because she only called me that when I started doing too much ... “Secondly, I’m here now.”

“Yeah, and how long has it been?” I scoff, looking off to the side. She squeezes my thighs softly, and I look back at her, a serious look on her face.

“How many times do I have to tell you to stop playing with me, Bunny?” she questions, but I don’t answer. “You call me stubborn, but I’ve been texting and calling you for the last two weeks, yet you haven’t replied. That’s why I came to see you so that I could apologize in person.”

“Spare me the bullshit, Cory,” I mumble, but I could feel my heart fighting me, especially after she cups my chin in her hand to make sure I don’t look away again.

My breath hitches as I stare into her beautiful, brown eyes. They were as deep as the most decadent chocolate, and I felt like I was falling deeper and deeper into a hole that I couldn’t get out of, no matter how much I tried. I was stubborn, yes, but she’d hurt my feelings.

I know. I know.

I was being a brat and childish as hell for dragging this out, knowing that she’d been trying to apologize, but a part of me didn’t want to give in so easily.

That part of me was tired of waiting for her to acknowledge my feelings.

That’s the main reason I was so upset and frustrated.

I loved the hell out of her, and I wanted to scream because I felt like she’d never see that, with her oblivious ass.

I wish I could box up my feelings and lock them away, but I knew it would never work. I knew that I’d stupidly wait for her for as long as she wanted, as unhealthy as that may seem. I couldn’t help it, though.

I was so down bad for this woman…

“Denny, you have every right to be upset with me because I was wrong for treating you the way I did, and I’m sorry,” she says softly, and I feel myself swoon at her words.

See what I mean? I was a lost cause… “You’re my best friend, and you’ve been nothing but kind to me.

I’m so damn sorry for pushing you away. You didn’t deserve any of that. ”

“You’re right,” I state, averting my eye because her intense stare was too much.

“Denny, I know I have some shit I need to work on when it comes to being completely honest about my feelings, even with you, but I want to change that starting now,” she says, and I glance back at her.

My breath hitches once again as our eyes connect.

“Denali Kade Houston, I love you. Hell, I’m fucking in love with you. ”

“Cory…” is all I could say because I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

I was frozen.

Yeah, I’d been waiting for her to admit that she felt the same about me for the longest, but it still caught me off guard. I felt relieved but also slightly hesitant, because…was this a dream? God, I sure hoped it wasn’t.

And even if it was, I hoped I never woke up.

“I’m an ass, I know. I hurt your feelings, I know, but no matter how much I try to deny it, the truth is right in front of me, clear as day,” she says, pulling my attention back to her.

My eyes grow wide when she wraps her arms around my waist to pull me closer.

“I’m head over heels for you, and I have been for a while.

I’ve been looking for love every fucking where, yet you’ve been there the whole time.

Denny, I want to love you and care for you like you do me.

I want to kiss you as I hold you at night.

I want to make love to you so well that you’ll never think about fucking another person ever again.

I wanna be the only woman that people hear call out your name. ”

I gasped, internally panicking over the thought that she’d heard me last night.

My fear was confirmed when she admitted that she’d stopped by my apartment last night to apologize.

When she says this, my heart drops. If she came around the time that I think she did, then she had caught me in the middle of tonguing down the same w oman I was buddy-buddy with when she walked in just a few minutes ago.

Truthfully, it wasn’t supposed to be all of that, but I was so hurt about how Cory had treated me and so sexually frustrated that I invited Katori over to chill.

One thing led to another, and there I was…

eating her out on my kitchen counter. After that, she returned the favor, and then she fell asleep in my arms. When I woke up, she was gone, but she left a note promising to swing by later today to see me.

But I wasn’t sure I wanted that and spent all day trying to think of a way to let her down easily.

As much fun as I had last night, it left me feeling empty inside.

So, when she showed up earlier, I had every intention to tell her that this was a one-time thing, but I hadn’t gotten that far.

Now I felt even worse that Cory had seen. ..and possibly heard.

“Cory, wait…” I frantically said, but she shook her head.

“Denny, you don’t have to explain anything, baby,” she said softly, and I swear, I almost died on the spot.

She’d never called me that before. “You’re right.

I have no right to question you about who you’re sleeping with since we’re not even dating, but,” she pauses before saying, “I need you to know that I do want you. Every part of you. And if you let me show you, I promise, I’ll prove it. ”

I pause as I take in her expression. There wasn’t an ounce of hesitancy on her face, and I knew then that it was now or never for me to shoot my shot.

I wanted her just as much as she wanted me.

Before I could stop myself, my hands grabbed at her shirt, and I pulled her closer to me, our lips only an inch away from touching. I needed her right now.

“I believe you, Cory,” I whispered. “The same way you feel about me, I feel about you; never doubt that. I’d rather be right here with you than with Katori or anybody else.” My teeth softly sink into my bottom lip, my eyes never leaving hers. “I promise, I’m all yours, Cory. Always.”

“I like the sound of that,” she smirks, her mouth immediately connected with the side of my neck, and I let out a soft whimper. “Can I taste you, Bunny? Since you’re all mine?”

“Please,” I moaned softly. “Whatever you want, I’m yours.”

“Bet.”

Shit! This was really happening!