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DEKE

EDGE was my favorite barbershop in Atlanta. I greeted my barber Scottie with a dap and bumped fists with the other barbers.

It wasn’t until I sat down in the barber’s seat that my phone buzzed in my hoodie pocket. There was a tightening in my chest when I saw the single letter D . I’d seen it twice the day before and once the day before that. Davina had called multiple times for three days in a row, and I ignored every single one. I had nothing else to say to her.

“I need you to make sure the next game is a good one, man,” Scottie said, bringing the razor closer to my hairline. “I had a hundred dollars riding on the Ravens. I just knew my team was gonna win.”

Scottie was my barber, a heavyset dude with tawny skin and a thick black beard. The barbershop was light today, which I expected for a Tuesday, but those who were inside waiting or getting haircuts agreed with him.

“Yeah, man. Wasn’t my best game,” I said. “But the next will be.” At least I hoped it would.

My first game of the season was shitty because my mind wasn’t in it and neither was my heart. Coach Harrison chewed me out like a dog the day after, screaming at me across the office, spittle flying onto the papers on his desk.

“You’re supposed to be the star player! Act like one!”

If I didn’t pull out of this funk soon, I wasn’t going to have a career for much longer. I watched my phone until the vibrating stopped and the home screen appeared, then slid it into my pocket again. If I wanted to get my head back in the game, step one was to forget about Davina.

When Scottie was done and I dropped some cash with a hefty tip in his palm, my phone vibrated again. I took a selfie with a man who caught me at the door before I could escape, then whipped my phone out, seeing that same letter. D.

Why the hell does she keep calling me? Now she wanted to reach out, after damn near two weeks of not saying a fucking thing?

I worked my jaw and stuffed the phone into my pocket again. I hit up my personal chef when I was in the car so I could have a healthy lunch delivered to the condo, and on my way home, my phone rang again.

I expected it to be Davina—and this time I was prepared to shoot her a text and tell her to stop calling—but it wasn’t her. It was Javier.

“What’s going on, Valdez?”

“Hey, Deke.” His voice streamed through the speakers of my car. “I completely forgot that I have a meeting with Coach Harrison, and the sitter will not be here until seven. Do you think you can swing by with Aleesa for an hour or two? Only if you are not busy.”

“Oh, yeah. I got you,” I told him. “I’m on the way.”

“Thanks, man. You’re a lifesaver.” He hung up, and I made a U-turn to get to his house. As I did, I couldn’t help glancing at my phone. I had the urge to call Davina back, to lower my damn pride and see what she wanted.

As badly as I wanted to, though, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. She’d made her point. At this rate, she was just playing games, and that was the last thing I had time for.

I drove through the iron gates of Javier’s house, the wheels of my car coasting along the cobblestone drive. His home was a two-story structure with a stucco roof. The exterior was ivory, and palm trees were planted around it. It felt very coastal for a home in Georgia. I supposed he wanted to stick with his roots.

I climbed out, headed for the front door, and gave the doorbell a ring. Javier answered in a matter of seconds, with Aleesa on his hip.

“Deke,” he said, breathless. “You are here. Good.”

“Uh, why aren’t you dressed?” I asked when he let me in.

“Oh, right. I was feeding Aleesa. All I have to do is toss some jeans on. It will be quick.”

Aleesa smiled at me. “Deke. Canny?” she asked in that adorable voice.

“Ah, I’m sorry, Aleesa. I didn’t bring any. I was trying to hurry over here so I could hang with you.”

She pouted, and I reached for her. She came to me, her smile returning.

“Don’t worry,” I whispered loudly. “As soon as your daddy leaves, I’ll order us some candy on Instacart.”

“Deke,” Javier warned, raising a brow.

“I’m just playing, man.”

Aleesa reached for her dad again, and Javier made his way toward the living room. I rounded the corner, ready to slip out of my shoes and hoodie and get comfortable, until I saw someone else standing in the middle of the room.

I stopped dead in my tracks, and my heart sank to my stomach as Davina tossed a wave at me.

“Hi, Deke,” she murmured.

“Javier, what the fuck ?” I snapped, turning my eyes on him.

“Deke, calm down,” Javier said, raising a patient hand. “She said she has been calling you for days. You were not answering, so she had her sister call me yesterday so she could get in touch with me. She was worried and arrived in Atlanta last night because she needs to talk to you.”

“Yeah, I wasn’t answering because I didn’t wanna talk to her,” I snapped and noticed her tense up a bit.

“Look,” Javier said, his voice lowering. “You know the last thing I wanted to do was blindside you, but she begged me to do this, Deke. I know how much you care about her, and that is the only reason I did not turn her away. Something tells me this needs to happen or you’ll regret it, so just hear her out.”

“Nah. It’s too late for all that.” I turned around, ready to storm out of the house, but Javier made his way around me and stopped me with a firm hand to the chest.

“Listen to me, Deke. You are reacting emotionally, and I completely understand why, but I refuse to let you do something that I know will only cause you suffering later. I know you , Deke. I know going out that door isn’t what your heart wants.”

“Javier,” I grumbled. “Get out of my way.”

“If you do not like what she has to say after you hear her out, you can walk away and I won’t stop you again,” he went on, holding steady. “It is that simple. If you decide to walk, I will promise to never interfere with your relationships again. But right now, because I am your friend and because I care about what is best for you , I really think you should stick around and listen.”

I looked down, and there was a mixture of shock and fear in Aleesa’s eyes as she stared at me.

“Dee, wha’ happen? Dee okay?” she asked in a soft whimper. Guilt ate me alive. She was so young. So innocent. She didn’t understand what was going on—this animosity taking over her own home.

“I’m okay, Aleesa.” I gripped her little chin and forced a smile. I had to calm down. I was scaring her.

I focused on Javier again. “I just do not want you to have any regrets,” he said.

I wanted to ask Davina if she regretted when she walked out the fucking door, but instead I exhaled and took a step back.

“Fine.”

Javier slipped his feet into athletic slides and hiked Aleesa higher up his hip. “I will take Aleesa for a walk, give you two a moment.”

“Thank you, Javier,” Davina said, and I hated that my heart betrayed me by beating faster at the sound of her voice.

When Javier left, it was just us in his oversize living room. I turned to face the woman who’d broken my heart, and she took a step toward me. She looked good, even in something as simple as jeans and a halter-top shirt. Curls dangled around her ears, the rest pulled up into a puffy bun, diamond studs in her ears.

Light poured through the blocky windows above, beaming down on her and making her look like a damn angel. It was becoming really hard to stay mad at her when she looked like that.

“Look, I know I’m the last person you want to see right now,” Davina said, and I loosely folded my arms, clinging to my guard. “I know that I hurt you, and I never should’ve walked away like I did at the lake. I was just scared, and I kept telling myself that you deserved better than me—which I still believe—but I wasn’t looking at the bigger picture. I was only focusing on my pain and what’d happened to me . I wasn’t thinking about a future, because I didn’t care about the future. I—I was stuck in the moment and only thinking about myself, and that wasn’t fair to you. I was so selfish, Deke. So damn selfish.” She took a few steps closer, making the space between us smaller. I could smell her now, vanilla and shea butter. Warm and familiar. “I just wanted to come to you, like you came to me all those times before, to tell you that I’m sorry and that I’m here.”

I dropped my arms. “Oh, you’re here ? Now, after stomping on my heart and leaving it there to rot?”

“I know, I know, and I’m so sorry,” she pleaded, another inch closer. “You’re such a good guy, Deke. You’re so kind and respectful and hilarious, and I love that about you. And with all the time that has passed since the lake, I realize just how much I miss you being in my life! I had time to think about everything the last few weeks, and it hit me—like really hit me—that I would not have made it through the end of that sad, selfish season of my life without you. I never would’ve pushed through. I would’ve willingly remained stuck. Yes, I had my family and my best friend, but you checked on me every day. You made me smile every single day . You put me first, even when you had other places to be and other things to do. You were there for me so many times, and I didn’t appreciate it in the moment ... and I guess I didn’t trust it or you because I didn’t know what you were after, but I see the truth now. I can see it just like I saw it in your eyes on that dock.”

She was right in front of me now, taking my hands in hers and holding them tight. Her eyes shimmered like she wanted to cry, and I wanted to pull her into my arms and kiss those tears away as soon as they fell.

Still, I remained stubborn.

“You said you were in love with me, so I came here to let you know my truth. I love you , Deke Bishop,” she said with a breath of elation. “I’m in love with you, too, and I know it, because I can never get you out of my head. I crave your presence more every day, and believe me, my chest hurts, too, when I’m away from you. I’ve tried fighting that ache, but it’s impossible. I resisted for so long because I didn’t understand how it could be, you know? How I could love two men with one heart, even when the other is gone. I didn’t think it was possible or that I could feel so much with another man so quickly, but I felt it all and possibly even more with you.”

Those tears dripped down her cheeks, and I stared into her eyes for so long my vision grew blurry.

“So why did you run away?” I asked in a whisper. “Why did you leave me like that?”

“Because I was stupid,” she croaked. “I was so stupid and so wrong, and I promise you I will never run away again.”

I pulled my hand away, and a wave of defeat washed over her until I cupped my ear and leaned down so her lips were next to it. “I’m sorry. Can you repeat that?”

She bubbled out a sad laugh, and I couldn’t help cracking a smile.

“I said I was stupid and I was wrong!” she yelled in my ear, giggling. “I’ll never run from what we have again.”

I chuckled, cupping her face in my hands and planting a drawn-out kiss on her forehead.

“I know you’re mad at me. And even though I’m here, I’ll understand if you don’t want to be with me anymore,” she said softly, studying my face when I pulled away.

I pressed a finger beneath her chin and lifted it so our eyes could connect. “I’m not walking away, Davina. I’m not afraid to love you or to shout it so the whole world can hear it.”

Her eyes grew misty again, her mouth trembling, like she had so much more to say but wasn’t sure how to express it. I leaned down, kissing her with all the love and passion I had in me.

Damn, I missed her soft lips and smooth skin. I didn’t care about the salty taste of her tears or her mini sobs. If it came from her—if it involved her in any way—it was all mine now.

Her fingers curled into my hoodie, and I sighed behind our kiss. I loved the hell out of this woman. She had no damn idea.

How was it possible that this woman, who was once a stranger, was now the epitome of my life? She was the center of my thoughts, the reason I finally believed in those two things many people talk about: love and soulmates .

She was mine, despite the circumstances, the losses, and the pain. She belonged to me and I to her. There was no doubt in my mind that we’d met in other lifetimes, destined to be, and now we were meeting again.

“I’m yours, D,” I whispered on her lips. “No matter what, I’m always going to be yours.”