He did, and she saw so much pain in him that it brought tears to her eyes.

“Wherever it goes, good or bad, I’ll follow you there,” she said.

She kissed his lips and he picked her up, carrying her up the stairs to his bedroom. As he laid her down on the sheets, she wondered about the layers that dwelled beneath the surface of this man. She wanted to peel him back, piece by piece. She had no idea that at the pit of him was a secret that would destroy her, but he was aware, and it was only a matter of time before her adoration turned to hate.

19

Alani awoke first, and as she rolled onto her side, she admired Ethic. She hated to be naive and to place unrealistic notions of fairytales on what was happening between them, but she had fallen for this man. In his bed was the first night in months that she had slept through the night. She trailed her nude-painted fingertip down his strong abs, awakening him.

“It’s six in the morning,” she whispered. “Go back to sleep. I’m going to catch an Uber home, before your kids wake up and catch me in your bed.”

She moved to get out the bed and he wrapped a strong arm around her waist, pulling her back down.

“Ethic, I should go,” she whispered. “I don’t want you to have to explain my presence to them. We don’t even know what this is.”

“I know,” Ethic said, as he pulled her chin to him.

“I know too,” she admitted, as she kissed his lips. “But this isn’t the type of thing that you spring on your kids.”

Ethic knew she was right, he wasn’t ready to let go, however. Waking up to her was a sight. She filled every void every woman had left him with before her. A man without a woman was half of a man, emotionally stunted, and overcompensating in every area of his life to make up for what he lacked in companionship. A king could not reign without a queen to keep him strong. If man was the walls of a house, holding everything up, bearing the weight of all that inhabited it, his woman was the foundation. You could tear down walls, but a foundation was rock solid. Even Raven had been too young when he had loved her for her to give him that. Alani made him feel like he was standing on solid ground. He knew she depended on him for strength, but she didn’t deplete him, because she somehow replenished whatever she took from him. It was the rare gift of reciprocity.

“I know, you’re right,” he said. “But I’ll be damned if you’re taking an Uber. Take my truck.”

“Then what will you drive?” she asked.