Tinder, Love and Care

26. Meet Me Halfway

Justice POV;

I'm stuck painting hyacinths. You would think I've never seen another flower in my life, but each time I try, I'm stuck with a hyacinth. I might as well tatt one on my forehead because I couldn't get the flower out of my head.

Or I couldn't get the woman with its name out of my head.

It was pathetic as fuck how hooked I was on Hyacinthe even after I decided she couldn't be mine. But my feelings wouldn't go away, and the self imposed distance from her wasn't helping either.

Picturing her showing her dimpled smile that only came out when she laughed so hard she couldn't breathe to anyone but me made my irritation stir. It matured to full-on anger when I thought about someone kissing her lips when they were pouted in concentration when she was focusing on something.

Frustration plagued me as I mindlessly threw color on the cement wall that backed the one Hyacinthe and I had painted together. I figured focusing on something new would distract me from all the things reminding me of her, but painting here couldn't help anymore.

What was once my place was now ours, and I couldn't even be mad about it. But damn, I needed to be.

Things that brought me peace before dulled in comparison to my new vice. Cinthe was all the good in the world for me, but the dichotomy of life demanded balance.

Couldn't be good without an ounce of bad. Can't have love without the requirement of heartbreak. Life has no meaning without the presence of death. It was just the way of things. It was law.

This was the only way for me to take all the bad and leave her with the good. My half would be taken completely out of the equation to make room for more happiness and more life.

But I wasn't making all that room for a guy like Jabari to sweep in and muddy the waters.

"Shit." I muttered as a few cans scattered as I was in the process of putting them in my box to load them back into my car.

Painting just wasn't the vibe right now, not without someone else here with me.

"Justice?" Her voice rang out, stopping me in my tracks.

My head turns to take her in, and I can't help the small smile that appears whenever I see her.

She'd styled her natural hair today in some sort of half up and half down look that framed her face. Her thick thighs were out because she'd chosen a sundress for the weather and flashes of my hands gripping them tightly sent blood straight to my dick.

I ached to see her turn around and show me that fat, rounded ass of hers. Memories of leaving bite marks across it flashed in my mind as I bit my lip.

She was beautiful... but she had sadness weighing on her almost visibly.

Cinthe's shoulders were hunched a lil bit more than usual along with an unsure look on her face as she bit the corner of her bottom lip.

"Lemme guess, Lil' Cin, you're here to paint?" I teased, eager to see another emotion shine in those pretty brown eyes of hers.

Luckily, some of the hesitancy left, but she had something burning underneath it.

"But I don't have any paint." She shrugged a little, clear confusion in her tone.

My eyebrows raised as I stared at her, hoping the memory of the last time she pulled up on me would come back to her. It's clear the moment she realizes because she brightens slightly.

"Oh." Cinthe breathlessly laughs, and my fingers twitched to trace her dimples.

Fuck, I wanted to sear the memory of her into my fingerprints and that frustrated me more than I could understand.