"...thinkin' we could put it back together, thought we had forever..."
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IN THE ART OF SMILING, Mae was nothing short of an expert. A master seductress. When she smiled, it was sweet, breathtaking, almost dizzying.
And when she smiled that night, with glassy eyes and a dazed smile, Imani knew she'd never seen anything more beautiful. In the dim darkness, still on the sidewalk, everything unraveling around her in a sensual summer heatwave, the woman in front of her was so heartbreakingly beautiful that she already knew it wouldn't last forever.
Even if she was hers.
"'Mani," Mae whispered, her breath hitching. "I... I love you."
It didn't hurt to say out loud; it didn't feel like a betrayal. It felt inevitable, real and reckless and raw, like everything Mae always felt when she was with her.
Imani reeled back, her lips parting in surprise. "You... what?"
"I... didn't know I would—" Her words broke off into a whisper. "I... I love you so much that I don't know what to do, 'Mani."
Because how could this end?
Soft fingertips skimmed her cheeks. "You know I love you, Mae."
And Mae smiled.