Mya kept going until we reached the back door. “It’s cold,” she said. “But I thought we’d have more privacy outside?” She glanced back at me and waited.
“Sure.”
Releasing a small breath, Mya nodded, before slipping outside. She wasn’t wrong. The frigid air wrapped around us like icy fingers. Or maybe it was just trepidation at whatever it was she wanted to talk about.
“Fuck,” I breathed, jamming my hands deep in my jacket pockets.
Mya chose the swing seat. It was big enough for two, but I was still so stunned at seeing her, I opted to stand.
“So,” she started, “I have something for you.”
“You do?”
“Yeah.” A tentative smile tugged at her mouth as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a tiny scrap of paper. “Here.”
I took it from her, my brows pinched in confusion as I read the number written on it. “I’m not—”
“It’s my cell phone number. My new cell phone number.”
“I don’t understand.” I scratched my cheek.
“I’m done, Asher. I went back there and saw Jermaine thinking I needed closure, but I realized something. That part of my life was over the second I packed my bag and left. So I’m done.”
“You’re done?” I sounded like a parrot but I couldn’t process what she was saying.
“I still want to take things slow, but what I’m saying is, if you still want me, I’m yours.”
Yours.
She’d said, ‘I’m yours’.
The words spun around my head until they finally settled into four little letters.
Mine.
Mine.
Mine.
Mya was saying she was mine... if I still wanted her.
I dropped to my knees in front of her and let the scrap of paper flutter out of my hands as I cupped her face. “You’re done with him?”
“So done.” She grinned, her eyes full of promise.
“You really want to be mine, Hernandez? Because I’m going to be needy. So fucking needy.” I admitted. “Waking up and finding you gone, it hurt. More than I ever thought it would.” Leaning in, I rested my head against hers. “But finding out you’d gone back home, imagining you with him, that almost damn near killed me.”
“I’m sorry. I just... I got scared, Asher. The way I feel about you scares me.”
“Yeah?” Pulling away, I looked into Mya’s eyes, needing to see the truth there. “How do you feel about me?”
“Like I could lose myself.”
“I’ll never let that happen,” I said. “Know why?”
“Why?”
“Because I’ll always find you, Mya.” Burying my fingers in her hair, I leaned in and tasted her lips. Once. Twice. Three times. Just to be sure this was real.