Page 37 of Love Me

I don’t even have to look to know that he's found my mother somewhere in the crowd. I track his gaze, and sure enough, there she is. Dressed in a long, green dress that looks stunning on her petite figure.

I take after her in so many ways.

Her natural hair is styled in stunning updo, and when she looks over to see my dad looking her way she smiles as well.

It’s not the first time I’ve seen such an exchange between them. My childhood was littered with those moments. As I look around the room, it’s hard not to see similar interactions happening with many of the married couples that are present. It reminds me that both Diego and I were brought up surrounded by love.

We’re the lucky ones.

Yet, that type of burning, compassionate love that exists between the couples that raised us, has felt elusive for so long in my adult life. Maybe because I’m not entirely sure that I’m deserving of it.

“No regrets at all,” my dad says again before looking down at me.

“Thank you for loving my mom,” I tell him. “And me.”

He shakes his head. “Loving the both of you wasn’t even an option, baby girl. It just came naturally.”

My heart feels like it’s about to explode from all of the love in this room. This space is not big enough to contain it all, it feels like.

“You know your Mama wants to see more of you, don’t you? We all do,” my dad tells me.

“I know. As soon as my gallery—”

“Your gallery will come together. Even though you won’t let us help you with it. But nothing is more important than family.”

“I know,” I say, hating that I haven’t been acting like I know this.

“Your gallery—”

“It's going to be amazing,” Diego cuts in.

When I look up, he’s grinning down at me. Slowly, he pulls his gaze away to look over at my father.

“Song ended.” He says it as if he had a timer to reclaim me.

My father looks between me and Diego. He surprises me by not commenting. In fact, a slight smirk crosses his lips. He quickly replaces the look with a stern glare at Diego.

“Take care of her,” he says like Diego is taking me away somewhere.

“Always,” Diego replies before I can say anything.

“Did you enjoy the dance with your father?” he asks, taking me into his arms.

“Yes.”

“Good. Because I don’t plan to let you out of my arms for the rest of the night.”

My heart almost comes to a complete stop.

CHAPTER8

Diego

“How many rooms do you have available?” I ask the clerk behind the front desk of the boutique hotel where I’ve rented a room for the night. The hotel is close to Townsend Manor, and I convinced Monique when I asked her to be my date that it would be better to stay out here for the night instead of driving back into the city.

The only problem is she insisted on having her own room.

Like that was going to happen.