For Lovers Only Read Online Free Page A

that he and Renee had shared flashed through his mind. These were happy moments he had pretty much forgotten. Joel knew they would never have the chance to experience anything like those moments again.
    Although Joel was hurting and felt betrayed, he hid his emotions and said, “ You love me? You need help.”
    â€œNo, Joel, you need help trying to understand me better. I’m a woman with a new opportunity.”
    Joel laughed. “Take advantage of it then.” He looked up at the ceiling and jokingly added, “God, please give me strength and guidance to keep me from killing this crazy-ass woman.”
    Renee sighed loudly. “Thanks to you I’ve basically been forced to take advantage of my new opportunity, because we don’t have a future together. All we’ve had for the longest time is convenience. Well, this is very inconvenient for me now.”
    Joel’s demeanor changed because he started to take Renee’s words seriously. “Don’t say that. I don’t believe you.”
    â€œI need a husband and you’re not willing to step up and put a ring on my finger.”
    Joel pointed to her right hand. “What’s that right there? Looks like a ring that I bought for you and put on your finger.”
    â€œI’m talking about a wedding ring and not this friendship ring. I’m twenty-five and you’re twenty-six. I think we both need a little more than a friendship.”
    â€œAll right, I respect that and I ain’t even mad at you. Now I see where you’re coming from. Finally, you sound like a responsible adult. I understand you perfectly. Effective communication has taken our relationship to another place—looks like we’ve finally arrived and reached the end of the road.”
    â€œI guess so,” Renee said sadly.
    Joel tried to lighten up their situation a bit by saying, “I wouldn’t mind getting married, but we both know damn well we’d end up killing each other right after our honeymoon. It would be all downhill from there.”
    They both had to laugh at that.
    Renee said, “That’s true. The pressure alone from trying to make a marriage with you last beyond the honeymoon would be enough to kill me.”
    â€œMe too. Damn, girl, you had me feeling sad enough to cry, but fuck that. I’m not that weak and life is too short to be sad.” Joel glanced at the alarm clock. “Look at the time. I gotta shower and get outta here. Just believe me when I say that you’ll never find anybody as real as I am.”
    Renee had the nerve to ask, “What about me? Am I real?”
    Joel frowned and reluctantly agreed. “Yeah, you’re real.”
    Renee read Joel’s facial expression and said, “A real phony, huh?”
    â€œYou said it, not me. Keep it real with me and I’ll keep it real with you. Haven’t I always said that?”
    â€œYeah, that is one of your sayings.”
    â€œSeriously, I gotta get going.” Joel misread something in Renee’s eyes as a sign of hope. He was already thinking about how good the make-up sex was going to be. “So, can we talk about this later this evening after work?”
    Renee looked at Joel like he was out of his damn mind. She rolled her eyes and gave him a quick and simple reply. “Sure,” she lied.
    Joel was so used to arguments that he almost acted as if nothing had happened. “Oh yeah, I love you, too.”
    Joel caught her off guard with his last statement. She smiled and her voice cracked as she said, “I love you.” It was painful to say those words again because she had already figured out what was next for them.
    Joel and Renee embraced tightly as if this was going to be their last time together and neither of them wanted to let go.
    From the start Joel knew that he and Renee were opposites, but he strongly believed that opposites did attract. As he held Renee, he closed his eyes and saw an