“I love you.”
I pulled her down a lil’ more and kissed her slow, lettin’ her feel how much I meant it when I whispered, “I love you too, girl.”
The movie kept playin’ in the background, but we wasn’t watchin’ it no more. We was just in our own lil’ world, me with my head in her lap, her playin’ with my fade and kissin’ me whenever she felt like it. The whole room felt warm and calm like the world finally decided to leave us alone for a moment.
When the movie ended and the moon came through the curtains, Toni stretched out on the bed and I crawled over her, landin’ beside her before pullin’ her into me. Her body fit against mine like she had been molded just for me. My arm wrapped around her waist and her leg slid over mine like she wanted to be as close as possible. Our skin touched everywhere, warm and soft and naked under the covers.
She pressed her face into my chest.
I kissed the top of her forehead.
She kissed the center of my chest.
I slid my hand slow up and down her bare back, feelin’ every curve, every breath and every piece of her that belonged to me.
The music was soft behind us, somethin’ slow and old and warm that made the whole room feel like love lived in the walls.
“Baby,” she whispered.
“Yeah,” I said against her forehead.
“You feel good.”
“So do you,” I murmured, pullin’ her closer ‘til there wasn’t no space between us at all.
She tightened her arms around me like she didn’t want no distance, and I held her the same way, both of us breathin’ slow and deep against each other’s skin.
This wasn’t sex. This wasn’t no damn lust. This wasn’t drama or tension or fear. This was home.
This was two people who had seen each other in every form love could show up in, good and bad, soft and violent, crazy and calm, and still chose each other every time.
This was the kind of hold that said, “I ain’t goin’ nowhere.”
Her breath moved across my chest, and when she kissed me there again, somethin’ inside me unlocked. I kissed her forehead again, slid my fingers through her hair, and whispered against her skin,
“I’m right here, baby.”
She whispered back, “I know.”
And for the first time all day, the world felt right ‘cause Toni was my peace.
And I was her protector.
And even with the crazy shit we had goin’ on, tonight showed me somethin’ important.
We still had us…
And as long as we had that, we could face whatever storm was comin’ next.
Meridian Estates in Nzuri Hall
Two weeks later…
It had been a minute since I seen my people so I decided it was time to show up and stop lettin’ this space between us keep gettin’ wider than it already was.I ain’t talked to my parents in months and that shit was eatin’ at me more than I wanted to admit. Family always meant everything to me, so havin’ this distance between me and them felt wrong, like somethin’ in the foundation was crackin’ and I ain’t know how to fix it.
I drove through the long stone pathway that always made they place feel more like a resort than a home, and when I pulled up to the gate I just sat there for a second, starin’ at the keypad like it was a fuckin’ decision I had to make instead of a damnbutton to press. I finally typed the code in and watched the black iron gates pull apart slow while the trees shimmered on both sides from the ocean breeze.
I pulled into one of the side parkin’ spots and cut the engine off, lettin’ the silence swallow me for a second before I climbed out. The mansion towered over me like it always did, all glass and soft lights with that warm glow my mama loved. It felt like a place that should’ve held peace, but today I couldn’t tell if I was walkin’ toward comfort or a fight.
