“That was—”
“Amazing,” she finishes. I lift onto my forearms to get my weight off her, but she pulls me back in. “I like your weight on me,” she says as she nuzzles into my chest.
For a moment, we lie there, her head against my chest. Nothing is happening, nothing other than breathing, but it feels more fated than the stars, the planets, and the rest of the cosmos. Breathing with Moyo is larger than life, and I am content.
“Your heartbeat is so soothing,” she whispers.
I raise my head to look at her. “I could say the same.”
28Moyo
“DO YOU NEED ANYTHING?” NIYI ASKS AS HE PLAYS WITH Astrand of my hair, the curl wrapping around his fingers in a practiced rhythm.
I raise my head from his chest, pulling my attention away from his soothing heartbeat and devoting it to his handsome face.
“Any more wine?” I ask.
“Of course. Coming right up, Gorgeous.”
I do a double take. “Now, who’s Gorgeous?”
He barely chuckles; instead, a gust of wind erupts from his nose. “So sorry,Sunshine,” he corrects, and I smile at him. “It’s barely been twenty-four hours, and you’ll only answer to that now?”
“Don’t introduce me to things you can’t maintain,” I say.
“Duly noted. Now let me go get you that wine. Red or white? Or rosé?”
“Red, please.”
As soon as he leaves, the cold sets in, and I put on a black sweater I find strewn across a chair.
“Keep it.” Niyi’s voice startles me, and I jump.
“Sorry for scaring you.” He laughs. “It’s just—wow!” He drops the open bottle of Pinot Noir and two wine glasses on his bedside table, then grabsmy hips. “Please, keep the sweater. It looks better on you.” He wets his lips, and I lean in for another kiss.
This time, the kiss is sweet. Our hands roam, but it’s not a frenzy. We’re no longer filled with insatiable hunger. We’re full, but still indulging because who doesn’t like a sweet treat?
We land back on his bed, and I pull back from the kiss. We switch to a comfortable resting position with him seated, resting against the backboard, and me in between his legs.
After Cole, I honestly didn’t expect to find someone else. I thought that after finding The One and promptly losing him, I'd never experience the love I always craved. But now, as I rest my head on Niyi’s broad chest and he plays with my hair, I know that Cole couldn’t have been my soulmate. I’ve met someone who makes me feel seen and cared for in ways I never knew existed.
With an overwhelmingly full heart, I reach across Niyi for the wine bottle. I pour two glasses and hand him one.
“To us?” I raise my glass cautiously, because is there even an us? We haven’t spoken about it in specific terms, but it feels natural to say.
Niyi raises his. “To us.” The steadiness in his voice reassures me that we’ll figure it out.
There’s no set plan, but I’m leaning into this because perfection has led me nowhere. One thing is certain—how happy Niyi makes me. It’s a little terrifying, abandoning my dating plan, but anusfeels inevitable. Written in the stars.
Grounding myself back in the moment, I clink my glass with his and take a sip. After two more glasses and a greedy amount of kisses, my stomach growls.
“Small chops? Or I still have leftovers from the Nigerian restaurant a few days ago?” Niyi offers.
In the past whirlwind of a day, I forgot I’d bumped into him at Anjie’s. “What’s left?”
“Mercury couldn’t finish their food, so I brought home their leftover jollof,” he says.
“They were at Anjie’s restaurant? Was this aCupid’s Bowmeeting?” I ask. Anjie’s gonna freak out when I tell her Mercury was in her private dining room while we were chatting in the kitchen.
