Page 29 of And It’s Still You

Her finger ran up and down my forearm. “Where do we go from here, Shea?”

“Where do you want to go?”

“Wherever life takes us.”

“Then all we can do is go with the flow and not stress the rest. For me, I want us to start over. Date again and get to know the versions of one another now. I mean, from what I’ve seen over the last week, not much has changed with you. Then again, I know there are some things that have changed. If you’re open to it, then let’s do it.”

Carefully, Moya turned around to face me. Her weight was on her injured arm, but she assured me it wasn’t as bad as it was before. She palmed the side of my face, rubbing the pad of her thumb over my cheek.

“I’m down with seeing where things go. We can take things slow and keep it between us. I don’t want any outside influences trying to get in our heads.”

“I agree, Love. You do know it’s going to be hard for me not to show affection toward you, right? Just being wrapped up in you now is soul soothing for me. It’s healing me in ways only you can, ways I’ve been broken for so long not having you.”

“You’ve always been a physical touch man. Remember how you used to get in trouble at school for always trying to hug and kiss on me?”

A hearty laugh rose from my stomach. “Hell yeah. I swear, the principal was hating because he wasn’t getting any play. It was crazy how he was always the one who caught me.”

“Probably because he knew he had to keep his eyes on you. You didn’t care what he had to say half the time.”

“It wasn’t like I was trying to be vulgar or anything. I was trying to show my girl love, something he probably didn’t know ’bout.”

“He was a whole married man, Shea.”

“If you say so. I believe he was hating.”

Moya shook her head and stared at me. Her bottom lip hid behind her bottom teeth as her eyes kept dropping down to my lips. I reached up and thumbed her heavy bottom lip. Moya had the type of lips that made a man weak in the knees, the type that I could never get enough of kissing. They were plump and soft, easy to melt into.

“Stop looking at me like that if you don’t want me to kiss you,” I told her.

“I miss your kisses, Shea. I wonder if they still affect me the way they used to.”

“It’s only one way to find out.”

Our lips crashed together, taking me back to our wedding day. We had an outside wedding, and during the reception, during our dance, there were fireworks going off behind us. That was exactly what it felt like feeling her lips again. I could’ve sworn fireworks popped around us as we deepened the kiss. She still tasted the same, maybe even a bit sweeter. The fresh mint on her breath had me sucking on her bottom lip. Her eyes slightly rolled to the back of her head. When she moaned, she pulled away and lowered her head.

We lay there, both trying to catch our breath. Moya snuggled closer to me, resting her head on my chest with her arm around me. No words were spoken, but our emotions spoke loudly.

For the first time in years, I felt at home.

9

MOYA COLLIER

Shea and I were hesitant, but we let my father come get Ocean. I was tired of being stuck in the house, so I knew that Ocean was too. Since everything went down, he’d been doing virtual school. He hated it. He missed his teacher and friends, which was understandable, especially with him being an only child. Shea and I tried to keep him entertained, but he was growing restless. My father called, saying how he missed him and wanted to get Ocean out of the house. Shea called Onyx to have someone watch Daddy’s house to ensure everything was fine.

Things between Shea and I were refreshing. The way he had me walking around his house smiling and giggling at everything was a shame. Anytime I was near him, he had to touch me. Whether it was a hug or resting his hand on my thigh, Shea showed me some type of affection.

Getting to know him all over again was exciting. I loved when Ocean went to sleep at night, and we stayed up for hours talking. Mostly, we reminisced on old times. We talked about the good and the bad. Every conversation made me feel guilty for ending things, for not working hard enough to save my marriage. I should’ve waited on Shea because if I wasn’t sure about anything else, I was positive he loved me.

It amazed me how my perspective had changed, but deep down, I believed the time apart was needed. It helped us both grow in ways we hadn’t while being married. In the end, it seemed we’d both learned valuable lessons.

As I was working in Shea’s office, I could feel his presence invading mine. Seconds later, he appeared at the door and leaned against it. I tried to act like I didn’t know he was standing there, watching me while discreetly stealing peeks at him.

Shea was a man of comfort. He had the money to be flashy, but he never was, not even when we were in school. The crisp white T-shirt he wore clung to his slim but muscular frame. He’d been blessed with the type of build where he didn’t need to work out to have a flat stomach or muscles. It was natural and looked damn good on him. With his T-shirt, he wore black cargo shorts and minimal silver jewelry. The diamond earrings I’d gotten him for our anniversary one year shined in his ears.

O’Shea Collier was fine as wine.

“I know you see me standing here, Love.” He called me out and pushed off the doorframe.