Page 33 of And It’s Still You

“Exactly.”

We finished up at the pharmacy and headed to go zip lining. As excited as I was, I was also nervous. Everything on my bucket list was for pure thrill and to be uncomfortable. I wanted to do things that would take my breath away, things that people didn’t do a normal basis. Throughout the years, Shea had checked a few of the boxes off with me, and I was happy he wanted to pick back up on it.

I glanced in the rearview mirror to make sure security continued to follow us before getting my phone out to call and check on Ocean. Daddy must have known I was thinking about them because he sent me a picture of Ocean playing on his jungle gym.

My palms grew sweaty, and my mouth went dry when we pulled up to our destination. Oddly, the place was empty. I looked around, trying to gauge what was going on.

Before I could ask Shea, he informed me, “I can’t take any chances with outsiders being around us right now. I rented the space for a few hours so we could be alone, on top of having a background check ran on all the employees. Security will be at each section to keep an eye on us as well.”

“I should’ve known you thought of everything.”

“Better know it, Love.” Shea winked at me, and I almost regretted not wearing any panties from the way my center leaked.

After ensuring that we were good, Shea got out and opened my door. Hand in hand, we walked over to a woman who was extremely chipper. She greeted us with firm handshakes and the biggest smile on her pretty face.

“Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Collier. My name is Allison, and I’ll be assisting you today. We’re beyond excited to have the two of you here today. Is it a special occasion or just for leisure?”

Mr. and Mrs. Collier.

That was something I hadn’t heard in a while. Keeping O’Shea’s last name was strictly for Ocean, and also, I couldn’t see myself parting with it. It’d become a part of my identity. I could’ve easily gone back to Townsend, but Collier just fit.

Shea glanced over at me and smiled. “Knocking a few things off her bucket list.”

“Oh, I love that. That is so sweet.” Allison cooed with her hands clasped together. “Well, let’s go get started. I’ll get y’all suited up while going over all the safety precautions. Sound good?”

“Lead the way,” Shea stated.

My legs felt like Jell-O as we followed behind Allison. I hadn’t done anything exhilarating in a long time, and my heart pumped harder than it had before as we climbed up the stairs. I had to keep telling myself not to look down the higher we got.

Why did I pick something like zip lining when I wasn’t too keen on heights?

Shea didn’t seem nervous at all. In fact, the smile hadn’t left his face. I wasn’t sure if it was because he was excited to be with me or just to be doing something, but his calming aura passed onto me. It took Allison all of twenty minutes to thoroughly go over everything and give us demonstrations.

My mouth filled with saliva as Shea and I were placed on the line. To keep from wanting to throw up, I focused on how stunning the sight was. Greenery was all around us. The top of the trees seemed to blend in with the blue sky, and the white clouds kissed the top of the trees. God’s work was amazing.

“Are y’all ready?” Allison asked.

I looked over at Shea, who was already staring at me. The sun was hitting his eyes just right, giving them an amber glow that almost had me captivated. That was until Allison let us go, and we went zooming.

For a moment, my breath was taken away. I had my eyes closed while trying to regain control.

“Man, this is beautiful, Love!” Shea yelled.

After counting down from five, I opened my eyes and gasped. Shea was right. I thought it was stunning standing, but riding down the line was absolutely breathtaking. My body relaxed. My mind cleared. I loosened up and let one hand freely move with the wind. Shea was a few feet ahead of me, but every so often, he’d glance back at me. To have him there felt good. It felt perfect. There was no one else I would’ve wanted to be by my side in that moment.

Shea was showing me every reason I’d fallen in love with him and why I’d never stopped loving him. He was making it damn near impossible for me not to fall for him again, and I didn’t mind it one bit.

We were soulmates for a reason, right?

10

O'SHEA COLLIER

“Son, where’s yo’ head at?” Onyx questioned as we sat in his office.

“Everywhere if I’m being real. Run this shit by me again.”

Finally, we had a lead. After three weeks of trying to track down who’d been targeting us, Onyx’s team had found someone. Tre, one of Onyx’s best men, went over everything they’d done the last few weeks. After that, Link, his tech guy, showed us all the footage he’d gotten. Everything was pointing back to Onyx’s rival, Nixon. He’d been laying low for years, mainly when I was head of JMG, so for him to pop back out didn’t make sense to me.