Page 60 of Standing In The Sun
“Damn,” she whispered ogling God’s creation.
“I used to come out here when I was little,” Lunar revealed, spreading the blanket out on the grass. “Climb up and sit here for hours. Sometimes I’d freestyle like I was on stage.”
The memory brought a smile to his face and Ahvi’s heart smiled as if she could see him as a boy rapping to an audience of birds and whatever crawled around up here.
“By yourself?”
“Yea.” He sat down, arms resting on his knees. “Used to watch the moon… wondering about the man I never met.”
Ahvi eased down beside him. “Lunar?”
Saying his name sounded so magical. It rolled off her tongue while pattering through her chest.
He nodded. “Mav raised me—he’s my Pops. He’s everything I could want in a father. But when you know someone else existed out here with your DNA…it’s a weird thing.” Lunar sighed, his hands resting behind him as he leaned his body back. “I used to think if I stared at the moon long enough, he’d feel it…like some unspoken connection.”
She didn’t say anything at first. Just leaned back on her hands, watching the sun fade and the first hints of night roll in.
“That’s beautiful,” she finally said.
“Or dramatic.”
“Both,” she smiled. “But I get it. I used to talk to the sky too. Not about my daddy though…that nigga was here teaching me how to be a man,” she laughed. “I would just talk because the moon seemed to be the only one listening. My daddy was so strict, he ran most of my friends away.”
He looked over at her, soft eyes under thick lashes. “You ever feel like you were raised with half a heart?”
Ahvi nodded slowly. “Yea. Like something inside you always searching.”
Lunar agreed with a head nod. “You still searching?”
She glanced at him, her voice low. “I think I found a piece.”
That made him pause.
He reached out and tucked a loose curl behind her ear. “You say shit like that and expect me to act normal?”
She chuckled, her eyes meeting his. “Ain’t nothing normal about this.”
“You right,” he agreed, his voice thicker now. “Nothing about you feel regular. Not even a little.”
The way he looked at her made her insides clench. His eyes didn’t just sit on her, theystudiedher. Like he’d been watching her long enough to know how she moved when she was nervous, how she bit her lip when she held back, how she tucked love in between sarcasm and silence.
He leaned in, his voice a whisper. “I been trying not to kiss you for days now.”
“Why? You tryna be good?” she asked softly, begging him to be bad.
“‘’Cause if I kiss you, I’m gon’ want to taste the rest of you too.”
Her thighs clenched as she licked her lips. “You always talk like that?”
“Hell nah.” Those dimples did their big one when she looked over at him.
Her desire for him seemed to grow more and more with each passing second. Ahvi leaned in just enough for him to take the hint. “I want you to be bad.” Her voice came out so flirty, it almost got swept up by the wind.
Lunar grabbed her chin, examining her lips while licking his own. He was so eager to devour her, but scared she might tell him it was all too much like Apple did. When she leaned in more, those eyes telling him to be bad, he threw his reservations to the wind.
The kiss started off light, their lips gently brushing like a secret was being passed between them, then it deepened. His hand moved to her jaw, his thumb brushing against her cheek as he pulled her closer. Her fingers gripped the collar of his shirt like she was holding on for balance—like she was scared the kiss would pull her into something she couldn’t come back from.
And maybe it would. Who was she kidding? She was already so wrapped up in him that she knew either nothing good would come from all this or perfection would slap her in the face.
