Page 87 of Standing In The Sun
And suddenly, the edible, the drinks, the music, the nerves - it all swirled around her. All she wanted was to drift wherever he was going. Her feet, once glued to the floor, started whispering yes before her lips even did.
She nodded.
And his smile curved against her mouth like he already knew she would agree. “You still letting me break you?”
“I think I’m already broken,” she breathed, her words barely brushing his lips, her body already betraying her mouth, leaning into him like he was the safest danger she’d ever known.
Broke…broken. It wasn’t just about sex. It never was.
The breaking he kept talking about wasn’t about control either. it was the undoing of every lie she’d been taught to protect herself with. The ones that said softness was a weakness, that asking for help meant you’d failed, that a man would always leave, and that survival meant never needing anyone too much.
Lunar wasn’t teaching her how to need—he was teaching her how to be met, to be matched and to be held.
The breaking was a slow unraveling of all the threads Ish had stitched into her. And to be fair, Ish had only ever known how to teach her to be a man. It wasn’t his fault he didn’t know what to do with a daughter built like storm and silk. He taught her to be tough, to never fold, to do it all herself.
But Lunar…Lunar was showing her a different kind of strength. One that didn’t stand alone. One that knew power in partnership. One that said -I got this part, so you don’t have to carry it all.
It was unfamiliar and terrifying, but it was working.
And for the first time, Ahvi felt the crack open a little wider. Not to let the pain back in, but to let love in - real love. The kind that showed up without question, the kind that whispered,You don’t have to be everything, Ahvi - just be you. I’ll meet you there.
So maybe she was breaking or already broken.
Maybe that wasn’t a bad thing.
The moment she gave in, even just a little, Lunar’s hand found hers again. This time gentler - no pull, no pressure, just a thread between them - steady and sure.
Ahvi’s legs moved slow at first, like her body was still catching up to her decision, but Lunar never let her feel alone in it. He walked beside her, his hand wrapped around hers. Not dragging her into the spotlight but walking her into it, step by step, like they were building something with each footfall.
The club’s lighting shifted as they approached the small, elevated platform near the DJ booth. It wasn’t a full-blown stage, just a space that was elevated enough to be seen.
Conversations ceased and phones rose. All eyes were on him, but Lunar didn’t flinch or shrink.
Instead, he turned to Ahvi, one hand still holding hers while the other adjusted the mic someone passed to him. He looked at her like she was the moment, not the music. Then, with a low hum in his chest, he kissed the top of her hand.
“Y’all ever been so in love with someone,” he started, his voice smooth and relaxed, “that they start changin’ the way you hear music?”
In love? His words looped in her head.
A few playful hoots came from the crowd with big smiles from the ladies that wanted to be where she was. They wanted to stand next to Nar and be his muse while she was still thinking about running.
He glanced back at Ahvi and smiled, his eyes filled with love for her. “This woman right here…I ain’t gotta give you the whole story, just know she changed the way the sun hits everything.”
Ahvi’s heart thudded so hard she felt it in her throat. Her face became flushed, but she didn’t move.
“She hate this shit.” Lunar grinned at the crowd, lifting their clasped hands. “But that’s what makes it even more beautiful.”
The lights dipped a little lower, shadows melting into the warmth of the moment. Then the beat dropped—soft, familiar, but flipped.
A sped-up version ofSunshineby Alexander O’Neal slid through the speakers like silk over skin. It was nostalgic but fresh, something old-school made new again—just like everything Ahvi was learning to believe in.
The crowd swayed, heads nodded, and a couple of voices even hummed the first line before the beat kicked in harder, with drums that hit a little deeper than expected. Lunar let the moment sit for a second, soaking into the walls, the floor, and the people.
Then he spoke into the mic again, right as the hook reworked itself into the beat.
“This my new single. It’s calledStanding in the Sun in Jade City, cause that’s what she is. Even when she trying to pretend she don’t glow.”
Ahvi would never hear the song the same again but every time she heard his version, she remembered their first dance together to it. Lunar rapped the first verse. How he remembered the freestyle she challenged him to do was beyond her. It showed his true talent that he not only remembered but put it on a song. A song for her. Sheena never talked about the possibility of a man dedicating a song to a woman.
