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He grinned. “Oh well in that case believe it all.”
“Just like a nigga,” Von grumbled, sparking me and Babs to agree, which started a pleasant back and forth between the four of us that I could really barely believe.
But I’d accept it.
And bask in every moment of it.
After a while, Tristan gave me a sweaty ass kiss before he went to go get himself cleaned up. In the meantime, the food was ready, and after that, there was a big ass chorus of Stevie’sHappy Birthdaysong, and gifts, and laughs, and all-around celebration of Kiara’s day.
It was beautiful.
But I tried not to be in the way.
Tristan and I were still pretty damned new, and I didn’t quite feel comfortable ingratiating myself with the family, but they insisted at every turn, not letting me tuck myself to the back. Even Kiara kept finding me, her hot pink braces on full display as she grinned every time our eyes met.
Especiallywhen she opened her gift from me – a full range of candles and candle accessories all in hot pink, with her very own super-fruity super-girly“KiKi Do You Love Me?” scent, a nod to her inexplicably favorite rapper.
She wasthrilled.
And I was thrilled that she was thrilled, and it was just… all around a good ass day.
I did manage to slip away once the cake was cut. Even with all the positives, so much “peopling” had me feeling drained, and I needed the break.
Needed the quiet moment.
When I walked intoWax Poetic,I smiled.
I hadn’t given a single fuck about a candle when I bought this place, but now… being on this side of the doors made me feel… at peace. It was so different from the fear and apprehension I’d brought with me to theHeights.
Iwas different.
Not completely transformed, and I wasn’t sure I ever would be, but I didn’tfeellike a “rose” anymore.
I … felt like me.
It was almost sad.
Almost.
Maybe bittersweet was a better way to think of it. It stung a bit to realize I’d lost myself – themethat I’d known for so long. I had to let go of her though – had to let go of the coldness, the paranoia, the… programming.
I belonged solely to myself now.
I didn’t have to follow anybody else’s guidebook anymore.
I wasjustTempest.
Andthatpart was sweeter than anything I’d ever tasted.
A knock at the door pulled me from my musings, and I knew it was Tristan before I even turned around to look.
“Party over now?” I asked, once I’d unlocked the door to welcome him in, and he nodded.
“Kiara is off somewhere with her friends, Mama is with her homies from the neighborhood, Von is booed up with her man, so… shit, I came to be booed up too. I mean, if that’s okay?”
“You know it is,” I laughed, relishing the touch of his arms as he wrapped them around me, making me feel even more at home than I already did.
“Wait, what is this?” he asked, half-unwrapping himself from me to pick up a candle from the display nearby – the same one that had caught Dacia’s attention when she was here. “Neighborhood Hottie?” he read from the label. “Seriously?”
