Page 102 of Body Language
When it was over, I didn’t move right away. Just stayed there, inside her, forehead to forehead, catching my breath while my hands smoothed over her hair.
For the first time in a long time, I didn’t feel like I was missing something.
She was everything.
26
Niveah
Three weeks.
Three whole weeks of nothing butpeace.
Not that fake “we’re good for now” peace, but the kind that sinks into your bones. The kind that feels like sunlight through your window on a Sunday morning.
Kendrix had been in my space so much, it was starting to feel like our space. Most nights he was at my house, falling asleep on my couch with Heidi tucked under one arm and Hux yelling at him from across the room during 2K. He swore he wasn’t homesick, but I knew better. The man was only going home to feed his dog and make sure his house hadn’t burned down.
So I flipped it.
One night, me and the kids surprised him. Showed up at his front door like we owned the place. I thought we’d spend the night, let him sleep in his own bed, eat his food, then head home. But that one night turned into three.
The kids ate like royalty, thanks to his chef. They swam until their fingers pruned up in that heated pool of his. They roamed that big house like it was Disneyland, and the way he looked at them—like they weren’t mine, but ours—did something to me I didn’t even want to admit out loud.
I even gave Rita a whole week off to go see her family.
And the craziest part was that it didn’t feel like a chore. No stress, no weight on my back. Just me, the kids, and Kendrix holding it down without me having to ask.
It was like life decided to give me a break.
Even my mama was doing better. Heidi had seen her for the first time in almost a year, and she swore she was serious about rehab this time. I wanted to believe her. I really did.
Everything just… looked up.
And I knew exactly when it changed.
The moment I finally stepped to the side and let Kendrix in my world.
Not halfway. Not with the door cracked. All the way.
The house was quiet in the kind of way that told me everybody was either gone or settled, and for once, I didn’t mind it. No kids running up and down the hall. No Ty calling my phone to ask if I approved the new bottle menu. Just me, my playlist, and the glow from my vanity mirror bouncing off the satin robe wrapped around me.
Kendrix had told me it was a birthday dinner for his mama, but the way everybody had been running around, the calls I’d overheard between him and his brothers, the way Mama G’s friends had been moving, it was bigger. I just didn’t know how big.
Turns out, they had been planning an event to honor her. Not just a party with cake and balloons, but a whole night dedicated to giving her flowers while she could still smell them. Everybody she loved and everybody who loved her was going to be there.
If I’m being honest, I loved that woman like she was my own. I’d spent hours with her, just listening. She told me her life story. Every high, every heartbreak, and every fight she had to fight. The way she opened up to me was rare. It made sense why those boys loved her like the sun. Mama G wasn’t just a mom. She was the blueprint.
So when Kendrix asked me to be his date, it wasn’t even a question. I was honored.
Matter fact, if he hadn’t asked, I was still going to show up, and slap his ass for even thinking he could leave me out of something that important.
Per his request, we were both wearing purple. He said it was one of his mama’s favorite colors. That alone told me it was about to be a night.
I had just stepped into my dress—deep purple silk that hugged in all the right places—when the door opened. Kendrix leaned against the frame for a second like he was taking me in before he walked over and put his hands on my waist.
“You don’t even know what you do to me,” he whispered, pulling me in until my back hit his chest. “I love you, Niv.”
He said it like it was easy. Like it had always been there, sitting on his tongue, waiting for the right moment to fall out.
