Chapter 26
Sasha
I rested my head back against the seat when I got in my car. Optimism had been a recurring theme as of late, and today was
no different. My phone chimed, letting me know I had a text message. Digging it out of my purse, I smiled at the message from
Tanisha.
Tanisha: Hey girl let me know how it went
After playing phone tag for a couple of days, I’d finally been able to link up with Nisha’s friend Nicole about the position
at her pole studio. Even with Court’s encouragement I’d been nervous about the interview, though in the end I’d had no reason
to be.
Me: A little nepotism for the win ??
Me: She said the job was mine if I wanted
Nicole had been real chill, and we spent most of the time talking about my stripper experience while she gave me a tour of the place.
PoLaTeez was nice and I could picture myself working there.
The studio had four rooms for the different classes; luckily one was going on at the time and Nicole let me watch.
The students had been moving through some choreographed steps while the teacher counted them off.
While the moves weren’t difficult, the ladies and guy who were in the class gave it their all.
A full, intense cardio workout had them working up a sweat.
Tanisha: You gonna take it
It wouldn’t be the same as performing, but it looked like fun. And it would be something for me that I enjoyed. My whole world
shouldn’t revolve around Courtney.
However, I liked that it mostly did.
I tapped my nails on the screen. Courtney would support my decision. She wanted me happy, and while teaching would be different,
I could make it my own and have fun with it.
Me: Yeah I’m gonna give it a go
She replied with the celebration and dancing emoji. We messaged about our next get-together, taking that conversation to the
group chat to include Denise. She read the texts but didn’t reply. She’d been that way since our last brunch, slow to respond
if she did at all. I was the one who had been tag-teamed and read for filth over my behavior, but she was the one who’d apparently
walked away with hurt feelings. I didn’t get it and neither did Tanisha, but we both figured she’d come around.
Especially since I wanted more hangouts with both friend groups.
After thinking about it, it was strange that we’d kept them separate.
Wasn’t intentional, things had just worked out that way, but after Tina’s send-off dinner it was something I wanted to change.
And I don’t know, but merging our friend groups made us feel more like a couple.
We were a couple.
Courtney wasn’t going to divorce me.
I stretched out my fingers, the diamonds of my wedding rings glinted in the sun. I was a married woman, and would remain one
despite my unintentional best efforts to push her away. It was a second chance, and I wouldn’t blow it. My goal was to be
better for her, and for me, so she wouldn’t regret staying.
During the drive home, I made voice notes on ideas for spoiling her. Surprising her with flowers randomly was top of the list.
By the time I pulled into the garage I had a pretty good list of things I wanted to do to make sure Courtney always felt my
appreciation for how much she did to take care of me, and I couldn’t wait to start.
Walking upstairs, I inhaled deeply as the scent of pine greeted me, which instantly brought a smile to my face. I loved seeing
our tree beautifully decorated and taking center stage in the large corner windows of our living room. It was fun having her
here to get the house all decorated and create the Christmas magic, even when she grumbled over my pickiness on where things
went. In the end, Courtney admitted everything looked great.
Quality time. Real, legit quality time spent together. The holiday being spent in our house, together, with Mya and Big Mama—who
hadn’t been as hard to convince as I’d expected—truly was going to be everything I’d hoped, begged, and ultimately thrown
tantrums over.
Even though I wanted this to be our normal, I wouldn’t worry about what next year would look like. I was going to enjoy the
now and the fact that my wife was just as excited to spend the holidays at home with me.
Next year would be next year.
And I wouldn’t complain too much about it.
I went to let Vuitton out of his crate and grabbed my laptop before heading back downstairs to let him have some outside time.
He was back scratching at the door to come in no sooner than he went out. He wasn’t a fan of the cold weather. I gave him
a treat before deciding on a small one for myself. Mini charcuterie plate fixed, I paused on the way to the wine fridge. I
looked at the bottles and briefly thought about opening one, but I decided on iced tea instead.
I was trying to be more aware of how often I drank, and how much, being more intentional on all fronts as best I could.
Carrying everything over to the couch, I settled in with my laptop and turned on the TV to have Leverage playing in the background. Vuitton jumped up, turned in a circle a few times before settling at the other end. “All right,
boy, let’s look over this list again, because I have some questions.”
Neither of us had brought it up in a while, but it had been on my mind. We were having dinner with Khadijah and Shae, which
was going to be fun. I liked doing couple things, and I hadn’t seen them since Tina’s send-off dinner. Considering they probably
knew everything that was going on, part of me had been a little embarrassed to be around them. If my own friends had read
me for filth over my behavior, I could only imagine what Courtney’s had to say. But Khadijah had given us her checklist, so
I took that as a sign they were rooting for us to succeed and weren’t completely done with me.
About an hour later, Vuitton’s ears perked up, then he took off down the stairs, signaling Courtney was back from her workout.
It was quite funny how he had grown attached to her over these last couple of months with her being home, and as much as she
complained about him, it wasn’t lost on me how she spoiled him as much as I did.
“Honey, I’m home,” she said as she entered the kitchen. She had him cradled in one arm, with her gym bag slung over the other. “Your little beast tried to run away.” Court put him down, but he immediately began jumping at her ankles to be picked up again.
I rolled my eyes as I closed the lid on my laptop. “He’s your little beast too, and he wasn’t tryin’ to run away, he was comin’
to greet his other mommy.”
“It looked like he was making an escape since he ran past me down the driveway. His bougie ass is not made for the streets,
but if he wanna try it—”
“Why are you always talkin’ about my baby?”
“Because he always doing some shit.”
I got up from the couch and went over to her, stretched up on my toes, and wrapped my arms around her neck. She immediately
embraced me, and I had to stop myself from sighing over how much it felt like home in her arms.
“You picked him out, so really, who’s to blame here?”
“The woman who’s been raising him,” she said before leaning down to give me a soft, sweet kiss.
“How was your workout?”
“Fine. I think I need to go soak for a little while, though, because Doc be mean as hell.”
“She’s keepin’ y’all in shape.”
“Yeah, she is, but does she have to be such a hard-ass about it?”
I laughed at the whininess in her tone. “Look at it this way, you won’t have to like dust off the cobwebs come regular season.”
She frowned. “I never get cobwebs, thank you very much,” she retorted, smacking my ass.
Considering she usually spent the off-season playing in the Euro League, unlike some of the other players who just enjoyed their time off, she wasn’t wrong. Secretly, I still hoped that Courtney would become one of those players sooner rather than later.
“You hungry? I can whip you up somethin’ light to tide you over until we go to Shae’s place tonight.”
“I could eat.”
“Go, sit, I’ll make you a sandwich.”
“I was just gonna snack on something, but I’m not gonna turn it down if my lady wants to feed me.”
“As you shouldn’t. Never turn down a good meal.”
She squeezed my ass. “I’m never missing a chance to eat.”
I laughed even though my body temp shot up and I was sure my nipples got hard. “I wasn’t talkin’ about that.”
“But could we?” she asked, nuzzling my neck.
“Yes, we can,” I damn near moaned. “But you also need to make sure you have your energy.” I gently pushed against her to extract
myself from her arms before I got lost in the feelings she created and totally forgot about feeding her.
“If you say so,” she replied with a pout. Court strolled over to the sink to wash her hands before going to the refrigerator
and grabbing a bottle of water. “You want one?” I shook my head. “Oh, how’d the interview go?”
“It went well. The place is nice, so I think I’m gonna do it.”
“Really?” She leaned back against the countertop and took a long drink.
We’d talked about it. I thought she was on board. She was the one who’d encouraged me to find something to do with my time.
“What, you don’t think I should?”
“No, I mean, really, as in that’s good, baby. I know you had some reservations about if you’d like it since it isn’t the same
as being onstage.”
Hearing her statement instantly quelled the worry that had tried to take root.
“Thank you. I’m still a little on the fence on that aspect.
It’s gonna be different for sure, but I got to watch a class in session, and it looked fun.
Plus, Nicole was nice, and I talked to a couple other teachers that were there. So I think I’ll fit in.”
“Of course you will. You’re probably gonna be their most sought-after teacher there. I have no doubt.”
Her praise and her support gave me butterflies. “I don’t know about all that.”
She pushed up on me, crowding my space as she stood at the island. “Do you doubt my words, woman?” She spoke the words close
to my ear, which sent a shiver through me.
“Never.”
The smack to my ass was an electric shock to my pussy, reactivating the earlier innuendos. I pressed my thighs together as
I concentrated on completing her sandwich. A task not made easy by Court staying close behind me.
“Your food is ready.” I pushed the plate across the island then held my breath as she placed a hand on my thigh before sliding
it around to cup me between my legs.
She rocked her hand back and forth, pressing the heel of her palm against me. “It better be,” she whispered, and I damn near
came undone. With a soft kiss just below my ear, she strolled over to the other side of the island like she hadn’t just lit
me on fire.
“Thanks, baby, this looks delicious.”
“It’s just a sandwich.”
She pinned me with an intense stare that made me swallow hard. “It is a gourmet meal made with love.”
“You just tryin’ to butter me up to get in my pants.” I joked, suddenly nervous from the intensity and sincerity.
“I mean, that wasn’t the plan, but if it’s working.” She winked as she took a bite of her sandwich.
“I don’t think Doc worked you out enough if you came home with this much energy.”
“Hey, hey, hey, maybe I just get a second wind when I see my unbelievably sexy wife.”
Wife . . .
That word was music to my ears.
My face warmed and my heart was full. I was exactly where I wanted to be, and hearing her talk told me she was as well. This
was our life, one we were building together.
“Lay’s or Doritos?” I asked as I went to the pantry to grab her some chips.
“Lay’s.”
I slid the bag next to her before I took a seat on the other stool. My thoughts went back to the one item on the checklist
I’d fixated on. The nervousness returned, but for a different reason. Would me bringing it up disrupt the peace we’d settled
into? Would she think me ungrateful?
“What’s wrong?”
“Huh?”
Courtney bumped my leg with her knee. “You about to gnaw your lip clean off. So, what’s wrong?”
I pressed my lips together and moved my wedding ring from side to side. “Well, I was going over the checklist. I wanted to
look at it before we saw them tonight in case I had some questions.”
“Okay.”
“I want to get married.”
“Did we get divorced and you ain’t tell me?” she asked with a small laugh.
“No. Um, it was a topic that said to discuss types of weddings.”
Court wiped her mouth as she nodded.
“Our wedding was great. I loved how spontaneous it was. Never mind. Ignore me.”
Courtney held her hand out to me. When I slipped mine in, she gave a little tug, prompting me to slide off my stool.
She rested her hands on my hips as I stood between her legs. “You want a real wedding?”
“Kinda. I hadn’t thought about it much, but when I saw that, it just reminded me.”
“Tell me about it.”
“What?”
“The kind of wedding you would like to have.”
She gave me her full attention with no hints of the annoyance that I’d been worried about. “Nothin’ extravagant. But I did
want the dress and the moment of walking down the aisle to the woman I loved. Mostly, I wished my grandmother had been there.”
A slow smile spread across her face. “You wanna marry me again?”
I slipped my arms around her neck. “Today. And every day.”
Courtney responded by stealing my breath with a searing kiss. When we broke apart, I rested my forehead against hers as we
stared at each other, our breath mingling in the small space between us.
“I almost lost you,” I whispered. “But you stayed. You believed that we were worth fightin’ for. That I was worth it.”
“I love you, Sash, and I don’t give up on things that I love.”
“I love you too, Courtney. More than I think I can ever express.”
She stretched out her casted arm. “Breaking my wrist was probably the best thing to ever happen, as sad as that sounds. It
gave us the time we needed. Let’s do it. Renew our vows. A recommitment ceremony and you can get the wedding of your dreams.”
Happiness spread through me like wildfire. I cupped her cheeks and pressed kisses all over her face. She wanted me. She loved me. Her laughter made me lightheaded and giddy. We still had work to do, but we were going to be okay.
Our marriage had rebounded from the brink of destruction, and that was something that I wouldn’t take for granted.
* * * * *