Chapter 10
Stormie felt good as fuck against my chest–her breathing still uneven, her body still trembling from everything we’d just done. I had one arm wrapped around her, my other hand tracing slow patterns on her bare shoulder, and I couldn’t stop thinking about what just happened.
Six years of holding back, of keeping my distance, of pretending I didn’t want her the way I did. And now she was naked, curled up against me like she belonged there. Honestly, she did. She’d always belonged here.
She shifted, fingers tracing my chest. We hadn’t talked yet. Maybe she didn't know what to say. “Aye,” I said quietly. “You good?”
She nodded against my chest. “Yeah. I’m... whew.”
I could hear the uncertainty in her voice, and that shit made me feel a way.
“Storm,” I said, my voice low. “Look at me.” She lifted her head, her eyes meeting mine in the candlelight.
Even now–with her hair messy as fuck, looking completely drained–she was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. “We need to talk about this shit.”
She bit her lip. “I know.”
“Nah, I mean, really talk about it. Not just... pretend it didn’t happen or act like it was just the thunderstorm or some shit.”
“It wasn’t,” she said softly.
“Good ‘cause I need you to understand something.” I paused, trying to find the right words. “I’ve wanted you for six years, Storm. Six. This ain’t ... this wasn’t just some heat of the moment shit for me.”
Her eyes widened slightly. “Wait… the whole six years?”
“You remember that summer block party in the hood a few months after you moved in? You were wearing that yellow dress, laughing at something your girl said over by the rum punch. I don’t know… shit just hit me. I was like, yeah, you love her differently. She’s the one.”
“Kade…”
“I knew right then. But you were fresh out of a relationship with ol’ boy, and I didn’t wanna be that nigga. So I became your friend instead. Figured it was better to have you in my life as a friend than not at all."
Stormie was quiet for a moment, her fingers still tracing patterns on my chest. “Why didn’t you ever say anything?” she asked.
“Honestly? Shit, I was scared of losing you completely if I crossed that line.”
“And now?”
“Now I don’t give a fuck about being scared ‘cause having you like this? Finally touching you, tasting you, being inside you? That’s worth any risk.” She looked away, and I could see her processing everything. “Talk to me. What you thinking?” I asked.
“I’m thinking…” she started, then stopped. “I’m thinking… I’ve been wanting this too. For longer than I wanna admit.”
“How long?”
“I don’t know exactly when I felt it,” she exhaled.
“But I remember this one time–maybe three years ago–we were at your apartment watching old episodes of Power, and you fell asleep on the couch. And I just... sat there watching you sleep, thinking about what it would be like to kiss you. To be with you… like this.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“You were with Layla back then.”
“Fuck,” I tugged on my beard, shaking my head, thinking back to that time. “We’ve been wasting time for too long.”
“But what if this doesn’t work?” she asked, her voice just above a whisper. “What if we try this shit and it falls apart and we can’t even be friends anymore?"
“Then we make it work ‘cause I’m not going back to pretending I don’t want you. I can’t do that shit, Stormie, not after tonight.”
She was quiet again, hesitation flickering in her eyes. I sensed her fear as she spoke. “I’m scared of this changing everything. I’m scared… of not being enough.”
“Not being enough?” I repeated, genuinely confused. “Storm, you’re everything to me. You’ve always been everything.”
“But what if–”
“Nah,” I interrupted. “No ‘what ifs.’ I’m all in with you. You understand that? I’m not playing games and keeping my options open. I’m not doing that casual shit. I want all of you, and I’m willing to do whatever it takes to keep you forever.”
She looked at me for a long moment, searching my face for something. “You really mean that?”
“Hell yeah.”
“So what happens now?”
“Now, we take shit one day at a time.”
“And if people ask…”
“Then we tell them the truth,” I said. “We’re together.”
Storm smiled slightly. “You make it sound so simple.”
“‘Cause it is,” I said. “Just be mine, Stormie.”
She leaned up and kissed me, and when she pulled back, she was smiling.
I pulled her closer, pressing a kiss to her forehead.
We stayed like that for a minute. The rest of the world didn’t exist to me.
It was just the two of us in this cabin, finally being honest about what we’d been hiding for years.
Then the lights flickered, and Storm’s whole body tensed up. The lights flickered again, then suddenly blazed to life–the overhead light, the lamp in the corner, everything. The hum of the refrigerator kicked on. The digital clock on the microwave blinked 12:00. The power was back.
“Well,” she breathed deeply, blinking in the sudden brightness. “That’s... fucked up timing.”
I laughed. “Facts. Ruining the vibe and shit.”
She sat up, looking around the cabin like reality was flooding back in.
“Guess the storm’s lightening up.” She looked at me, and I could see the uncertainty creeping back in.
Like the darkness had been protecting us, and now that it was gone, she was remembering all the reasons we’d kept our distance.
“Aye,” I said, reaching for her hand. “This doesn’t change anything.”
“The power coming back?”
“Yeah. The storm ending. The weekend eventually being over. None of that changes what just happened, what we just said to each other.”
She squeezed my hand. “I know.”
“Do you? ‘Cause this is real now, baby. You’re officially mine, Storm. I mean that shit.”
She smiled, and this time it reached her eyes. “Yours, huh?”
“You got a problem with that?”
“No. I love the sound of that.”
I pulled her back down against my chest, and she settled in like she’d been doing that way for years. Hell yeah, Stormie was mine. Because after six years of ignoring what I felt, I finally had her. And I damn sure wasn’t letting go.