Page 80 of Standing In The Sun

“That makes it even better.” Devonte’s mouth quirked up with a light head nod. “I’ll make the call.”

They slapped hands to seal the deal before the paperwork was drawn up.

When the room got quiet, Lunar decided to walk ahead. He wasn’t going too far since he wanted to be nosy and see how his boy handled the situation. Lunar knew if he stayed too close, Pimp would probably freeze up, since he was always being mindful of straight men—especially Lunar and his brother Bu, even when neither of them gave a damn. Like they’d expressed time and time again, they were rocking with whatever Pimp was rocking with.

As they walked back toward the door, Devonte caught up to Pimp and leaned a little closer. “You got a number? Just in case Lunar’s too busy and I need to follow up.”

Lunar’s head fell back laughing as he eavesdropped from the front door. Devonte had a little game.

Pimp didn’t hesitate as he pulled out his phone and passed it to him. “Put yours in here.”

“Appreciate it,” Devonte said, his thumb flying over the screen then his phone rang. “Need yours too.”

His bottom teeth grazed his top lip, then he smiled as he entered Pimp’s number. His teeth were beautiful with a bottom gold grill.

Devonte lingered at the doorway while they stepped out. Lunar didn’t say anything, but the grin tugging at his lips said plenty.

“What?” Pimp asked once they were back at the car.

Lunar chuckled. “I really be out here making dreams come true.”

“Nigga, calm down,” Pimp laughed, pulling the passenger door open. He glanced back one more time at Devonte who gave him a slight head nod.

Pimp allowed the music to play and Lunar to get on the road before he tossed out the inevitable. “Single’s dropping this Friday. But next week, you’re in the club doing an appearance.”

Lunar jutted his head back. “Damn, you just got my shit all mapped out?”

“This is what I do. Get your affairs in order because you sat down long enough, it’s time to give your fans what they want.”

* * *

“I love it up here,” Ahvi smiled, looking out at the rolling stretch of trees swaying under the gaze of the late afternoon sun.

“Bathing in the sun,” Ahvi mused. The words melted from her lips like honey. Slow, sweet, and sticky with a softness that clung to Lunar’s chest.

The sun poured across her face like it was in love with her too, like it had waited all day just for this moment to trace her cheekbones and kiss the edge of her jaw. Her eyes closed without effort, and her head tilted back like she was giving the sun permission to hold her.

Lunar wanted to close his eyes too. Wanted to slip into whatever tender place her spirit had wandered to. He wanted to feel the sun the way she felt it, wanted to taste the light, to let it pour into the places he usually kept boarded up.

Because when Ahvi talked about things like “bathing in the sun,” it wasn’t just words - it was a feeling, it was peace and it was freedom…and that kind of peace didn’t live in him, not easily at least.

He watched her in silence for a while, the way her smile didn’t reveal her emotions yet said everything. It was something about the way her chest rose in slow gratitude, even how her hand gently toyed with the grass like it held some kind of answer she hadn’t asked for yet.

Where once the sun had felt like an enemy, now he found himself wanting to fall in love with it too. Even if only because Ahvi loved it or the way it loved her back – that connection made him curious about the light.

Love did that, didn’t it? It shifted everything around you, turned old scars into something like art, made the monsters in the corner shrink down into wrinkled clothes tossed on the floor—things you could pick up and put away.

They were nestled into the earth, limbs tangled like vines ontheirhill because it no longer felt like just his. Ahvi was perfectly tucked between his legs, her back resting against his chest. Lunar wrapped his arms around her gently, like he was still learning what it meant to love her…to be this close to peace.

“I ain’t never really cared for the sun,” he murmured against her temple.

“Why not?” Ahvi asked, her voice eager to get more of him.

He hesitated, his eyes fixed on a cloud drifting slowly across the sky like it had nowhere else to be. “Because it felt like a cruel joke. How everybody got to wake up to it, when my daddy didn’t. So every time it hit me, I felt like it was laughing, mocking me…reminding me that not everyone got to see it.”

Ahvi nodded, her fingers pausing their dance in the grass. “Or maybe,” she said, tilting her head slightly, “they got to see it from Heaven?”

He didn’t respond right away, but his arms tightened around her.

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