Page 27 of Through the Fire

This only increased my desire to trust him. Leaning toward him, I puckered my lips for a kiss. Heim never one to be stingy with his affection, was on me like white on rice without shame. Could I really have all the things I dreamt about? I was willing to fuck around and find out.

Iwas only a few hours into my shift, and all I could think about was my girls. Island decided to stay at the house and spend quality time with Shyla while I worked. Being a successful business owner came with its own perks like choosing her schedule.

I noticed now that we were becoming closer, she was not so quick to sow all her time into her business. I understood it was a part of her armor. She kept busy so she wouldn’t have to feel. I was proud of her strength. Every time she showed up on my doorstep ready to shower us in her love, I knew everything I was risking didn’t matter in comparison to my woman. She was finally mine.

So much had changed so quickly, even though it began so innocently. I wasn’t mad at it, though. It was the reason I felt a pang in my heart right now. Pulling out my phone, I decided to call and check up on them. Island answered the FaceTime call before it got to ring good on my end.

“Hey, Honey.” She greeted me with a smile.

I paused, taking a second to admire how beautiful she was. Her eyes were more vibrant than ever before, as was her skin. She’d always been a ray of light, but for a while, she was hidden by storm clouds. Now, her light freely shined without regard for anyone but its purpose—just like the sun.

“Wassup, Izzy?”

She propped the phone up in front of her. When she stepped to the side, I saw Shy Shy sitting in a stylist’s chair getting her hair braided in the cutest style.

“Aww. Hey, Smiley. You look so pretty, baby.”

I felt a pang of regret like I was missing an important moment. At the same time, it felt good knowing my baby had a woman in her life who knew more about caring for her than I ever could.

“Thank you,” Shy Shy replied in the sweetest tone.

She forgot all about me as she went back to watching something on her iPad.

“She’s going to add some beads when she’s finished,” Island shared with me.

I nodded as I became momentarily distracted. Closing out of the FaceTime app, I went to my text thread with Island. I sent her two bands to pay for their day together. With my recent promotion, I was looking for a reason to blow some money. Spoiling the two of them was the perfect opportunity. When I returned to the video call, I saw her come closer after her phone chimed.

“What’s this for?” Island questioned.

“To pay for her hair and whatever else y’all are going to be up to while I’m busy here.”

Seeing Island’s big smile made the sacrifice of being away from them worth it. She shook her head.

“I was going to treat her to everything but thank you, honey.”

The siren in the station began blaring as a call came through. I huffed, wishing I didn’t have to end our call so soon, but duty called.

“You have to go?”

Island gulped as her bottom lip slightly poked out. While she accepted my work, she still worried about me. It was the way she showed she cared. I was fine with that, and I did what I always did—assured her all was well.

“I do, but I’ll call back when I get some more downtime. You two have fun, okay?”

She smiled sadly and nodded. “We will. Be safe, and go kick that fire’s ass.”

I chuckled because she loved saying that these days. “Yes, ma’am. I love y’all.”

“We love you too, daddy,” she teased in a playful voice.

“Keep playing, and I’ma have your ass hollering later.”

She came closer to the phone and whispered, “That’s what I was hoping for.”

Before I could respond, she ended the call. I chuckled with a nod of my head. I was going to make her pay for that when I got my hands on her tonight. For now, I got in the zone because duty was calling.

* * *

I wasready to call it a day as we neared the station. We’d been so busy I didn’t have a chance to call my girls back. I was sure they had to be back home by now after a day of pampering. I couldn’t wait to see the results.

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