Page 65 of Falling Into Gravity

“…puttin’ every fucked up part of me back together,” Malik whispered.

He kissed her like he meant it - Tongue deep in her mouth, hands on her ass as she pressed down and took every last inch of him.

“I don’t know if it’s gravity pulling me down or if my dumb ass is willingly jumping off the ledge, hoping somebody’s there to catch me.” Tears rolled down her face and she didn’t care. Aku wore her shit on her sleeves. The whole family did, so it must’ve been genetics.

“Then fall,” he whispered against her mouth. “Just fall, baby. I’m right here.”

“You promise?”

“On the set.” He smiled.

So she fell.

Hard…loud…shaking as her whole body clenched around him.

He followed right after, spilling into her with a curse, arms wrapped tight around her back like he needed to hold onto something real.

‘Cause that’s what she was…real as fuck…and his – if he stopped being scary.

When Aku opened her eyes, she realized she was in bed alone. Her half open eyes darted around the room, looking for Malik. She got still to hear him moving around the condo, but immediately knew he’d left. At what time, she wasn’t sure. All she knew was that she felt a way about it.

She reached for her phone without thinking, about to text Malik something slick…but didn’t.

Instead, she hit FaceTime.

“Mama.”

Solar’s face lit up the screen, flawless even without makeup, pixie cut wrapped in a scarf. Behind her, Georgia’s sunlight spilled through the window of the house Aku grew up in. Emerald City—full of greenery, family, and wisdom you couldn’t outrun.

“Well look who finally got time for me,” Solar said, adjusting the camera. “How you livin’, Hollywood?”

Aku smiled. “Busy, but good.”

Solar tilted her head. “Yousoundgood. You eat today?”

“I just woke up.”

“So no...”

Aku laughed. “Why you always know?”

“I made you, baby.”

It was true and Solar prided herself on knowing her kids. It was how she knew Aku lost her virginity her senior year in high school and how she knew Frenchy was infatuated with some little girl in his class.

Solar reached for her cup. “So what’s goin’ on? You callin’ me early. Somethin’ on your spirit?”

Aku leaned back, staring at the ceiling. “Do you remember when you fell in love with Daddy?”

Solar’s expression shifted—soft, knowing. “I never stopped.”

“I mean in the beginning.”

“I know what you meant. I’m just sayin’…for me, love was never just a moment. It was a choice I kept makin’.”

Aku got quiet. Her fingers brushed her lip like she was thinking harder than she wanted to admit.

Solar leaned forward with a smile on her face. “You want the romantic version or the real one?”

---