Page 13 of Breeze and Melodie

I only had two clients scheduled for the morning, and by midafternoon, I was on the other side of the building teaching a class. When it ended and the students had left, Breeze stood near the door.

“What’s up?” I asked since he didn’t say anything.

“You good?”

“I am. Thank you again for coming to my rescue.”

“You don’t have to keep thanking me. C’mere.”

I stopped what I was in the middle of and approached him. He slipped his finger under my chin and tilted my head back.

“I’m fine, Breeze.”

“Did you ever ice it?”

“No, but the swelling is going down.”

“Not enough. Come with me.”

“I said I’m fine.”

He was already headed toward the door and turned around. The look on his face let me know he was serious. “Melodie, you gon’ learn to stop fighting me at every turn. When I tell you to do something, it’s not up for debate. Bring your ass with me.”

My mouth popped open, but nothing came out. He didn’t wait for me to agree, so I shouldn’t have been surprised when he grabbed my hand and pulled me down the hallway. We ended up in our kitchen/break room, where he prepared two small bags of ice for me, wrapping them in a few paper towels.

“But my makeup.”

“Fuck that makeup, Mel. You wouldn’t need that shit if his bitch-ass had kept his hands to himself. Sit down.”

He’d made it clear not to go back and forth with him, so I sat my ass down and put the ice on my eye and lip. I didn’t realize how tender both areas were until I applied pressure.

“Ow.”

“See. I should’ve made sure you iced before I left this morning. Have you heard from him?”

“Hell no!” My words were muffled because of the ice bag.

“I thought he might have called to apologize. That’s what they do. If he does, you?—”

“Breeze, you don’t have to tell me what to do. I’m done with Sean. My parents didn’t raise a punching bag.”

“I hear you. Now, put the ice back on your mouth and leave it there for at least fifteen minutes.”

He sat across from me and played on his phone while I iced. When my fifteen minutes were up, he stood and gently removed the bags from my hands. Again, he used his index finger to lift my chin, and I watched as he inspected my injuries.

As his eyes zeroed in on my mouth, his tongue slipped from his and slowly slid over his bottom lip. My stomach tightened when I noticed his face getting closer to mine. My eyes closed as I anticipated our lips connecting, and when they did, my entire body shivered.

It was short but oh so sweet, and I enjoyed every millisecond. When I opened my eyes, he still held my chin between his index finger and thumb, with his face hovering above mine.

“Make sure you ice both areas a few times tonight.”

He walked away and disappeared before I could question his actions.

“What was that about?” I whispered as I touched my lips.

I leftwork and went home to shower before picking Tia up for dinner. When I stepped out of the shower, my phone vibrated with a message from her. She wanted to cancel our dinner plans, stay at my place, and order in because she no longer felt like going to a restaurant. I agreed, telling her I’d take care of the food.

Since I wasn’t leaving my apartment, I slipped on a pair of basketball shorts and a T-shirt and placed an order for delivery from Onyx City Grill. Once that was done, I straightened up my apartment and watched ESPN until Tia arrived. A knock on the door pulled my attention away from the television. When I opened it, Tia stood there holding up a bag from the restaurant.

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