It was beautiful.
But I tried not to be in the way.
Tristan and I were still pretty damned new, and I didn’t quite feel comfortable ingratiating myself with the family, but they insisted at every turn, not letting me tuck myself to the back. Even Kiara kept finding me, her hot pink braces on full display as she grinned every time our eyes met.
Especially when she opened her gift from me – a full range of candles and candle accessories all in hot pink, with her very own super-fruity super-girly “KiKi Do You Love Me?” scent, a nod to her inexplicably favorite rapper.
She was thrilled.
And I was thrilled that she was thrilled, and it was just… all around a good ass day.
I did manage to slip away once the cake was cut. Even with all the positives, so much “peopling” had me feeling drained, and I needed the break.
Needed the quiet moment.
When I walked into Wax Poetic, I smiled.
I hadn’t given a single fuck about a candle when I bought this place, but now… being on this side of the doors made me feel… at peace. It was so different from the fear and apprehension I’d brought with me to the Heights.
I was different.
Not completely transformed, and I wasn’t sure I ever would be, but I didn’t feel like a “rose” anymore.
I … felt like me.
It was almost sad.
Almost.
Maybe bittersweet was a better way to think of it. It stung a bit to realize I’d lost myself – the me that I’d known for so long. I had to let go of her though – had to let go of the coldness, the paranoia, the… programming.
I belonged solely to myself now.
I didn’t have to follow anybody else’s guidebook anymore.
I was just Tempest.
And that part was sweeter than anything I’d ever tasted.
A knock at the door pulled me from my musings, and I knew it was Tristan before I even turned around to look.
“Party over now?” I asked, once I’d unlocked the door to welcome him in, and he nodded.
“Kiara is off somewhere with her friends, Mama is with her homies from the neighborhood, Von is booed up with her man, so… shit, I came to be booed up too. I mean, if that’s okay?”
“You know it is,” I laughed, relishing the touch of his arms as he wrapped them around me, making me feel even more at home than I already did.
“Wait, what is this?” he asked, half-unwrapping himself from me to pick up a candle from the display nearby – the same one that had caught Dacia’s attention when she was here. “Neighborhood Hottie?” he read from the label. “Seriously?”
I smirked as he pulled the wood top off, raising it to his nose.
“Oh damn, this really does smell like… wow,” he laughed, smelling it again. “You really do fuck with me, huh?”
“I really do,” I assured him, tucking my arms around his waist.
“Ah, so Ms. Not Interested is fully converted now?”
I nodded. “Yep. I can fully admit – I am very, very interested.”
The End.
About the Author
Christina C. Jones is a modern romance novelist who has penned many love stories. She has earned a reputation as a storyteller who seamlessly weaves the complexities of modern life into captivating tales of black romance.
Also by Christina C Jones
THE CLARKE BROTHERS
Collision Course
THE WRIGHT BROTHERS
Getting Schooled
Pulling Doubles
Bending the Rules
THE LOVE SISTERS
I Think I Might Love You
I Think I Might Need You
I Think I Might Want You
SUGAR VALLEY
The Culmination of Everything
The Point of It All
INEVITABLE SERIES
Inevitable Conclusions
Inevitable Seductions
Inevitable Addiction
THE TROUBLE SERIES
The Trouble With Love: a tale of two sisters
The Trouble With Us
The Right Kind of Trouble
IF YOU CAN SERIES
Catch Me If You Can
Release Me If You Can
Save Me If You Can
HIGH STAKES SERIES
Ante Up
King of Hearts: A Short Story Collection
Deuces Wild
EQUILIBRIUM SERIES
Love Notes
Grow Something: An Equilibrium Novelette
In Tandem
Frosted.Whipped.Buttered: An Equilibrium Short
Plus One: An Equilibrium Short
Bittersweet
Press Rewind: An Equilibrium Short
SWEET HEAT SERIES
Hints of Spice
A Dash of Heat
A Touch of Sugar
SERENDIPITIOUS SERIES
A Crazy Little Thing Called Love
Didn’t Mean To Love You
Fall in Love Again
The Way Love Goes
Love You Forever
Something Like Love
CONNECTICUT KING SERIES (Collaboration with Love Belvin)
Love on the Highlight Reel (Book 2)
Determining Possession (Book 3)
Pass Interference (Book 6)
STRICTLY PROFESSIONAL
Strictly Professional
Unfinished Business
TRUTH AND LIES
The Truth: His Side, Her Side, and The Truth About Falling in Love
The Lies: The Lies We Tell About Life, Love, and Everything in Between
FRIENDS & LOVERS
Finding Forever
Chasing Commitment
ETERNALLY TETHERED
Haunted
Coveted
STANDALONES
Mine Tonight
Wonder
Equivalent Exchange
Love & Other Things
A Mutually Beneficial Agreement
Relationship Goals: a novella
Anonymous Acts (Five Star Enterprises)
Audiobooks:
Ante Up (High Stakes, Book 1)
Deuces Wild (High Stakes, Book 3)
I Think I Might Love You (Love Sisters, Book 1)
I Think I Might Need You (Love Sisters, Book 2)
Getting Schooled (Wright Brothers, Book 1)
Pulling Doubles (Wright Brothers, Book 2)
Bending the Rules (Wright Brothers, Book 3)
Inevitable Conclusions (Inevitable, Book 1)
Inevitable Seductions (Inevitable, Book 2)
Inevitable Addiction (Inevitable, Book 3)
Haunted (Eternally Tethered, Book 1)
Coveted (Eternally Tethered, Book 2)
The Culmination of Everything (Sugar Valley, Book 1)
Equivalent Exchange (Night Shift)
Wonder
