In the moonglow, her skin gleams like minted copper.
“Ya think?” I ask, discreetly inhaling that unique citrusy scent of hers and hunching to rest my elbows on my knees when my dick stiffens even more. This is so not good.
“For sure. He’s curious, the way you were at that age. Sensitive, but still strong. You had a quiet boldness even then. Kind of this self-containedness. He has that, too.” She lowers long lashes, shielding her dark eyes from me. “And his eyes. They’re exactly like yours.”
I can’t resist touching her in even the smallest way, not a second longer. I tip up her chin, her heart-shaped face, until our eyes meet.
“We got interrupted the other day.” The softness of my voice barely conceals my voracious hunger for every detail of what she’s done while we were apart. “Tell me what’s been up with you.”
“A lot.” She laughs, leaning back on her palms. “If I get started, we’ll be here a very long time.”
“I’d like to be here a long time. The longer the better.”
I play that back in “Mona talk,” and realize she would make it sound dirty. “I mean—”
“I know what you mean. We have a lot to catch up on.”
I lean back on my palms, too, aligning our faces, our bodies seated on the wall. “I told you all about Aiko, Noah, my family, the school. Your turn.”
“Well, I don’t have those things,” she says ruefully. “I’ve mostly just had work. In a way, I’m married to whatever candidate I’m managing at the time. They tend to take over my whole life.”
“You want kids?”
“Honestly, I hadn’t given it much thought until recently. Apparently my clock is ticking. Well, according to my gyno and my mother, at least.”
“I hate it when we pressure women to reach certain benchmarks by certain times when we don’t have those expectations of a man. Clooney was the man, a confirmed bachelor who could play the field, and we loved him for it. Same for Leo DiCaprio. Just taking his time, enjoying life.”
“While a woman who wants to focus on her career,” she says, “but have great sex with no commitments is slut shamed and pitied until she lands a man.”
“No one could pity you.”
“Oh, you’d be surprised.” Her laugh is in a bitter code I’d love to crack. “Things look different from inside.”
I used to be inside—used to know her from every angle. But that was the girl. This is very much a woman sitting beside me, a fascinating woman who tempts me.
“You obviously love your job very much,” I say.
“I’m doing exactly what I was meant to do. I can’t imagine anything else being more fulfilling.”
“I get that. When I started YLA, it felt like I’d come face-to-face with myself. Found my path.”
“The school, what you’re doing, really is remarkable. I may have watched a few viral videos of your students on TikTok. They’re amazing.”
“They’re my joy. Them and Noah, of course.”
“You’re a fantastic father.” She tosses her head back, sending the hair dancing around her face. “I mean, it appears. You could be beating him at home for all I know.”
“Only at chess,” I say, chuckling. “Okay. You have to tell me. How’d you break with three generations of Spelmanites?”
“Very carefully.” She shrugs, cupping her neck and tipping her head back to look up at the stars. “I didn’t tell my parents I was applying to Arizona, but I needed options. The higher my father’s profile rose here in the city, coupled with my grandfather’s legacy, the more I felt the weight of it. I just wanted to be myself. To be seen for myself, and not through the filter of my last name. I couldn’t find a place in this city, much less on Spelman’s campus, where that could happen. I was suffocating.”
She pauses, leveling her eyes on me briefly before looking away again. “Did you ever find out what caused such a huge rift between our parents?”
I have my theories, but I’ve always kept them to myself. What I think happened can only cause problems that should remain buried with my father and with hers. “No, never.”
“My mom was adamant that we not have any contact. I defied her at first and searched for you. I mean, the internet wasn’t anywhere near what it is now. There was no Facebook or Instagram, but I did try. Your bubbe had passed away, though, and she was the only relative of yours I knew.”
“I wrote you several times. The letters came back return to sender. And when I called, your number had been disconnected.”