Page 29 of Ascension

Amiyah let out a shaky laugh, her arms folding across her chest. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t you?” Calla smirked, her gaze sharp, cutting right through her pretense. “Because I can still feel you shaking.”

Amiyah’s breath hitched, and I stepped in closer, my hand brushing the small of her back, guiding her forward. “You were perfect,” I said, low and rough. “Every second of it.”

Her head dipped, the brim of her hat concealing her face, but not before I saw the way her lips curved—the smallest, most dangerous smile.

Lena called out, “We’re over here!” pointing to their car. She and Calil walked off toward the lot, leaving us at the curb.

For a moment, the three of us stood in the halo of a single streetlight, the night quiet around us. Amiyah’s eyes darted between us, uncertainty and heat mixing in equal measure.

Calla leaned in, close enough that her perfume wrapped around us both. “Head home with Lena tonight,” she whispered. “But know this… the next time you sit with us, you won’t be leaving until we explore every inch of you.”

Amiyah’s lips parted, her breath shallow. She didn’t answer; she didn’t have to because the look in her eyes toldme everything—she was already ours, whether she admitted it or not.

Lena’s voice broke the spell, calling her name again. Amiyah gave a quick nod, whispered, “Goodnight, see you tomorrow,” and hurried toward the car.

I watched her go, my body still aching, my dick growing stiff all over again just from the sway of her hips.

Calla slid her hand into mine, her grip firm, victorious. “She’s hooked,” she murmured. And God help me, I needed her to be because I was hooked.

The studio was already warm when we walked in, the kind of heat that clung to your skin before you even unrolled your mat. By the time we hit downward dog, I was sweating like I’d run laps around Winston Hills.

“Girl,” Lena whispered from the mat beside me, her voice muffled upside down, “if I pass out, just tell my mama I died looking cute.”

I snorted, nearly losing my balance. “You didn’t even drink water before class, did you?”

“I had coffee, same thing.”

I shook my head, fighting a laugh, and pressed deeper into the stretch. But the truth was, I wasn’t entirely here, not in this room, not in this sweat-slick studio. My body was bent in a pose, but my mind was back at Olive & Oa, back in that booth, back where James' hand was under the table and Calla’s voice in my ear, breaking me apart in the middle of a restaurant like it was the most natural thing in the world.

“Okay, spill,” Lena said once we slid into child’s pose. “Because you’ve been glowing since last night when I got back to the booth, and it’s not the kombucha.”

I buried my face against my mat. “It’s… complicated.”

“Complicated?” She propped up on her elbows, eyeswide and dramatic. “Complicated like you hooked up with somebody’s man, or complicated like you got a secret sugar daddy who only pays you in Bitcoin?”

I laughed so hard my instructor shot me a look. “Neither!”

“Then what?”

I hesitated, heart racing, the memory of Calla’s hand steadying me, James' voice asking for permission, the way they unraveled me together. “It’s James and Calla.”

Her mouth dropped open. “James Carter Jr. and Calla Black? At the same time?”

Heat rushed to my face. “Shhh!”

She grinned like the cat who got the cream. “Oh, you nasty.”

“It wasn’t like that, well, it was, but—” I groaned, collapsing onto my mat. “Lena, I don’t even know how to explain it. They make me feel… seen and desired. It’s like every part of me, my body, my mind, all of it is being pulled into their orbit, and I want to explore that, I really do, but—”

“But?”

I rolled onto my side to look at her, my voice low. “What if it blows up in my face? What if I ruin my career, or my reputation, or… us? I can’t just be the girl who got caught between her boss and a billionaire CEO. I’ve worked too hard for that.”

Lena’s expression softened, her playfulness slipping into something steadier. “Listen to me, Miya. You’re not just ‘the girl caught between them.’ You’re a woman who knows what she wants, even if it scares you. Plus, if they’re really who you think they are, if they’re worth it, then they won’t risk your career; instead, they’ll protect you whilethey explore you.”

I swallowed hard, her words hitting deeper than I wanted to admit. “You think so?”