“I’m not. Did you forget the man’s house was set on fire? What does that tell you?”
“It tells me that assumptions make an ass of you and me. So please don’t lie to me. I saw the way you looked at him when you had your hand on his shirt.”
I took a long drink of water, buying time. “Tessa, I left Coupeville to get out of my father’s shadow. To be my own person, not Huey Grant’s daughter. And now you want me to step into DaVinci Bryns’ spotlight? He’s a professional athlete with a crazy ex who burned his house down. We are not a match, and I’m not in a place to be caught up in the consequences of whatever he has going on.”
“That’s not fair, Halo. I saw the sparks. I saw himsee you. Not at Fire-and-Fine. At YOU. My best friend. The one who thinks Blade was a good trilogy. The one that gives her friends all of her. Goes hard at work. The friend who deserves to have a nigga verychalantabout her.”
“Tess, you and this hopeless romantic shit—”
“One thing about us, we’ve always kept it real. I’m keeping it real now. You’re scared.”
“I’m not scared.”
“Yes, you are. You’re scared because with one look, he went past all that surface shit. And that scares you more than anything.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but she kept going.
“You don’t have to be afraid to be vulnerable, friend. You said you were ready.”
“I am, but…”
“But nothing, I wish a big dick baller looked at me like that. It would be like Boosie said, ‘I can fuck a bad bitch before she can count to six. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six, she hit’.”
A laugh burst out of me before I could stop it. “Tessa!”
“What?!” She grinned. “I’m just saying. Girl, he’s fine as hell. He got money and motion. The fuck else you want? Shit, at minimum sample the dick and get a Birkin or trip to Tulum.”
I shook my head, laughing as we slapped hands and hit a little twerk right there in the mirror. At the end of the day, the hoochie mama in us would always pop out. The tension broke, but not completely, because she wasn’t wrong.
DaVinci Bryns had looked at me like I was the celebrity, and that was the part I didn’t want to sit with too long. A man like him didn’t come without history, and his history was heavy. I remembered how losing his ex-wife changed him. I wasn’t trying to walk into anybody’s shadow, and I damn sure wasn’t trying to sign up for anything complicated.
For once, I wanted easy.
“Come on,” I said, grabbing my bag. “I gotta get Brixxi to daycare, then I’m treating myself. I earned it this week.”
One thing about me was that I was a girly girl who loved adrenaline. I kept my nails and hair done within regulation, of course, but I tried to be my fashionable self when I could. I also enjoyed life. Took care of myself and enjoyed my singleness. There were things I just didn’t worry about or play with. Self-care was one of those things. I took care of business, and I would always celebrate that.
My Saturday workout was exactly what I needed. When I stepped out of the shower, I felt like a new woman. The fog I’d been under all week seemed to lift. Brixxi, my Bichon Frise, was more than a pet. This was my child. I simply did not play about my kid.
It was mommy-daughter day, so I was headed out to get my Saturday started in a Fancy Homebody outfit. Feeling cute and comfy.
I headed out to grab my breakfast from Bruegger’s, a Vermonter sandwich with egg, bacon, cheddar, and maple cream cheese, on a cinnamon sugar bagel. My little reward for surviving the week. So when I walked out to the lot and saw the Bruegger’s bag sitting dead center on the hood of my car, I froze.
I looked around the lot like somebody was about to pop out with a camera. There was nothing to see but my neighbors climbing into their cars, not thinking about me.
The slip of paper tucked under the lid of the coffee said one line:
Don’t forget to eat. — A Friend
My mind was going a mile a minute, wondering who knew my order and who would do this for me. I wanted to smile, but a little bit of fear creptin. I reread the note, hoping it would make sense, but still nothing. And who my mind went to first didn’t make sense.
I grabbed the bag and got in my car. I ate my sandwich as I drove to Serenity Spa, lost in thought and praying I wasn’t poisoned by eating this sandwich.
“God kissed it, devil missed it,” I muttered.
It didn’t take me long to arrive, and before I knew it, I was smiling again as I walked through the doors. Brixxi was at Pretti Paws Spa and Daycare, getting pampered and running around with the other dogs. I had exactly four hours to myself before I had to pick her up.
Maya smiled when she saw me. “Halo! Right on time. You want the usual?”
