I was three bites into my Stuffed Chicken Marsala when she put her fork down and gave me that look.
“So,” she dragged out, “are we gonna talk about the elephant in the room?”
“Ask what you want to know. I’m an open book tonight,” I said, grinning. “One night only. Y’all know I’m private about my shit.”
“Private or sneaky?” she pushed. “DaVinci Bryns. Start talking.”
Tessa damn near choked on her breadstick. “FINALLY. I’ve been waiting on this all night.”
“I got a bone to pick with all of y’all,” I said, pointing around the table. “Winnie, girl, you tossed me right under the bus. Outed my business with no warning.”
“Halo, you literally asked MiMi to bring him to you,” she laughed.
“I was playing on some fangirl shit. Y’all do not know how to let a joke breathe.”
“Get over it and tell us about this little meet-cute,” Tessa said. “Because I heard that conversation in the back of the venue got a little heated.”
The table erupted. I flipped them off before shoveling more salad.
“And it wasn’t nobody but Lorana’s nosy behind reporting back,” I muttered.
“One thing about my step momma, she gon’ mind somebody else’s business,” Sametra said.
“Anyway,” I said, settling back. “So y’all know about the fire. The one where I jacked him up in front of his house.”
“Barely,” Winnie said. “I just know you put hands on a six-foot-something man and got away with it.”
“Well, a few weeks ago, we got called to Walton Hills for an arson. I was close to getting off shift, somebody had eaten my damn lunch again, and my patience was gone. We pull up, start doing our job, and this long-legged man comes storming up, talking sideways.”
The table giggled.
“He tried to run inside. The house was lit up, smoke heavy, and he was talking about ‘my shit in there.’ Sir, if you don’t sit down…”
“Have you told him?” Sametra asked softly.
“About my mom?”
The silence said everything. They wanted to know if I’d shared that part. I hadn’t. I wasn’t ready. I didn’t even know if I liked him enough yet to lay all that on the table. Plus, my mother’s death wasn’t a secret — if he went looking, he’d find it.
I ran them through everything — the confrontation, the gifts, the two weeks of silence, him pulling up at the station with the roses and my mama’s bracelet, the security, the truth about Cassie.
“And I called him out,” I said. “Told him he had too much drama for my spirit. Too much energy. Too much everything.”
“You could’ve told me he’d be at the opening,” I added, giving Mimi a look.
“Girl, I didn’t know you changed your mind. I thought I was helping my friend find her man. Plus, you had to know he’d show up for Malik.”
I rolled my eyes. “That was a joke.”
“If you say so. And what did he say to you?”
“He asked me to dinner, and I told him I needed space. The man is serious but unserious. He really thought I’d get over it.”
“So he gave you space?” Winnie said.
“He didn’t have a choice,” I said. “But I’m not gon’ lie, I hated it. I asked for space, and he gave it to me, and it still felt like somebody cut the music off in the middle of my favorite song.”
“Dramatic,” Tessa said. “But go off.”
