But shecoulddefine happiness for herself if she tried hard enough. She thought about the boxes of sketch pads and reams of notes in her closet and knew one thing that would make her happy.
No. You been over this already. You don’t have time for that.
Samiah cradled her head in her palms. This was too much for her hungover brain to think about right now. “Why are you making so much sense?”
“Right?” Taylor asked, as if she’d surprised herself. “But itdoesmake sense, doesn’t it? Imagine if we’d all devoted the time we wasted with Craig to doing something worthwhile. Isn’t there something you’ve always wanted to do that you haven’t done yet? Stick that on your checklist instead of looking for some man who doesn’t deserve you.”
“Of course you wouldn’t have discovered the volcano sushi roll if not for Craig,” London said. “But I get your point.”
“Her point,” Samiah stressed, “is that we’re three beautiful, successful women who swallowed the bullshit society tries to feed us. Every single one of us is much too good for Craig Walters. Or whatever his name is. The point is—”
Their heads turned at the sound of two sharp knocks on her front door, followed by the distinct click of the lock disengaging. A second later, the door opened and her sister and brother-in-law, Bradley, walked in with wide eyes and big smiles.
“Oh, wow,” Denise said as she took in the sight before her. “I didn’t think I’d find all three of you here.”
“It’s a good thing we went with the half-dozen bagels instead of just three,” Bradley said, following his wife to the sofa.
“Carbs,” Taylor said with a dreamy sigh, making grabby hands toward the bag Bradley carried.
He held up a finger. “Just a sec.” He pivoted toward the kitchen.
“So, how are you, ladies?” Denise asked as she rested on the arm of the sofa next to London. “It would seem you all had quite a night.”
“Yes, we did,” Taylor said with a cheeriness Samiah couldn’t comprehend after the night they’d had. Her disposition was as bright as the sun streaming through the tall windows.
Samiah made the introductions. “Ladies, this is my sister, Denise, and her husband, Bradley. Guys, this is—”
“Oh, we know who you both are,” Denise said, her cagey smile setting off an alarm in Samiah’s head.
“I’m pretty sure the entire world knows who they are by now,” Bradley said. He set a platter of bagels with flavored cream cheeses on the glass sofa table, then rested his hands on Denise’s shoulders and started massaging her neck with his thumbs. “Well, maybe not the people in Australia.”
“Yet,” Denise added.
Dread slithered down Samiah’s spine. “What are you two talking about?”
“I figured you hadn’t seen it yet, based on how calm you all are.” Denise pulled out her phone, swiped across the screen, and held it up. “It was at five hundred thousand views last I checked.”
“What!” Samiah, London, and Taylor all yelped at the same time.
Samiah grabbed the phone. London and Taylor gathered around her. Someone at the restaurant had captured their argument with Craig and posted it online. Her stomach dropped.
“Bossip picked it up. So has BuzzFeed. No TMZ, though,” Denise said around a mouthful of the cinnamon raisin bagel she’d just bitten into.
“Only a matter of time,” Bradley chipped in.
Samiah increased the volume on the phone, although now that the fogginess of the alcohol had worn off, she recalled what was said last night with stunning clarity.
Lying piece of dog shit?
Yikes. She hadn’t remembered that.
“There’s another video that was shot from the opposite angle. That’s the one I saw first,” Denise said. “I was so afraid you’d punched that Craig guy, but then I saw you’d only poked him.”
“You should have punched him,” Bradley said. “I would have punched him if I was there.” His ginger-colored brows curved inward with his frown.
Samiah looked up at him and wasn’t sure if she wanted to laugh or cry. Craig wasn’t linebacker-big, but he probably had a good seventy pounds on her perpetually thin brother-in-law. What Bradley lacked in heft, he made up for in heart. She handed the phone back to Denise, then stood and walked over to him, wrapping him up in a hug.
“Thank you, honey.” Samiah sniffed. “But I don’t think any of us have to worry about Craig anymore.”
