I turned the device so she could see the cover. “It’s a cute little sapphic romance,” I tell her. “The two main characters had a meet-cute at a track meet back when they were in college, and there were instant sparks. Of course, they fall in love, butunfortunately, there is a bunch of drama and jealous exes along the way. Also, there’s a really annoying set of parents who keep trying to hook one of the FMCs up with her ex. I always wanna jump in a tell them about themselves, but I know that there’s a happy ending, so it’s all good.”
“Wait, so you’ve read it before?” She questions, and I nod.
“Yeah, probably about five times,” I shrug.
“Damn,” she replies, genuinely shocked. “I don’t think I’ve ever reread a book. Is that common amongst avid readers?”
“Yeah, I think so,” I tell her. “I think most people who read as a hobby have at least one comfort read that they like to revisit every so often. This one is mine.”
“I love that for you,” she nods. “You make me want to revisit one of my favorite books. Maybe I’ll pick up on something I didn’t notice before.”
“Is it part of the subscription program? If so, I can log you in on my account on your phone, and you can read it there,” I suggest excitedly. “Maybe we can even read it together?”
She smiles at my enthusiasm before nodding. I squeal and slide down to the beach towel beside her. She informs me she already has the service, so she pulls out her phone and opens the app. When she shows me what book it is, I gasp, because it was one I’d had on my TBR for the longest. A story containing sapphic love, shifters, and magic, plus a plus-sized Black FMC. I instantly downloaded it as well, and we lay back to read it together.
About an hour into reading, we move the party inside so that we can eat the lunch that Dawn ordered. As we’re eating, I ask her questions about the book, and she does her best to answer them without spoiling anything. I loved buddy reading with her, and I suggested we keep it going after we finish our current book. She agreed, and thus started a two-person book club I named “R&D Book Club.”
Cheesy, I know, but I liked it, and Dawn didn’t care what we named it, as long as I was happy. Which I was.
After the lunch was eaten, and we’d read all we wanted for the day, we moved over to the couch to watch a movie together. There was a romcom that she’d been dying to watch, and I agreed on it because I knew how much shehatedhorror movies. I loved them way more than romance movies, if I’m being honest. Which is wild because I wouldn’t touch a horror book with a ten-foot pole, but I ate romance books up every day.
There was just something about reading horror that made it feel more realistic to me than watching it in a movie or TV show.
We ended up watching a couple of movies as we cuddled together, just enjoying each other’s company, but our attention spans started to drift around the third movie. Instead of paying attention to the screen, we were laughing at video clips that we’d saved to show each other. My favorite part was when we both realized we had a crush on Queen Latifah after saving the same edit of her.
“She’s fine, even if she is old enough to be my mama,” Dawn said as we watched the edit for the 10th time. I nodded in agreement. “She’s always been one of my top five celebrity crushes.”
“You saying that makes me curious about who you first one ever was,” I state, leaning in on my elbows to give her my undivided attention.
We had since moved to the kitchen to fix ice cream sundaes. Well, she was fixing them, and I was busy watching her arms flex as she scooped the ice cream. I was so far gone, I know. I know!
“Easy. Bow Wow,” she shrugged, and I nodded. “I remember crushing on him well before I even understood what a crush really was. I just knew he was cute in thatBounce With Memusic video that came out along withBig Mama’s House.I played that movie out, not gon lie.”
“Oh yeahhhh,” I replied excitedly, remembering it like it was yesterday. “That’s so valid. So, I’m guessing you lost your shit whenLike Mikecame out.”
“Don’t even get me started,” she chuckled, shaking her head. “I was a big ass fan girl when I was younger, not only because I thought he was cute but because I love his music. He was one of my earlier inspirations because I was so impressed that he was that young and spitting bars like that.” I nodded in agreement. “What about you? Who was yours?”
“Definitely Kyla Pratt,” I said without hesitation. “Her inLove and Basketballdefinitely had a lot to do with my awakening. I didn’t know nothing about nothing, but I did know that her being all tomboyish and then girly at certain times was enough to make me realize that I liked girls like her. I mean, Sanaa Lathan in that movie also played a big part in my awakening, too, but even past that movie, I was always so drawn to Kyla Pratt. Even to this day, she’s still in my top five.”
“Yeah, she’s gorgeous,” she agrees. “You have great taste.”
“Why, thank you,” I say, reaching over to boop her in the nose. She chuckles, shaking her head. “I know I do. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be with you.”
“Oh, aren’t you charming,” she teases, and I smile innocently. “Any others?”
“I mean, yeah, I have a few more, all of them women, though. I mean, Iamattracted to men, but not nearly as much as I am to women or even nonbinary people,” I admit. “I’ve only ever dated that one guy back in high school, and we never got past the making-out stage. All of my other relationships were with women and female-aligned nonbinary people.”
“And that’s perfectly fine,” she assures me. “Your relationships and feelings are valid still.”
“I know,” I chuckle. “But it is refreshing to hear you say that. I can’t even tell you how many people in my life have triedto invalidate my sexuality because I was eithertooattracted to women to be bi or they hated that I was attracted to men in general, and questioned if Ireallyliked women at all. It’s frustrating.”
“I can only imagine,” she sighs, and she comes around to where I’m standing. She pulls me in for a hug, and I bury my face in her chest. “I’m sorry people made you feel like that, but I want you to know that I’ll always respect youandyour sexuality. Your feelings are valid, and nobody has the right to make you feel otherwise.”
“Thanks, my love,” I say, looking up at her. She kisses me softly before pressing her forehead against mine.
“I got you, baby. Always.” She assures me. “Now, back to these sundaes. What toppings would you like?”
I giggled before pointing them out to her, and she fixed the prettiest sundae ever. She admitted that she and her siblings used to make them just about every Friday growing up, so that’s why she was such an expert. Honestly, it was the best sundae I ever had, and I definitely got her to make me another one once I had finished the first.
