“Other than that, I’m good. Happy birthday, Jovan. I’ve never had a Sagittarius friend before.”
11
Ace
I’m balancing a paper plate on my knee, hoping grease isn’t soaking through the bottom, when Titus bows me in my side.
“What you think they’re talking about out there?”
I follow his gaze to the sliding glass door that leads to the porch. The door’s foggy from the heat out there. All I can see are silhouettes shifting behind the glass.
I shrug. “Probably talking shit out. About the wedding.”
Titus nods. “I'ma ask you again, man. She got any friends you could hook me up with?”
I laugh at that, a real hearty one. “Nah. How many times we gotta go through this?"
"I feel like you're holding out on me." He looks at me, hoping against hope. “Not even one?”
“I told you, Raya doesn’t really…have friends,” I say carefully. “Not like that.”
He sighs, leaning back in his cheer, his beer forgotten in his hand. “I need a Raya in my life.”
“Impossible,” I say with a shake of my head.
“Why?”
“That woman is one of a kind.”
I say that with both pride and trepidation.
The door opens just then, and Raya steps back into the room with a smile that looks a lot more effortless than it is. I know her, and I know how intentional she is. She’s trying to put me at ease.
She walks straight to me, bending down to kiss my cheek. “You need anything?”
I stare up at her. “Just that pretty smile.”
She beams as she turns toward the food table to fix herself a plate.
That’s when I notice my friends.
They file in behind her like battle-weary soldiers returning from combat. Dayton’s blinking too much. Jovan’s jaw is hanging loose. And Bron looks rattled.
Titus sits up straight. “Fuck wrong with y’all?”
They all start to speak at once, then stop. Start again. Stop. It’s like their brains are scrambled.
Finally, Bron scratches the back of his neck and says, “Your wife. She’s…”
Jovan and Dayton wait for him to finish, but he never does, so Jovan finally finishes for him.
“Crazy.”
His eyes flicker toward her, just a few feet away, like he's scared she heard what he said.
Dayton nods. “Yeah. But…I don’t know…it’s like in a good way.”
“She definitely loves you,” Bron agrees.
