She put her hands on her hips. “I’ve been on the dance floor all night.”
I pursed my lips. “Yeah, okay,” I replied sarcastically. “That’s not the only thing you’ve been on.”
We cracked up.
Spotting Nina, we tried to wave her down, but she was too enthralled with her date.
“Nina!” I yelled, right when the DJ switched to a different song.
She heard and made her way over to us.
I saw all thirty-two of her teeth as she approached us.
“The two of you look happy as hell,” she remarked when she was a few feet away.
We teased Nina about her situation, and then she turned the heat on us. Aaliyah didn’t deny that the man who’d swept her off her feet for her birthday was her man, but she said nothing was official.
Yet.
Nina claimed her date wasn’t her man because of a technicality.
But that’s not how it looks.
And I told them that Lamar and I were just friends because that’s what we were—even though the whole night felt like more.
And if I count the first time we hung out, it’s only our third date.
It was possible I was just as delusional as my friends.
“What are you scared of?” Nina asked.
As the alcohol coursed through my system, my mind sent me back to a realization I had weeks ago.
Lamar, I answered silently.Lamar scares me.
Maybe I was scared of my own feelings. Maybe I was scared that it was just a fling for him. I knew I liked him, and I didn’t doubt that he liked me. But his career didn’t allow for a relationship, and I wasn’t really interested in putting myself in a position to get hurt.
“I am enjoying myself,” I admitted after they started double-teaming me. “That doesn’t change the fact that we’re friends. It’s only our third date. And the first time we’ve seen each other since June.”
“So?” Aaliyah countered. “I saw the way you two were looking at each other.”
“And you think we didn’t notice how you two kept sneaking off?” Nina pointed out. “Making out behind the tent. Fucking behind the house.”
“No, we didn’t!” I protested over their laughter.
Nina shrugged. “Before the fireworks, I just assumed you took his fine ass around back and climbed him like a tree.”
“That sounds like something you would do,” I countered.
She nodded. “And would!”
“He’s good-looking, big and tall, charismatic, interesting.” Aaliyah started listing some of Lamar’s qualities. “You both love football and he looks like a football player.”
I nodded. “He is.”
“He makes you feel good, and I haven’t seen you smile like you’ve been smiling in a really long time.” Nina squeezed my shoulder. “It looks good on you.”
“You already admitted you like him,” Aaliyah said.
