“Yes and no,” argued Bronwyn, her silver locs dancing past her shoulders. “Yes, good sex can just be sex. But in this instance, it wasn’t. You just told us youlevitated, Jack. You are fighting a deeper connection to this man and are just too stubborn to see it.”
Jackie gave Bronwyn a blank stare. “Didn’t you tell me Katrice was the one too?”
“Well, sometimes the soul has more than one match. Some fit better than others.” Bronwyn turned to Tanika, looking for a backup. “Tanika, don’t you think I’m right?”
Tanika nodded. “Leaving your body mid-orgasm? Sounds like a higher connection to me.” Although Tanika hadn’t experienced seeing auras anymore, she now felt she had insight into the metaphysical.
“I really need for you to be the old Tanika, before the magical glasses and auras,” grumbled Jackie. “You’re starting to sound like Bronwyn.”
“So, what went wrong?” asked Mya, fully invested in the story.
“What went wrong is that Antonio is a lying sack of shit!” hissed Jackie. She stabbed her fork through her food, scraping it against the plate.
“Jackie, I need you to take a breath, love. And not take it out on the food,” Bronwyn cautioned. “Remember what you learned in anger management.”
Jackie put her fork down, trying to recenter herself. Bronwyn was right. “Sorry,” she apologized. “The next morning, I’m thinking we could get in another round. Or at least order some room service before I have to catch my flight. I wake up, and he’s not in bed. I look all over the suite until finally, I find him out on the balcony. I overhear his conversation. It was obvious to me he was talking to some woman. He kept saying stuff like ‘We’ll talk when I get home.’ And ‘it’s not a good time.’ Then he went quiet, and I could hear her yelling on the other end. When he spoke again, he was swearing up and down to her that he would ‘make things right.’ Clearly, he was in a relationship, and I was some conference booty. He lied and told me he was single! I was an idiot for believing that a guy like Antonio Steele was being honest. Retired or not, athletes are all the same.”
Tanika narrowed her eyes. “Jackie, are you sure that he was talking to a girlfriend or wife? It could have been anyone.”
“Are you all doubting me? I know what cheaters sound like when they’re trying to rush someone off the phone!”
“Oh Jackie,” Bronwyn sighed. “No one is doubting you, but you do tend to jump to conclusions.”
“Yeah, did you even ask him about it?” Mya asked.
Her friends had looks of genuine concern on their faces. Jackie took a deep breath. “Of course not. I just put on my clothes and left. I’m not sticking around to get embarrassed. Been there, done that.”
Jackie felt hot tears pooling in her eyes, but she refused to cry. Not in front of her friends. And not about Antonio. “Can we talk about something else? Like, what’s up with your wedding plans, Nik?”
“I just got engaged like a week ago.” Tanika looked at her left hand like she was surprised to see the diamond there. “I hadn’t even thought about wedding plans.”
Everyone looked at Tanika skeptically. They knew their friend. She was a planner through and through.
“Okay,fine, I have thought a little about it. I really don’t want a wedding, but Gideon insists that we have one. Even if it’s small. He said not to cheat him out of the experience of seeing me walk down the aisle. Maybe we’ll go back to Belize or Costa Rica or something.”
“Aww,” Mya swooned. “Dr. Gideon is so romantic.”
“I’m thinking of getting a black dress. You know, to match my glasses.” Tanika pointed to her specs, which had quickly become an essential part of her personality.
“Girl, no.” Jackie frowned. “Are you trying to look like Morticia Addams going down the aisle? Get a fabulous dress, please. Wang or Amsale only, of course.”
Bronwyn raised a brow. “I thought you didn’t care about weddings and matrimonial trappings.”
Jackie shrugged. “I don’t. Marriage is a suffocating institution built on the lie of everlasting love. No offense.”
“I take all the offense,” scoffed Bronwyn, playfully.
Excluding Bronwyn, Jackie didn’t know a single couple whose marriage was strong and lasted the test of time. Her parents didn’t make it. One hint of trouble, and her mother was out. Her grandmother was always kicking her grandfather out of the house because of his cheating ways. Jackie had briefly considered marrying Katrice—but she now knew how that would have panned out. Marriage was the scam of the century.
“I do, however, care about fashion,” Jackie rationalized. “And Tanika isn’t wearing black down the aisle. Wearing black to marry a widower? The optics are terrible.”
“Oh, I hadn’t really thought about that,” Tanika admitted. “But I’m far from traditional. I hate veils. And of course, I’d rather wear sneakers than heels. I’m in my forties—it’s not like I’m a virgin and need to wear bridal-white.”
“Hell, you went years without some dick. I bet you’re re-virginized or something,” Mya said. “Then again, Gideon has been putting it down.”
Jackie groaned, covering her ears. “Istilldon’t want to hear about my cousin and my bestie boning.”
Tanika threw a chopstick at Mya. “What is wrong with you?”
