Page 43 of My Heart Belongs to You

After a few times, I got into the swing of it, moving my arms and clapping with everyone.

“You’re doing so good.” Nadir’s mouth brushed against my ear. Butterflies flooded my stomach.

Throughout the dance, Nadir stayed close, gently placing his hand on my waist whenever we turned and saying praises in my ear for only me to hear. By the end of the song, my heart was racing and my cheeks ached from smiling so hard. I turned to face Nadir; the desire in his eyes felt like a heatwave. He took a swig of his beer; eyes still on me.

Ah, this is what Adrienne meant…

“Nadir,” came from behind us and my smile fell. He moved the bottle from his mouth and smiled at Alexa. “I thought that was you. How you been, boo?”

My eyes narrowed when she gave me a cursory glance before leaning in to hug him. I took a step back from them so I wouldn’t look like I didn’t belong. My stance didn’t matter because I was the third wheel. Alexa made sure of it, remaining close to Nadir after their hug ended.

“What’s up, Lex? What you been up to?” His tone was pleasant, but there was a hint of flirtation that made my stomach turn.

“You know, the same ol’. I just moved to Columbia.”

“So you did close on the townhouse. Congrats.”

She beamed. “Thank you. I’m having a housewarming party. I’ll send you an invite once I’m settled.”

Nadir nodded with an easy smile. “I might come through.”

I fought so hard not to roll my eyes. She looked at me once more; I waved at her.

“Hey, girl.”

“Hello, Robyn.”

I laughed. “I’m going to catch up with Mel and Dri,” I said to Nadir. Running my hand down his arm, I held his gaze. He nodded slowly, wearing a smirk. Alexa rolled her eyes as I walked away. So I wasn’t imagining our tension when they were involved; she was jealous of me and Nadir’s friendship.

“You better hit me up. Last time I invited you out, you turned me down.”

“Stop holding that over my head. I apologized, didn't I?” Nadir’s playful tone was enough to subdue her.

“But you haven’t made up for it.”

Nadir laughed. “Go ’head, Lex.”

I glanced over my shoulder, happy to hear the conversation was ending. Alexa waved with a smirk as she backed away. When she turned around, I rolled my eyes again.

“I haven’t seen her in a minute,” he mused to Mel.

Mel leaned closer to Nadir so I couldn’t hear what he said. I knew Mel used to mess around with her cousin, which was how Nadir and Alexa met in the first place. Their fling lasted two months before ending. When I asked what happened, he explained it as “some petty shit” that wasn’t worth talking about. But I suspected it was because of an exchange me and Alexa had in the grocery store parking lot. She stalked past me toward the entrance when I simply greeted her.

“Hey, girl.” I waved and smiled politely.

It was rare that we saw each other without Nadir around. The energy between us had always been weird. Clearly the girl wasn’t too fond of me, but I wanted to take the high road. Our eyes met, but her lips didn’t part.

“Alexa, what’s your problem?” I asked, turning to face her when she breezed past me. This wasn’t the first incident where she’d ignored me. The first time was at Nadir’s rooftop cookout at his apartment. I let it slide because I was having a good time celebrating my friend and his new place. However, on this day, Nadir wasn’t around to stop me from checking her.

She stopped in her tracks, eyes shooting daggers as she said, “You are my problem. Every time I turn around, you’re in Nadir’s face. You look thirsty and desperate.”

People stared as they passed. It was then that I realized our voices were louder than necessary.

I pursed my lips then stepped closer to her. “You are the one who’s thirsty and desperate for drama. I’ve been nothing but nice to you. Trust me, you don’t have to worry about me taking your man.”

That jeer felt good because he’d just started seeing someone else a week prior.

She kissed her teeth. “Yeah. That’s what they all say.”