Page 62 of My Heart Belongs to You

Can we go to The Fruit Stand tomorrow or later this week?

NADIR:

Let me hit up Jan. I’m sure a simple email will suffice.

ROBYN:

I appreciate you.

I smiled while sliding my phone into my pocket.

“So who was at your house last night?” Raven asked, bursting my bubble of bliss.

She moved around my office like it was her own. Going into my desk drawer, she grabbed us two steel straws. The biscuit and yap session required real straws and not the paper ones the restaurant provided.

“Can I at least taste the blackberry jam first?”

Raven rolled her eyes then unbagged our biscuits and jam. While spreading the jam across my biscuit, I considered telling her everything. I was never good at lying to my sister, plus she’d keep asking until I gave in. Might as well save us the drama.

“Nadir came over last night,” I said lowly.

Raven’s eyebrow rose and a smirk covered her lips. “About damn time! I want to know everything. Was it him surprising you in Portland that sealed the deal?”

She leaned forward, anticipating every detail of my tryst with Nadir.

I pinched off a piece of my biscuit, guilt creeping in at keeping this from her for so long. While chewing, I shook my head. “Not exactly.”

After telling her everything that happened over the last month and a half, Raven sat speechless.

“I knew it was only a matter of time.”

My thoughts swirled like the latte in my hand. “Yeah, and last night we bickered about him texting an ex and me accepting flowers from Joseph.”

“It’s deeper than I thought,” she gushed. “Have you been jealous this whole time or is this a new feeling?”

“It’s new. I wasn’t fond of the women he dated, but not out of jealousy. More so protection.”

“I see. So what is the status with Joseph?”

“Still hanging around, still lacking aggression and intention. Just last night, he called about potentially seeing me next week.”

Raven twisted her lips. “The major difference between him and Nadir is that he’s waiting for you to make room for him. Whereas Nadir shows up. When he told me he was going to Portland because he understands how meaningful his support is to you, I swooned.”

“Him coming to support me was really sweet. I never thought about how embedded we are in each other’s lives.”

“There’s definitely perks to being with your best friend.”

“I mean, yeah, but what about the obvious downside?”

“The possibility of breaking up happens with every relationship, but I get not wanting to lose your friend in the process. You must decide if your fear of ruining your friendship outweighs the love you have for him.”

Raven munched on her biscuit and raspberry jam while I ruminated. Everything she said was valid, except me deciding where things would go between us. Neither Nadir nor I had any control of this situation. My heart was on autopilot and there was no use in applying logic.

“I’ll tell you one thing; there’s no competition against someone who runs the game. Nadir has Joseph, or any other man, beaten by a landslide.”

“Why does it have to be a game?”

She shrugged. “Just is. I can tell you’ve been overthinking the situation, stop.”