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“Hey, y’all,” Bianca said as she stood to hug us. She was in a denim jumper that hugged her curves, with booty-length boho braids.
I went over to hug Jody. “Hey, cousin.”
“Hey, trouble-maker,” she said.
I put a hand to my chest. “Me? Trouble?”
She smiled and took a sip of her drink.
Three very strong French 75s in, I was nursing a nice buzz and having a good time catching up with my girls. Bianca was updating us on the newest development with her situationship while Siani was trying to convince us she was about to break things off with Tariq.
I went to get my phone out of my bag to snap some selfies when it vibrated.
Cardez
What you up to?
I stared at it for a second longer than I should have.
“Who’s that?” Siani asked, craning her neck to look over my shoulder.
I elbowed her lightly and angled my phone away from her.
At home, chilling on the couch.
The response came back faster than I expected.
Cardez
Word?
yeah, just laying low.
I saw three dot bubbles pop up but put my phone on silent and put it face down on the table.
I ran a hand through my hair and jumped up when the DJ put on a Vybz Kartel song. Bianca joined me and started singing along as we whined and rolled our hips to the dancehall beat.
“Ay!” Jody and Siani yelled, cheering us on.
“Excuse me.” We all turned to see a bottle girl standing at our section with champagne in a bucket of ice and four glasses.
“Oh, we didn’t get a bottle,” Jody said quickly.
The bottle girl tipped her head towards the upper level. “This was sent over from the gentleman upstairs.”
The four of us looked up to see Cardez staring down at us. My stomach dropped as he lifted his glass in greeting.
Fuck. Fuck. FUCK.
“Is that?” Siani started, squinting.
I sat back down. “Yes.”
“Is that who?” Bianca asked.
“The reason Belle’s all tan and shit.”
Next to me, Jody sucked in a breath. “That’s Cardez?”
