Page 25 of Crave

“Oh, right!” she says a bit too loudly. She stands up and offers me her hand. She’s the total opposite of Sandy as far as looks. She’s short, barely reaching my chin, where Sandy’s tall. Her skin is light like their mother’s compared to Sandy’s brown skin. “This is my sister-in-law, Diana. We’re here for a girl’s night and it also happens to be her birthday. Diana is Sandy’s best friend,” she quickly explains, her face flushed from the alcohol. She picks up her glass and takes a huge gulp. I reach over and shake Diana’s hand.

“This is my friend, Jason Dupree, or JD,” I say, calling JD over. He comes over and shakes hands with the ladies.

“Dr. JD!” Natasha yells out before slapping a hand over her mouth. Jason arches his eyebrow and looks from her to me.

“Have we met before?” he asks. I catch Natasha’s eye and give her a knowing smile.

“Um. I ah—” Natasha stammers.

“Oh my god! Don’t let Ebony have any more alcohol. She’s a lightweight.” Just the sound of that voice causes a tingling in my chest. I don’t turn around immediately because I want to hear what else she’s going to say. “And I leave for a few minutes and you already have men over here? Tash, I’m telling Chris on you.”

“Dee, you remember Jacob Clark, right?” Natasha asks.

“Ugh! Why are we even talking about that jerk?” I hear her say right before I turn around and take her in. God, she’s gorgeous in a pair of skinny black jeans and a black crop top with pink ruffles at the bottom. The top is short and reveals part of her midriff. She finishes the outfit with a pair of black ankle boots.

“Jerk?” I ask. She freezes when she recognizes me. She looks from me to Tash, before she takes a seat, cringing along the way. She looks around the table, as she absentmindedly runs a hand through her hair.

“Let’s leave the name calling behind, Dee. This is his friend, JD,” she says, attempting to change the subject. “The doctor,” she says with an exaggerated wink.

When Sandy hears JD’s name, something in her eyes lights up. She looks around me and spots JD. JD looks from Sandy to me and back again before he extends his hand to her.

“This is our other partner in crime, Ebony,” she says to JD.

“Ebony? Yes, the one who can’t handle her alcohol. Noted. Only water for you from now on, Ebbs,” I say, winking at her. Ebony blushes before she stumbles back to her seat.

“You and Jake know each other, Sandy?” JD asks. JD looks from me to Sandy as if he’s trying to put together a puzzle.

Sandy finally turns her beautiful brown eyes back on me. She’s so damn beautiful tonight. She’s wearing lip gloss, but it’s her eyes that catch my attention. Unlike when I saw her at the bakery, she’s wearing eyeshadow that really makes her brown eyes richer. Instead of a floral headband, she has a single pink rose on the right side of her head.

We get lost in each other’s eyes, forgetting that we’re in a restaurant full of people. She takes me in as I stand in front of her. Even the intentional loud throat clearing by one of the girls doesn’t break us from our locked gazes.

“Well, don’t mind me then,” JD says. All the women snicker. I finally look around and Natasha is looking at me, her eyes full of mischief. She not only looks different from her sister, but I can tell their differences are not only physical. Sandy is guarded, but Natasha is not. I need her as an ally.

“Oh, yeah. We met a couple of weeks ago at Mrs. Clark’s birthday party. I had to deliver the cake,” she says to JD.

JD’s eyes light up in understanding. When our server arrives, I make a unilateral decision. I ask that he combine our two tables.

Sandy’s eyes open in shock, and I offer her my best smile.

“You sneaky fuck,” JD whispers to me as he walks around the table. “I knew your ass was up to something.”

“This is turning out to be a great night,” Natasha announces before asking for another drink. “Jake, switch seats with me. I like to be on the end in case I need to run to the ladies’ room.”

“I knew I liked you, Natasha,” I say to her as we maneuver so that I’m sitting right next to Sandy.

“It’s Tash. All my friends call me Tash, and I have a feeling you and I are going to be really good friends.” The server comes back with drinks for everyone, and Tash and I toast to our new friendship.

“Let me guess, Sandy. When you arrived with the cake, Jake’s mom refused to let you leave and insisted you join the party, right?” JD asks.

“Exactly,” Sandy says. “Then I was tasked by Mr. Clark to keep Jake out of trouble.”

“Did you?” JD asks with a smirk as he takes a sip of his beer.

“Let’s see. First, he walked away from me in the middle of a dance to start a fight with a pregnant woman. Then he pushed his brother into the cake. What do you think?”

“Oh my god! This is the guy who called his sister-in-law a whore?” Diana asks. “Holy shit!”

“At least I know now I’ve been on your mind, Deedee,” I tease her.

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