Page 52 of Stumped

I take a picture and send it to Tamara, because I know my cousin will appreciate it. And she replies instantly. Chuckling, I read through her texts while changing into shorts and a tank top.

Tamara

Are you seriously going to tell me this boy isn’t in love with you?

because that bouquet says otherwise.

I hope you’re going to dick him down so good tonight after drinks

because if I was getting that…hooo boy, he’d need an ice pack afterwards

Ask him to join us for drinks tonight

Kabir says he’s still benched, so he should join us.

Speaking of which…I have updates.

I frown at the last two messages, because we donottalk about Kabir. A quick check of my conversation with Elias shows he hasn’t seen my text. I call him and get a ‘switched off’ message and figure he’s probably still at practice. I’ve barely set my phone down when it starts ringing and “Rock You Like a Hurricane” plays loudly, startling me.

“When did you change my ringtone?”

“You left me on read!” Tamara yells and clears her throat. “Also I changed it a year ago. Why are you ignoring me?”

I roll my eyes and collapse onto my bed. “I love you, but the dramatics are a bit much, no?”

“Whatever.How was Pondy?”

Groaning, I turn onto my side and tell her all about the conference. She’s my soul sister and reacts in the right ways, so I add some masala to the story for the fun of it.

“You’re a total badass,” she says when I’m done.

“I know. It felt really good when those kids were interested inme, you know? Anyway, enough about me. What updates do you have?”

“I dumped him.”

I sit up with a start, eyes wide. “Whoa.”

“I know you’ve told me to do this for years and I don’t know why I was stopping myself, but I did it and I feel good.Reallygood.”

When Tamara and Kabir started dating eight years ago, I warned her he wasn’t the kind of guy that would settle down. He likes the good times and parties like he’s still in his twenties. He’s stoned a lot and gets drunk every single night. He’s also thekind of guy who expects his girlfriend to do things for him, while never lifting a finger for her.

My breaking point was when he tried to put a rift between me and Tamara by claiming I hit on him at a family dinner.

In the words of Cher Horowitz:As if!

Even though she didn’t believe him and knew I would never do anything to mess with her relationship, I backed off. She’s one of the most important people in my life and I didn’t want to lose her. But hearing shefinallyended things makes me happy as fuck.

“You feeling good is all that matters, Tam.” I try to keep the joy out of my voice and don’t succeed.

“You can gloat if you want.”

I gasp dramatically. “Me? Gloat? I would never!”

She laughs. “Here’s what you should gloat about, the man buying you flowers.”

“I caught feelings, Tam.”

My best-friend-slash-cousin goes silent for a long time and I hear something pop before the sound of her hooting follows. “Fuck yes!”

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