Page 9 of Sinful Restraint

She side-eyed me through the mirror, her long acrylic nails tapping against the hot comb’s handle. “Okay, bitch. How long is it gonna take you to tell me how you had three fine ass men fawning all over you at the Club Fetish Freaknik Party over the weekend?”

“I don’t know what you mean,” I lied, knowing damn well what she meant. But the thing with Gina was she didn’t know how to speak quietly.

As usual, the shop was packed this evening as everyone was trying to get their hair done for the numerous pride parades and Juneteenth festivals going on around town next week. Miami was always lit, but June was when the locals liked to pop out and show the tourists how we did things in The Magic City.

Getting your hair done in the beauty shop was therapy for Black women. A community where we all got to be ourselves as we lounged under dryers, tilted our heads back over sinks, and got our hair styled.

“Quit lyin’, fren,” Gina stated, smacking her lips. “You’re living with Miami’s most eligible bachelors, and those niggas eyes were glued to yo’ ass like you were waving platinum pussy in front of their faces.”

I didn’t miss the noseymmm hmmfrom Ms. Pam and Ms. Pat who didn’t even really come to the salon to get their hair styled. They were only here for the gossip.

“Living with them is … messy,” I finally said, lowering my voice so that hopefully Gina got the picture. Although I definitely wasn’t talking about the house being messy. The men were surprisingly clean. But my situation? Yeah, that shit was a mess. I was packing up Rev’s room slowly, but it was harder than I thought, and a part of me liked keeping it as it was.

Then, whenever I asked them what really happened to Rev and the status on finding his killer, they changed the subject or just told me they were working on it.

“Girl, please.” She adjusted her grip on my hair and picked out a piece to flat iron this time after switching hair tools. “You’re in a damn dream house with three rich, sexy as hell men, and you expect me to believe it’s justmessy?”

The other stylists and clients within earshot leaned in, laughing and hyping her up. “Right! That sounds like a goddamn fantasy to me.”

I exhaled, shaking my head. “Y’all don’t understand. They’re not just some random roommates. They were my brother’s best friends.” I cleared my throat at the words, my thoughts never too far from thinking about Rev. “That means they’re off-limits. So basically, it’s like living in a house full of big brothers.”

Gina paused mid-straightening and gave me a look of disbelief. “Um, nah, fren. You don’t look at ‘em like big brothers.”

I felt the heat creep up my neck, partially from the flat iron, but mainly because she wasn’t lyin’. Still, I kept my face blank when I said, “Ain’t nobody said all that. I said it’slikeliving with big brothers, meaning they always try to tell me what to do and shit. Not that I don’t notice how attractive they are. But I’m pretty sure they just see me as Rev’s little sister.”

Gina snorted. “Bitch, not you with that disappointed face.” She screamed while she laughed. “The way those men behaved the other night? Girl, hell nah. They don’t see you like a little sister. More like Rev’s sister who they want to fuck.”

A chorus of “Mmhmm” and “She right” echoed around the shop.

“They’re just being nice because we all miss Rev, and they know how much I meant to him.”

Gina cocked an eyebrow, switching to the other side of my head. “So all three of those fine ass specimens are only nice to you because of your connection to Rev?”

I nodded and muttered a quick, “Yeah,” hoping Gina would drop it, but of course she never did anything I wanted her to do.

“You mean to tell me,” she continued, lowering her voice just a little, “that the jokester who always got you laughin’ when you ain’t even in the mood, the deep thinker always askin’ about yoursoul and shit, and the quiet one who just so happens to know your favorite meal and have it ready when you come home only do all that shit because they are … nice?”

Shit.I stayed quiet, not knowing what to say. I had told her all that when we met for lunch the other day because I was happy that we were all getting into a daily routine together. Yet, when she put it like that …

“You know they’re into some freaky shit, right?” Gina eyed me through the mirror again.

“What do you mean?” I asked, causing a few ladies to glance around the room wearing a who-is-gonna-tell-her expression.

Gina stopped doing my hair and held my eyes in the mirror. “All I know is that there are a few women in this city who have claimed to have been with eachof them.”

My eyes widened. “They all dated the same woman before?”

Gina shook her head. “Not dated, sis. Fucked. There’s a difference.”

What the hell?I was still trying to wipe the shocked look from my face when Gina got started on my hair again. Yet, I still felt a lot of eyes on me. I was seconds away from asking what I was missing when another client chimed in, sipping her iced coffee.

“Girl, you ever think that maybeallthree of them want you?”

My stomach flip flopped at her words.Yes, I have!I thought about it my first night at the house. I dreamt about it my third night there. By the first week I felt guilty as hell for feeling like I wasn’t grieving properly since I found myself going to a local bookstore to find every why choose romance novel that I could to study up on the genre.

“That’s ridiculous,” I said instead.

Gina let out a loud cackle. “What’s ridiculous is you playin’ dumb.” She grinned, wiggling her eyebrows. “What you gon’ do if they all make a move?”

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