Page 108 of Curvy Girl Summer

I nodded, feeling petty.

He turned his body on the couch, resting his arm along the back of it. “Now I have a question for you.”

“Anything.”

“Did you look for my apartment to give me back my umbrella, or was there another reason?”

“I wanted to give you your umbrella since I forgot it on Friday. Andddddd because I wanted to ask you about your marital status,” I admitted.

Chuckling, he shook his head. “Okay, because you showing up here first thing in the morning with an umbrella is wild shit.”

“Valid. But in my defense, you inviting me in and having a gift for me is right up there with wild shit.”

“Nahhhhh, don’t try to turn this around on me. You could’ve just given me the umbrella on Friday. You looked for me. You hunted me down—”

My face screwed up. “Okay, ‘hunted’ is a little far.”

“You out here pretending to be a meteorologist is a little far,” he joked, pointing to the window, where the sun was shining bright. “There’s not a cloud in the sky, yet you show up before ten o’clock on a Saturday with an umbrella.”

I glared at him. “I should’ve let it rain on your head.”

He laughed, pulling his phone out of his pocket. “I was going to head up the street to get something to eat. You want to come?”

“Oh, I’m not dressed for brunch,” I told him.

He looked me up and down. “You look good to me.”

I felt my cheeks flush.

“I’m changing my shirt, but I’m wearing this,” he continued, getting off the couch. “I just threw this shirt on because I’d just gotten out the shower when you started banging on my door like the police.”

I rolled my eyes. “I knocked like a normal person.”

“You knocked like I was getting evicted.”

“Whatever,” I called after him as he left the room.

When I was alone, I pulled out my cell phone.

Aaliyah:I have an update.

My heart went from hurting from Ahmad to hurting for Ahmad. The thought of him choosing to lie about a wife in order to reject me made me mad, embarrassed, and hurt my feelings. But the knowledge of his own heartbreak, his own healing journey, and his not being ready for a relationship made me love him more.

Not love as in in love. Love as in friendship love.

I bristled uncomfortably as the L-word snuck into my psyche. Because I didn’t mean that.

There were a lot of emotions that I needed to unpack, but hearing Ahmad out really helped. I felt better. And now that I knew where he was emotionally, romantically, and I didn’t feel completely rejected, we could go back to our friendship.

Nina:Text me the update. Don’t just announce the update!

I giggled quietly at Nina’s reply. Just as I was about to text, I heard footsteps coming down the hall.

“Checking on your next date?” Ahmad asked as he walked in with a navy-blue-and-white shirt with navy-and-white shoes to match.

“You look good,” I blurted out.

The words tumbled out of my mouth quicker than I realized, but it was the truth.

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