Page 159 of Curvy Girl Summer

It felt natural.

It felt right.

Swallowing hard, I turned the shower on and let the water rain down on me.

“Hold on!” I yelled out as I closed the curtain to keep the phone dry.

I rinsed my body off as I listened to my best friends recap what I’d told them. When I turned the shower off, I opened the curtain to grab my towel and the phone.

“It doesn’t matter how it felt,” I finally answered. “The sex was good. But he and I are on completely different wavelengths. If he were interested in something more, it would’ve come up. It never did. And that’s fine. But I know exactly what I’m looking for, and a random hookup isn’t it. So, it won’t happen again.”

“What if—?”

I cut the question off before it could get started.

“It’s my birthday,” I announced. “I have some questions for you… Who are you bringing to the party? And what are you wearing?”

There was a pause.

“Not everyone speak at once,” I joked.

“It’s, um…” Jazz stumbled over her words.

“Oh, so when I was in the hot seat, questions were slipping off the tongue. Now that the tables are turned, the cat’s got yours.”

Nina laughed.

“You, too, Nina,” I replied. “What’s going on with you? Who are you bringing?”

“I’m just bringing a friend,” she answered.

“A friend you’re fucking?” I asked.

“It’s complicated.”

“Mm-hmm,” I intoned. “All of a sudden, everything is complicated.”

We laughed.

“Okay, before we give it a rest, serious question… What are you doing about your date tomorrow?” Nina wondered.

“Well, I guess I’m going to have to show up alone and entertain Marcus.”

“Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait… Who is Marcus?” Jazz asked boisterously.

“He’s the man my family has been trying to hook me up with,” I reminded them. “He’s the son of my mom’s friend from church. Remember the guy from Aniyah’s memorial party? My mom invited him to the party, and the family is still hell-bent on setting me up with him. It was a whole thing.”

“Oh, I remember,” Nina uttered.

“So, what are you going to tell your parents tomorrow?” Jazz inquired.

“My mom and I have our appointment to get our nails done in the morning, so I’m just going to tell her the truth.”

“It’s about damn time!” Nina clapped. “I’m proud of you.”

“I’m going to talk to my mom at our appointment, and then you’ll both be able to see the fallout when we get to the lake house.”

“Birthday fallout…?” Jazz quipped. “Let’s not claim that energy.”

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