Page 34 of Curvy Girl Summer

“I was out with The Romantic One last night. Everything was cool, and guess who strolled up?”

My eyes widened. “Who?”

“The married man.”

“No!”

“We talked him up!”

“What happened?”

“Let’s order first, and then I’ll tell you.”

When the waitress came back, we ordered, and then I clasped my hands in front of me and was ready to listen.

“Before I begin,” Nina started, grabbing her mimosa glass, “let’s toast.”

I picked mine up and held it in the air. “What are we toasting?”

“To the wild ride that is dating.”

I smiled, clinking my glass against hers. “Wild ride?”

She winked. “Buckle up.”

6

At Nina’s insistence, I entertained conversations with some other men on TenderFish, too, but Donte had my attention. After we spent almost all day on Sunday texting each other through the app, I was quite smitten with his personality. Because of work, the conversation slowed during the week. But every night, we exchanged messages for a couple of hours before bed. And by the time Friday rolled around, my stomach was in knots.

“What do you think about the yellow dress?” I asked Jazmyn over the phone. “I just sent you a picture. It’s hot today, and I think it’s the perfect time to wear it.”

“Oh, that looks cute on you,” she approved. “Wear it.”

“The only shoes I have to go with it are the gold, strappy ones. Do you think that’s doing too much?”

“No, this is a meetup with a man you’ve been getting to know. First impressions matter.” She let out a short, soft giggle. “I don’t know why, but this reminds me of our days back at HU, getting ready for our first double date freshman year.”

“Ahh, good ol’ Hamilton University days.” I smiled, thinking back to the carefree days of dating on campus. “The only thing missing is Nina loudly singing and dancing around the dorm.”

“Wow, we’ve been talking each other through first-date jitters for almost twelve years.”

“Yeah, we have. And one of these days, we’ll talk each other through our last first-date pre-date jitters.” I lifted my hand in the air. “Amen!”

“Oh, what did you decide to do with your hair?” she asked.

“I have my hair pinned up to show off my dangly earrings.”

“Good. Don’t forget to put the gold pins in your hair to give your ’fro some extra shimmer.”

I didn’t even think about that.

“Good call. Thanks.”

I was quiet for a moment as I headed to the bathroom to add the pins. Jazmyn and I hadn’t talked much since Sunday afternoon when I told her about my date. That night, her aunt took a turn for the worse. She didn’t want me or Nina to come down, but we sent flowers. I knew she was just looking for a break from talking about everything with her aunt, so I answered all her pre-date questions. And even though she seemed in good spirits and at peace, I was worried about her.

“How are you?” I asked gently. “How is… everything? Are you sure you don’t want us to come down?”

“Thank you again for offering, but no. It’s already too much going on down here. And I’m fine. I’m sad, but I’m fine. There’s so much stuff to do.” She let out a sigh. “It’s just a lot going on. Just have to take it one day at a time and everything will be fine.”

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