Page 59 of Curvy Girl Summer

“I ask the basics about their intentions with dating, goals, likes and dislikes, deal-breakers, beliefs, values.” I shrugged. “The normal important details for me.” I opened my phone and showed them three of my pictures. “And these are on my profile, and they are good—we have full body, we have face, we have natural beauty.”

As they gave me props for my profile and questions, I noticed Ahmad was sitting back, saying nothing.

“Now all of a sudden, you don’t have anything to say?” I wondered quizzically.

A small smile played on his lips. “It’s not anything you’re doing. It’s the men you’re picking.” He gestured around. “You see how easy everything flowed here? Not one time have you looked like”—he hunched his shoulders to his ears—“this.”

I slapped his arm playfully. “I do not look like that when I’m on the dates! You gotta stop lying,” I giggled.

“No, but seriously, you have to trust your gut with these dudes,” Ahmad told me. “You didn’t know them”—he gestured between Leon and Darius—“before tonight, and you were comfortable, you read the situation, you had no expectations. You’ve been you. You’ve been the you I met when you had that… first date.” He gave me a look, and we both knew he was talking about the time I was stood up. “When you’re you, you’ll see what it is you need to see and link up with what’s for you.”

“This muthafucka thinks he’s Dr. Phil now,” Leon joked, causing us all to laugh. “He’s right, though.”

“Yeah, you’re cool as hell,” Darius agreed. “If you can’t relax around someone, they ain’t it.”

“I agree, and I thank you,” I told them. “But this was different.”

I was sitting around with three friends—all of them fine asfuck—but still, it was a meetup with a married friend and friends of that married friend. It wasn’t a date.

“Kinda, but not really,” Leon replied.

“This isn’t a date,” I explained to the three confused-looking faces around me. “It’s different because this is not a date.”

Leon reached out for me. “We could leave these two and make it a date.”

I laughed, swatting at his hand. “You’re such a flirt! My point is Ahmad’s my new friend. And you’re Ahmad’s friends. This was a no-pressure situation. There’s no stress.”

Darius looked at Ahmad, so I looked over at him, too. His chiseled jaw was set, and his full lips were in a tight line.

“Okay, it’s not exactly the same,” Leon relented, pulling my attention back to him. “But it doesn’t change the fact that being comfortable is key.”

“We know how men think, and so you’re still going to come across the liars and the cheaters, but you should feel comfortable with the people you’re around.”

Ahmad put his hand on my back. “There should never be any pressure—even if it is a date.”

I held his gaze, and for some reason, I felt a little choked up by the sentiment. It was such a simple statement. Swallowing hard, I nodded.

The lights flickered and dimmed, and everyone in the place started screaming. I tore my eyes from his and glanced at the stage.

“Please put your hands together for Terra-Cotta!” someone yelled through the speakers.

Clapping, the four of us got up to get a better view as the R&B trio made their grand entrance. Because it wasn’t a concert, there was no opening act. The DJ left the booth, and Terra-Cotta got right to it.

From the first chord, I loudly sang right along with them. I was in the zone, dancing to the music and just enjoying myself.

“Let’s go check out what’s happening down there,” Leon suggested, pointing to a group of beautiful women singing loudly on the dance floor below us.

“Yeah, they seem fun,” Darius pointed out. “Y’all coming?”

“Nah, I’m good,” Ahmad answered.

Darius’s eyes widened, and he nodded. “Oh yeah, you’re right.”

I pretended I wasn’t listening and snuck a fond glance at Ahmad.He’s such a good man.

“Aaliyah, what about you?” Darius wondered.

I shook my head. “No, I’m going to stay up here.”

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