Page 92 of Curvy Girl Summer

But that was how life played out for Aniyah.

She had it easy. Whatever she wanted landed at her feet. She truly lived a charmed life.

But she didn’t make it beyond thirty.

I swallowed hard and tried to push the thought away.

Asia glanced over to a man who was flagging her down. “I’ll be back.”

Just as she walked off, I got an alert on my phone. Thinking it was my date, I prepared for a cancellation, postponement, or delay of some sort.

My eyebrows flew up as I recognized the name across my screen—and it wasn’t my date.

My ex-boyfriend, my first heartbreak, had commented on my photo and sent me a message. Hesitantly, I opened it and read it. Rolling my eyes, I went back to the picture in question and studied it. I looked good. But I was not expecting to hear from someone who swore he’d never speak to me again. Holding my phone at eye level, I zoomed in.

I mean… Idolook good, though.

It’d been a month since my first TenderFish date and five weeks since I’d been stood up, and I was no closer to being booed up on my birthday. And while I could’ve responded to my ex, that wasn’t the energy I wanted to usher into my thirties. Tremaine was my ex for a reason. But I couldn’t deny that the others in my DMs were tempting as my birthday loomed a few weeks away.

“That picture is fire,” Ahmad commented from behind me.

His voice sent a chill down my spine.

I lurched forward, bringing my arm down and my phone to my chest. “Why are you creepily looking over my shoulder?”

“Why are you holding your phone up with the picture zoomed in like it was on a jumbo screen? Your eyes bad?”

“They must be if I’m just now noticing you’re a creep.”

He chuckled as he made his way around the bar to the back office. When he returned, he grabbed a crate of clean glasses and started putting them away in front of me.

“You look good in green,” Ahmad stated with a straight face.

I narrowed my eyes suspiciously but decided to take the compliment. “It’s my favorite color.”

As soon as I opened my mouth to thank him, he continued, “Over here looking like the sexy M&M.”

I suppressed a giggle, but I couldn’t cover the smile. “I can’t stand you.”

“You look a little more relaxed today. Did you listen to the playlist?”

I nodded. “I did. And I love it. It’s a vibe.”

Ahmad grinned. “I hate to say I told you so…”

“Don’t look so impressed with yourself. Not with that outfit on.”

He laughed, looking down at himself. “Damn, what’s wrong with what I have on?”

My eyes swept his body.Not a damn thing.

I frowned and gestured from his head to his feet. “Where do I start?”

When he smoothed his hands down his shirt, from his chest to his stomach, I was eye level with his wedding ring.

I cleared my throat and shifted my gaze away from him. “I’m playing. Your outfit is fine. I see you went up to a full medium shirt, so that’s a nice change. Now I can only see two of your ribs through the threads of fabric.”

“Aye yo, you are an asshole for real!”

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