Page 54 of Imperial: The Corvidae Family
Me: My man was here and he took care of me.
Emir: He would have taken care of you this morning but your ass wouldn’t cooperate.
I grinned and didn’t respond, but I knew he was right. I was too exhausted, too sore, so he kissed me, showered, then left.
Before I could get sucked into texting him all morning, I sat up and threw the covers off. My schedule was light today, and I could work remotely, so I had plans that didn’t include staying in bed all day thinking about last night, even though my body was still humming from the way he handled me.
I grabbed my phone and sent a quick text to Rachelle.
Me: I’m coming over. Get dressed. We’re having a girls' day.
She didn’t even take a full minute to respond.
Rachelle: Uhhh. Excuse me? You, voluntarily taking a day off? Who are you and what have you done with my best friend?
Me: Friend, just get dressed.
Rachelle: Ooooh, you got some tea. I can feel it. On my way to shower now.
I shook my head, already knowing she was going to grill me the second I stepped into her place.
Rachelle’s apartmentwasn’t far from mine and the second I walked in I found her lounging on the couch, legs tucked, wearing an oversized hoodie and a bonnet, drinking coffee like we didn’t have plans.
Her eyes lifted when she saw me, but instead of greeting me normally, she immediately squinted.
“You look weird.”
I paused, frowning. “Excuse me?”
She set her mug down and faced me fully, pointing like I was a suspect. “No, seriously. You look suspiciously happy. What’s going on?”
I sighed, already knowing this was about to turn into a whole thing. I dropped onto the sofa beside her and grabbed the throw pillow, hugging it against my chest.
“Okay. Don’t freak out.”
Her brows shot up. “Baylyn, that is literally the fastest way to make me freak out. What the hell happened?”
I bit my lip, hesitating, then just ripped off the Band-Aid. “You remember the guy I told you about. The persistent one who I thought was keeping things from me?”
The way her eyes narrowed meant she remembered so I rushed the rest out. “Emir and I have been seeing each other.”
Silence.
Rachelle blinked and sat up so fast the couch shifted.
“I’m sorry, what?”
I avoided her narrowed stare. “We’ve been seeing each other.”
She gasped so dramatically I thought she might pass out. “Baylyn Andrews. What the actual fu?—”
I threw the pillow at her face before she could finish.
She snatched it mid-air, glaring. “No, friend. This is not what you told me last time! You said, and I quote, ‘he’s nothing serious,’ ‘it’s not even like that,’ ‘he’s just a guy.”
I winced. “Okay, in my defense… I wasn’t sure what it was at the time.”
“And now you are?”
