Nia waved them off. “I told you, perks of the job.”
They all hugged before Kym asked, “How was your trip?”
“Oh, a delayed flight, lost luggage, and a runway show that was an absolute fail, but I’m off to Cape Town soon, so that’s exciting.”
Retta looked up, noting the weariness in her friend’s voice. And now that she was paying attention, she could see the bags under her eyes. All the perfectly applied makeup in the world couldn’t hide that. Kym and Retta exchanged a look.
“Don’t burn out, okay?” Kym said, placing another tray of dough into the oven.
“Impossible. I’m living my dream,” Nia said, laughing. “But enough about me. I’ve missed you guys. What’s been going on?”
“Well,” Kym said, taking the hint that Nia no longer wanted to be bugged about her horrendous work-life balance. “Len and I finally agreed that we’d hyphenate the baby’s last name. It didn’t sit right with me to give our child his last name when we’re not even married.”
“Oh, I like that idea. And your last names are short enough,” Nia said as she reached for a cookie on the cooling rack. She narrowly missed hitting the light fixture above the island with her intricately styled faux locs.
“Also, Ret’s seeing someone.”
“What?” Nia said, jerking her head to look at Retta. “Who?”
“He owns the boxing gym next door to Dutch,” Retta said. “But—”
“An athlete?” Kym asked, her eyes widened. “That’s a choice.”
Kym’s college boyfriend had been a football player. She had feelings about it.
“Wait,” Nia said, drawing out the word. “The gym you were complaining about a couple of weeks ago?”
“Yeah,” Retta said, looking between her friends. There really wasn’t a graceful way to relay the next piece of information. She just had to come out and say it. “But our relationship is, one might say, unconventional? We made an agreement that he’ll attend Chris’s wedding with me as my boyfriend, and I’ll give him my parking spot in return.”
Somewhere in the distance, a car alarm went off as her friends’ mouths fell open. Retta watched them sit motionless for a while before Kym turned to Nia and asked, “I didn’t hear that correctly, did I?”
Nia closed her mouth then opened it again. “Can you expand on this a little?”
After going into more detail, Retta said, “It’s not really that big a deal.”
“How’s that not a big deal? You’re faking an entire relationship,” Kym said.
Retta huffed. “See, I was debating on not telling you because I knew you would judge—”
“Okay, okay,” Nia said, lifting her hands. “Everyone relax. Take a breath.” After a lengthy pause, Nia spoke, “He broke your heart, and you want to show you’re doing better without him. I get it.”
Sighing, Kym said, “It’s wild how you’re going about it, but if you need this wedding to close the chapter with Chris, I support you.”
“Thank you.”
“What’s he like?” Nia asked.
Retta hesitated before saying, “Gorgeous. Tall and dark-skinned. Good sense of humor.” She looked out the kitchen window, really visualizing Duncan now. “Thoughtful. He has this energy that makes you want to get closer.”
It was in the way he carried himself—the tilt of his chin, the way he leveled his gaze at you when you spoke, and his forearms. He had incredible forearms.
“It sounds like you really like him,” Nia said.
“Yeah, and how does this thing work? Are you two sleeping together?” Kym asked.
Straightening in her seat, Retta said, “It’s one hundred percent professional…” She folded her hands in front of her on the counter. “But I did lick his face.”
Nia laughed. “What? Why?”
