25. Everly
“Ev, you been knowing you were coming for the class reunion forever! Why you wait til the last minute to find your outfit?” Emory demanded, bossy as usual.
She never understood that I didn’t share her shopping fetish, and as I flipped through the racks in this store, I remembered why.
“Em, stop fussing. It’s not good for the baby. I’ll call you later.”
“No, I wanna see?—”
“Later, Emory Leigh,” I insisted, then hung up. “Sorry. My sister,” I explained to my personal shopper.
She smiled. “I understand sisters. I have four. I can tell that this feels like a chore to you. As you know, we have an extensive plus collection. If you don’t mind, I can show you some things that I think will work for you.”
I accepted her offer, relieved to follow her around the department. She had a good eye, and I quickly had a dressing room with a good selection.
“One more thing, Ms. H?—”
“Ms. Evanie! Hey, beautiful!”
I turned at the voice that cut through the shopper’s suggestion. Who in the hell?—
My attitude shifted when I saw Real’s sassy Aunt Mona.
“Hey, Ms. Ramona. How are you?” I greeted as she approached me.
I extended my hand, but she slapped it down before drawing me into a tight hug. Laughing, I hugged her back.
“Are you a hugger? We hug in this family, so you might have to redraw your personal space,” she said, pressing a kiss against my cheek.
I didn’t know what to say about her unexpected inclusion of me as family, so I didn’t say anything.
“You just out shopping?“ I asked instead as she stepped back.
Mona rolled her eyes. “Girl, Rachel got us out here. Saturday, we have an appreciation program for the women’s auxiliary at our church. Everyone is supposed to wear white. A lot of us waited till the last minute, so we out here today, looking crazy.”
“I’m sure you’ll find something. You sound like me about shopping.”
“You don’t like it either? Girl, I feel like I can get 99 percent of what I need online,” she said, then sighed.
I nodded my agreement. “I know. This is not my thing.”
She opened her mouth to say something, but an imperious voice interrupted.
“Ramona, there is no use in you hiding out. We have to find something for you.”
Ms. Rachel appeared with a frown and a couple of women, fussing at her sister. She sounded so much like Emory, I had to laugh as I patted Ms. Mona’s shoulder in solidarity. Ms. Rachel’s face smoothed as her eyes landed on me.
“Evanie! Hi, darling. We’re expecting you back at Rachel’s soon.”
I smiled at her but it wavered when my gaze fell on Abbra. The bitch smirked at me, her brown eyes evil.
“Evanie, this is my best friend Margaret and her daughter, Abbra. Y’all, this is Real’s… friend, Evanie,” Ms. Rachel introduced.
Margaret smiled warmly. “Oh, so our Real is finally?—”
“She said ‘friend,’ Mama. I’ve already had the pleasure. Real and I ran into her on our date at the farmer’s market,” Abbra said, glaring at me.
I eyeballed the bitch right back. I felt Mona’s hand on my arm, and she squeezed gently.
“You should come Saturday. Mount Moriah Baptist Church. We’d be glad to see you,” she invited.
“That would be nice… . If she goes to church, I mean,” Abbra said, trying to hide her shade with a big smile.
“Abbra!” her mom snapped.
“What? I’m just saying, not everyone does,” Abbra replied, all wide-eyed innocence as she retrieved her phone from her purse.
“We really would love to have you, Ev,” Ms. Rachel said.
I nodded. “I’ll check my calendar,” I promised.
“Mama Rachel,” she put emphasis on the “mama,” “could we possibly move dinner up an hour? I know we’re all meeting up, then Real has plans for me afterward. He just texted,” Abbra said, grinning hard.
I hated this bitch with everything in me right now. And I hated him for “dating” her. I didn’t care that I made the rules. At this moment, I felt how I felt. Epiphany would’ve told me that it was okay, it didn’t have to make sense. I was human. Imperfect. Conflicted. And more than a little hurt.
“That’s so cute—I haven’t heard you call her ‘Mama Rachel’ since you were a little girl,” Mona said.
Abbra’s head snapped up as she scowled, then hurriedly wiped her face. “Well, the way things are developing…”
She gave me a smug look. I felt that shit in my stomach, but I smiled anyway.
“Ms. Mona, Ms. Rachel, it was so nice to see you again. I really need to finish…”
I gestured at my patient shopper.
“Of course, baby. Come Saturday. I know Montréal would be glad to see you,” Ms. Rachel said, winking at me.
Abbra made a small, displeased sound.
Good , I thought. Bitch . I was even less interested in shopping now. I paid for all the stuff we’d picked out and left the store. After putting everything away, I showered and climbed in my bed. I wrapped my feelings around me as tightly as I did my covers and turned on the TV. I ignored my phone. I ignored my doorbell. But I couldn’t ignore the feet jogging up the stairs. Only one person, aside from me, knew the codes for this house. I lay still as my bedroom door barged open.
“The fuck you got going in this bitch?” he asked.
I was suddenly very interested in my TV. I pretended not to see him bending to take off his shoes.
“Ev—”
“I’m sorry. I thought you had plans tonight,” I said calmly before flipping the channel.
“The only thing I plan on doing tonight is you.”
I wrinkled my nose at his vulgarity. He moved closer and tried to pull my bed spread away. I held onto it tightly. Eyes narrowed, he stared down at me.
“Evanie. I been calling you and texting you. If you didn’t wanna see me, mamas, that’s cool, but say something. Why you acting like this?”
“I’m sick,” I lied.
Real smirked. “I heard jealousy makes your stomach feel that way. You slipping, gorgeous. Jealousy is against rule number twelve or something. Check the playbook.”
I kissed my teeth. “What I’m jealous of?”
He had the nerve to laugh as he wrestled the spread and sheet away from me, then lay on my tense body. He kissed my nose then buried his face against my neck and blew raspberries. A giggle escaped me before I could help it. I pressed his shoulders.
“Stop,” I whined. “And I’m not jealous.”
“Girl, you were jealous at that farmer’s market, and I know you were jealous today. I’ma let you figure it out. I will say, for all the shit Mona said Abbra said, you see where I am. Where I always am in my free time,” he argued, voice gruff.
“You don’t spend nights here. Not that it’s my business if you spend them anywhere else,” I countered.
“You won’t let me spend nights here. And I’m flattered by what you think of my stamina, but if you think I’m in any shape to see someone else when I leave here, you’re sadly mistaken.”
I sighed as he landed butterfly kisses all over my face and neck.
“It’s not my business?—”
“But you worried about it. You cute, shorty,” Real murmured. “It’s okay. though. You have no reason to be jealous.”
“I’m not?—”
He kissed me then, a full, mouth-on-mouth sensual assault. I held on to my aggravation, even as I opened for him. We kissed for what felt like forever, a slow passionate glide of lips and tongues, eyes locked on each other. Long minutes later, I stroked the smooth skin of his arms absentmindedly, dazed from our kiss.
“Your girlfriend wouldn’t like that, I bet,” I whispered.
“My girlfriend don’t know she’s my girlfriend,” he grumbled.
My breath caught somewhere in my chest.
“Real—”
“It’s okay,” he said, kissing along my jawline. “She’s smart. She’ll get it one day.”
“Wh-what if she doesn’t?” I asked.
“She will… I’ll make sure of it.”
“You say she’s smart; if she is, she knows men will say anything to get what they want,” I said cynically.
He looked at me, making sure his brown eyes pinned mine.
“Which is why I’ma show her how serious I am until she understands,” he promised.