“Well, I’m beginning to hate him,” I huff. “And as it turns out, his family knows about me. But since we’re all under this strict NDA—”
Eslin barks out a laugh. “Who is? Because I’m damn certain the Stand-Ins weren’t named in your NDA, yet we all know your sordid business, boo! You act like youwantto get sued.”
“Oh, hush! This is different!” I chide, with no real comeback to offer. “Since his family doesn’t know he left me, he needs me to go home with him to play the part.”
“And you’re certain you wouldn’t take him back?” Eslin asks, her voice dropping into a more serious, therapeutic tone. “Because this feels like you’re playing a very dangerous game. If Marlow’s growing belly is any indication, these little games never work out the way you plan.”
“I—” I falter. The truth is a tangled knot I’m not ready to unravel out loud. He didn’t just hurt me. I was humiliated in a way that left scars. “I don’t think I can,” I confess. “Even if a big part of me wants to.”
Eslin just sips her drink, her expression flat. “Okay…I have to tell you something, but just know it’s coming from a place of love.”
The table goes quiet. Holly and I both lean in, silent with anticipation.
“I think you’re a damn liar,” Eslin says flatly. My eyes go wide for a split second before I nearly fall out of the booth laughing.
“Excuse me?” I managed to choke out.
“I’m not saying anything else because you don’t pay me enough,” she says, taking a pointed sip of her drink. “But just know I’ll be around when you finally decide to stop lying to us—and yourself.”
I let the comment hang there, but I don’t have the mental capacity to interrogate what she means. Not yet.
“It gets worse,” I add, dropping my head into my hands.
“Of course it does,” Holly says, throwing up her hands in mock exasperation. “Why would it ever be simple?”
“Our episode of SightUnseen airs next week. The whole world is about to see exactly how we met, and I haven’t even told my mother that this man isn’t some longstanding relationship I hid from her. It’s a Las Vegas experiment!”
Eslin shakes her head, her voice bordering on a whine. “How do I keep ending up connected to women in these situations?”
“I don’t know, but my life has never been more eventful,” Holly sings. “Now, do you need help with the move-in or—”
“I’mnotmoving in. I am taking a few items to his house.”
Eslin raises her voice, drawing looks from the neighboring tables. “Isn’t that exactly what moving in is?”
“Shut up!” I laugh, feeling the heat in my cheeks. “Clearly, I’m trying to minimize it.”
“And there will be no sex? With your husband?” Holly confirms, eyebrow arched.
“That’s right!”
We all stare at each other for a beat of heavy silence before the table bursts into laughter again.
“You bitches do not know me! I am a strong and capable Black woman!”
Holly wipes a stray tear from the corner of her eye, though she’s clearly more amused than moved. “Girl, I was here the day Mylene stopped by, telling us all about how the ‘good girl’ who never did anything without her mom’s seal of approval finally got swept away. But I wasn't surprised. Like I told you before, doing something wild in Vegas is a rite of passage.”
“It was the biggest mistake of my life!” I yell, though my conviction is starting to waver.
“We’ll see about that after your first week living under that man’s roof,” Eslin says, raising her hand like she’s calling on a teacher.
“Wait, this changes the bet!” I interject, trying to weasel my way out of the deal. “Technically, I already won!”
“Nice try,” Holly counters. “We said we’d just keep adding money to the pot to see how long it would take for you to break. And I am willing to bet that man is going to pull out every single stop to get you in his bed, girl!”
Eslin raises a solemn, Baptist finger. “Speaking of which, can I add more money to my wager? Because this heffa is going down in three days, tops!”
Chapter Twenty-Four
