Page 32 of The Marriage Rebound

I tilted my head to the side and tapped my chin. “You’ve inspired me, babe.”

I turned back to the rack and pulled free my light pink off-shoulder mini dress. It was cute, but casual. And I loved the big puffy sleeves. We weren’t exactly the type of couple that would wear matching outfits, but on occasion I would try to pick something that complemented what she had on since she typically would be dressed first. Though I wasn’t sure if she ever picked up on it. I continued to do it anyway because I liked having another way of feeling spoken for, of being seen and recognized as Courtney’s woman.

I held the dress to my body before facing her. “Whatcha think?”

“I like it.” The disappointment of her not having more to say had zero time to settle in as she strolled over to the shoe cubby and pulled down my pair of floral wedges with the strap that wrapped around my leg to mid-calf. She set them on the dresser, then kissed my cheek and squeezed my ass. “I’ll be downstairs.”

A smile formed on my lips as I played with the satin fabric of the strap. Her selection was perfect for the dress I’d picked and her confidence in grabbing a pair wasn’t about rushing me along, but more about the little ways she did pay attention. The dress was simple, and I liked to have something be a statement piece, so these shoes would be it.

I could get done in twenty.

When we got to K-Q, Courtney pulled up to the valet stand. The attendant opened the door for me. I climbed out while Courtney gave the other guy the keys to my car. When she got to me, she grabbed my hand and led us into the restaurant. Tanisha was sitting in the waiting area, and stood as we walked in.

I let go of Courtney’s hand to give Tanisha a quick hug. “Hey, girl.”

She shifted her attention to Courtney. “Hey, Courtney. How you been?”

Courtney held up her injured arm. “Eh, I’ve been better.”

“Yeah . . . Sasha told us what happened. Sorry.”

“Thanks, but ya know, what can ya do?”

“Right. Well, thanks for letting me crash.”

“Don’t mention it. Sash said you got some bad news and needed some girl time. Hopefully hangin’ with us will take your mind off whatever it is.” Her reply even came with a soft smile, which made me feel good. Especially since she’d seemed annoyed at the house.

It helped that she and Tanisha didn’t butt heads like Courtney did with Denise. That was still baffling because from the jump Denise seemed to take issue with Courtney for no real reason. And Courtney was good at giving back the energy she got tenfold. Court’s friends accepted me into the fold with no issue, and it would have been nice if it were the same with her and my friends, but she didn’t seem to care one way or the other so I didn’t push it.

Courtney pulled out her phone. “They’re already here and they got a table in the back,” she said without looking up.

“I can take you to your party.” The hostess who’d been standing there spoke for the first time since we’d arrived.

We followed behind the woman, Tanisha and I hanging back some from Courtney as Tanisha told me ol’ boy had been blowing up her phone from random numbers. He had some real nerve trying to pretend he didn’t know what he’d done and why she’d blocked him.

When we entered the semi-private room, the chatter of the other three women stopped as they shifted their attention to us.

“About damn time,” Tina said.

“That’s my bad. Was a little indecisive on what to wear.”

“Well, you look cute,” Khadijah chimed in.

I did a few quick poses. “Thank ya, thank ya.”

Attention shifted from me to Tanisha, and it dawned on me that this was the first time that my friends and Courtney’s were overlapping.

“Y’all, I want you to meet my friend Tanisha. Tanisha and I used to dance together at The Candy Shop. I invited her to hang with us tonight. Hope y’all don’t mind.”

“No, of course, not. The more the merrier,” Tina said. “So, you’re a dancer, huh? Have we seen you?”

Tanisha smiled. “I don’t think so, because if you’ve seen me dance, you’d certainly remember.” She finished with a wink.

Tina grinned and nodded. “A’ight then.”

“Well, Tanisha, that’s Tina.” Tina leaned forward with her hand outstretched. “And that’s Shae and Khadijah.”

They both gave small waves and welcomed her. Much like when Shae brought Khadijah and her sister to the VIP room the night they met, there were curious glances initially, but the group seemed generally unbothered. My impulsive invitation hadn’t thrown the night off.