Page 36 of The Marriage Rebound

My next bite hovered midair before I started laughing. “She what?”

“She was corruptin’ my Big Mama. Had her talkin’ ’bout ‘delulu,’ and ‘no cap,’ and other nonsense. They was too much.”

The smile on her face broadened the one on mine. I could only imagine Mya and her trying to teach Big Mama slang, especially knowing Mya’s general high energy. Combine that with Big Mama’s insistence she was still young and spry, and I bet the two of them were a mess together.

And it was something I’d missed out on. I chewed the inside of my cheek, a strange hollowness rolling through me. Not only was I not there to be a part of the fun, it was damn near a year later before I was even hearing the story. Of course, I’d gotten a generic rundown of how things had gone, but clearly not any of the memorable details. Not even from Mya, who’d just said Sash’s family had been welcoming and she’d had a great time and ate a lot.

I cleared my throat. “So, yeah, guess it’s all good that she comes.”

Sasha nodded as she finished chewing. “Of course. Big Mama’s plannin’ stuff at her house as usual, unless Mom and Dad decide they want to hold somethin’ at theirs. It is an election year, so photo ops,” she said with an eye roll. “But they haven’t said nothin’, so probably not.” There was an edge to her voice that was always present when she talked about my in-laws.

In the handful of times I’d been around them they’d seemed nice enough. Way more uptight than I’d expected since I’d met Big Mama first, but I guess it did make sense considering her dad’s career choice.

“Alright, well, I will let her know right now so I don’t forget.” I whipped out my phone and sent Mya a quick text.

It dawned on me that I hadn’t spent Thanksgiving at home since the first year we were together. I was actually looking forward to it.

“Why you starin’ at me?”

“’Cuz I can.” Something else dawned on me. I couldn’t remember the last time we were out, just the two of us. “I’m glad we did this.”

A full grin spread across her face. It was the kind that made me remember how I got here. The kind of grin that put a spotlight on the earlier times when we first started dating. The grin that was the reason we’d started dating.

We ate, we laughed, and we simply enjoyed each other’s company, easy and relaxed in a way we hadn’t been in a while.

Our courtship had been quick. It’d burned hot and fast. Dating only two months before I spontaneously said we should get married during an away game in Vegas. We’d won the game, which had been the first after a string of losses, and I’d been feeling the high. We’d snuck out of the team’s hotel and popped into the twenty-four-hour wedding chapel down the street. Shae and Tina had thought I was out of my mind, but they’d still come to be witnesses.

The honeymoon phase had been intoxicating. Nothing but rose-colored glasses.

That hadn’t lasted.

But we could get back there.

I wanted us to get back there.

Chapter 15

Sasha

What are you doin’?”

“Whatcha mean what I’m doing? You told me to crack eggs for the cornbread, so I’m crackin’ eggs.”

I peeked around her arm to the bowl. “But you got shell pieces in it.”

Courtney cut her eyes over at me before dropping her attention to what she was doing. “I mean, you can just dig them out, right?”

“Have you seriously never cracked eggs before?”

She shrugged. “No reason, I don’t really like eggs.”

“Wait. What? When I’ve cooked you breakfast, why you ain’t say nothin’?”

Again, she shrugged. “You cooked. I ate.”

I blinked a few times, trying to process her statement and the nonchalance with which she’d said it. I didn’t know whether to find it annoying or endearing that she hadn’t said anything about her dislike and instead chose to suffer through something she didn’t enjoy.

“Anythin’ else?”