Page 25 of My Heart Belongs to You

I nodded while chuckling. “Yeah, so then we talked about the baby shower, which led to my mom dragging me to view venues.”

“How was that?” She picked up her drink from earlier, took a sip, then handed it to me.

With a shrug, I replied, “It was cool until I found out Sunny went snitching to my mom about me.”

After finishing the last of her drink, I handed it to Robyn. She rinsed the empty glass while laughing.

“I mean, can you blame her?” My eyebrows drew together, but before I could say anything, Robyn continued, “Sunny is hormonal right now and her best friend is shutting her out.”

“Did she tell you this?”

“I’m not getting in the middle.” Robyn held up her hands. “What I will say is that you can tell her what’s going on with you. She can handle it, Nadir.”

“Anyway,” I said, losing interest in the topic. “How was your day? You’re in a good mood,” I noted as my gaze swept over her once more. This time she caught me and kissed her teeth. “What?”

“Why are you staring at me like that?”

“Like what? You know how fine you are, Goldie. I’m just…” I took a beat, considering my words. “I’m admiring the view.”

Robyn blushed. “You want to hear about my day or not?”

I chuckled, noting how quickly she shut me down. “Go ’head.”

“Well, my plans changed after Adrienne called me in a panic. Her sous chef called out sick, so I jumped at the chance to help her. Last night I stayed up super late studying, thinking about B&B…”

“And you spiraled?”

“Yup,” she said, using a spoon to taste the muddled strawberries. After placing the spoon down, she continued, “I fell down a rabbit hole of should’ve, could’ve, would’ve, and by the time my alarm went off, I had no desire to study or go to B&B.”

“What made you say yes to Adrienne?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know, but I’m glad I did. We had so much fun, even during the lunchtime rush. The bustle of cooking the orders, interacting with the customers, and spending time with my friend, it was fortifying.”

“Ah, today was a test run for you, huh?”

“Yeah, I guess so. It will take a while for B&B to get like Taco Dreams.”

I shook my head. “Nah, I don’t think so.”

“Always the optimist.”

I smiled. “Optimism is easy when it comes to you.”

Her cheeks flushed and she dropped the empty shaker onto the counter. “Can you turn down the charm? It’s overwhelming.”

“I’m not trying to charm you, Goldie. Everything I say it’s true.”

She worked silently on the next drink. Moments later, she asked, “How did the conversation with your mom end?”

I shrugged while thinking back to the hug we shared. “It ended on a good note. We found a compromise, I think.”

“Which was?” Her expressive eyes met mine.

“Me being honest with them about how I’m handling this… breakup.”

The mere sound of it made me cringe.

“It’s not a nasty word, you know?” Robyn teased while shaking her head. “You don’t have the cooties or anything. You’re just… single. It’s not so bad.”