Page 3 of The Way Love Heals

Within seconds, she was in my room, with a bottle in one hand while the other was on her knee, twerking. I hyped her up before tightly embracing her.

Anytime I was with Pilar, she healed something in me. I loved my brothers, but being the only girl could be draining. When I was pregnant with AJ, I prayed for a girl. I needed more feminine energy around me, but in my gut, I knew he was a boy. Pilar had been the sister I’d always wanted since the fifth grade, and I couldn’t ask for a better best friend.

“Ooo, you look cute as hell, Britt! Body tea. Face tea. Everything tea.” Pilar tapped my ass and winked at me.

“That’s all you, P. This burgundy fits your skin so well.”

Since we were kids, I’d always thought Pilar was gorgeous. She was a bit on the slimmer side with thick, natural hair that she kept curly and dyed. I wasn’t sure how her hair was so healthy with how she liked to switch it up, but she did. Now it was burgundy, and the way it looked against her espresso skin was stunning. She had it styled in a fluffy braid out.

“Thank you.” She blushed, and her brown eyes seemed to glow. “Let’s take a few shots before we leave. I already scheduled a car to come pick us up so we can get as lit as we want.”

“Girl, you know I’m not about to do too much, especially if we’re still going out next weekend for Zaina’s birthday. I want to save all my drunkenness for then.”

“You have a good point. Well, we can still get lit, just not as lit.”

All I could do was wag my head when Pilar opened the bottle of tequila and made her way over to me. I opened my mouth, and she poured a shot in it. It was too much, and the burn settling in my chest had me second-guessing taking anymore.

Our car arrived ten minutes later. Pilar and I talked about work on the way to the restaurant. She was the general manager of a restaurant, and I swear, she always had the craziest stories. It was mind-blowing how entitled people were and how they treated service workers. Pilar was sweet and damn good at her job. She kept that restaurant running better than the owners, but she didn’t play when it came to respecting her and her staff members.

At Daily Fix, we were immediately seated upon entering, and I was grateful. The two shots we’d taken at my house had hit me, reminding me that I’d hardly ate anything all day.

“So, you know why Diamond’s fine ass wanted to pay, right?” Pilar joked, and I threw my straw wrapper at her.

“I’ll leave your ass here with no money, P. Quit playing with me when it comes to my brother. You’re the second person to bring him up like that. I’d hate to call his wife and let her know women are after her man.”

Pilar’s arched brows hung as she glared at me. “And who the hell was talking about him like that?”

“Girl, go on somewhere.”

When it came to Diamond, Pilar loved messing with me about him. Back in the day, she had the biggest crush on him, but he let it be known he wouldn’t date someone so close to me. At first, her feelings were hurt. She didn’t even want to come to the house anymore, but Ma got onto her ass. Deep down, I believed she still had a thing for him, but her comments were mostly to get under my skin. Like a true sister, she loved picking with me.

Once our drinks and appetizers came, we said a prayer over everything, and Pilar redirected the conversation.

“How do you feel about AJ’s new travel ball team?”

I picked up one of the fried pickles and dipped it in the spicy ranch. “Honestly, I’m excited. The team he was on last year wasn’t the best, and I don’t mean players wise. It was a daddy team, if you get what I’m saying. AJ didn’t get much playing time compared to some of the other boys, so I’m praying it’s better this year, especially with it being a Black head coach.”

“I know that’s right. I’d hate to come show my ass at one of his games, but you know I’ll do it. Do you know who the coach is?”

“I don’t, but Zaina does. She said they went to school together, and he had the credentials behind him. I guess we’ll see.”

The rest of my time with Pilar was nice. We ate, drank, and talked for hours. Instead of going out for drinks after dinner, we headed back to my place. It was probably for the best because we both ended up sleeping on my couch.

I missed my baby, but time with my best friend was much needed.

“Brown! Don’t go anywhere. We need to talk,” Coach Barnes yelled as I packed up my things.

I inwardly groaned, feeling the pit of my stomach do somersaults at his request. All I wanted to do was go home, shower, and lay down. We’d been out in the heat practicing for two hours. It was exhausting, so I tried to think of something to get him to change his mind.

“I can’t, Coach. My mom is waiting for me, and she said I better not take too long.”

“She knows I need to talk to you, so don’t worry about it. I told her to run to the store and grab you a sports drink.”

My mouth went dry, making it hard for me to swallow the lump in my throat. I bobbed my head and continued packing up my bag. A part of me wanted to leave without saying anything. I would rather walk home than stay behind with Coach, but if I didn’t, I feared I wouldn’t get any playing time. I feared it would make things worse for me all around, so when all my teammates were gone, I dragged myself and my bag over to him.

My skin crawled when Coach’s hand went to my sweaty, lower back. His beady eyes scanned over my body as he slowly trailed his tongue over his lips. When his hands went lower to my butt, I wanted to scream. I wanted to throw up all over him, but I was too afraid to do anything other than stand there.

“Uh . . . What did you need to talk to me about, Coach?” I stammered, hoping he would get on with it.