Page 72 of Surrogate For My Best Friend’s Man 2

I looked at her and she was smiling at me like she had no reason in the world not to believe those babies were mine.

“Yeah.” The lie came out easy. “Ready for them to get here.”

“See, I knew it.” She laughed. “Shante tried to act like you weren't driving her crazy buying all that baby shit.”

I forced a laugh. “You know how she is.”

“Yes, I do.” She smiled. “She acts like she don’t like all that attention, but she do.”

I nodded. “Mmm-hmm.” I needed to get the fuck out of there. Every sentence made me feel worse. Then Alisha reached into one of her bags. “Look.” She pulled out two little outfits, one pink and one blue. “I know I need to stop buying stuff.” She laughed. “But I saw these and couldn’t leave them.”

I looked down at them. “They are nice.”

“Ain’t they?” She folded them back up. “I told Shante I’m done after this.” She paused. “Well… unless I see something else.”

I laughed. “That’s usually how that goes.”

“Exactly.” She put them back in the bag. “Those are my babies too.”

That wiped the smile right off my face. Alisha didn’t notice, she was still looking inside the bag.

“I’m ready for them to get here.”

I looked away, because that shit was getting harder to stomach. This woman had enough going on already. Her husband was sitting in the county. Some bitch had walked into her best friend’s baby shower and announced she was having twins with him. And through all the bullshit, Alisha was still showing up for Shante.

Still buying shit for babies she thought belonged to us, still checking on her. Still loving her like none of the bullshit in her own life mattered when it came to her best friend. Solid was the only word for it. Alisha was solid as hell and they were doing her dirty Deuce especially.

“You good?” Alisha asked.

I looked at her. “Huh?”

“You got quiet.”

“Nah, I’m straight.”

She studied me for a second. “You sure?”

“Yeah.” I nodded toward her bags. “You just got me thinking about how close it’s getting.”

She smiled. “I know.”

Then she looked at me with admiration. "Make sure you take care of my girl.”

I looked away for a second. “You know I got her.” Another fucking lie I hated this shit.

Alisha smiled. “I know you do, that's why I don’t worry about her with you.”

I rubbed my hand across my beard. “You and Shante have been friends a long time, huh?”

“Forever.” She laughed. “That’s my bitch.”

I nodded. “Y’all ever fall out?”

“Of course.” She answered.

“Over some real shit?”

She thought about it. “Not nothing we couldn’t come back from.”