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She also needed to remind herself not to curse her friends out the moment she saw them. This wastheirfault. They were the ones who suggested this random hookup in the first place.
“Samiah and Taylor didn’t tell you to screw Drew Sullivan,” she said to herself. That was all on her. Well, and on Drew. Who in the hell told him to walk around their reunion looking like he belonged on the cover of that magazine Tabitha had shoved in his face?
London reminded herself that this wasn’t the end of the world.
So she’d slept with Drew. Big deal. Now that they were past the awkward morning-after phase, she didn’t have to worry about him. He would soon be back in New York gazing out at Central Park while he shaved in the morning, and she would be at the hospital saving lives.
They were two consenting adults who’d spent the night showing each other a good time. What was wrong with that?
“This is fine,” London said. “Everything is fine.”
Fifteen minutes later, she pulled up to the restaurant and was relieved when she didn’t see a crowd of people waiting to get in. All the college kids were probably still sleeping off their partying from the night before. The local chain was an Austin institution, and right now there was nothing she wanted to do more than stuff her face with their blueberry buttermilk pancakes.
She was shown to a booth that overlooked one of UT’s many residence halls, but just as she slipped onto the sky-blue vinyl, she realized that her bladder was seconds from bursting. She’d been so eager to get away from Drew, using the bathroom had been the furthest thing from her mind.
When London rounded the corner on the way back from the restroom, she spotted Taylor Powell’s maroon-colored box braids piled on top of her head. Both she and Samiah were sitting in the booth.
“There she is,” she heard Taylor say. Her forehead creased in a frown as London approached. “Uh, don’t you think you’re a bit overdressed for pancakes?”
London glanced down at her red sequined jumpsuit. There were still a few spots dotted with chocolate. She looked like a hot-ass mess.
Samiah slid from the booth and enveloped London in a hug.
“What’s going on?” she asked. “Are you hurt?”
“No, no, it’s nothing like that.” London disengaged from her hold and gestured for Samiah to take her seat. Then she slid into the booth next to her. She looked across the table at Taylor and frowned. “How did you make it from Georgetown so fast? Were you speeding again?”
“Jamar and I spent the night at my apartment here in town,” Taylor answered. Her friend had fallen hard for her new man after first working as his personal fitness coach.
“What’s the big emergency?” Samiah asked, getting right down to business, as usual.
Samiah had also taken a swan dive into love’s deep end. She and her boyfriend, Daniel, had just celebrated their four-month anniversary. London had rolled her eyes at the pictures Samiah had posted on her Instagram of her apartment crowded with candles and roses, yet she could also admit that she had been the teeniest bit jealous. She’d never been one for over-the-top romantic gestures, but that shit had melted her heart.
“Food first,” London said as the server arrived at their table with water glasses and a coffee carafe. They put in their breakfast orders, and London turned her attention to her coffee, ripping the top off five sugar packets. She pointed to Taylor as she added them to her mug.
“I don’t need a lecture about refined sugar this morning,” she warned.
“Fine,” Taylor said. “I’ll close my eyes so that I don’t have to see you fill your body with the devil’s candy.”
“I’ll tell you when you can open them again.”
“Can you tell us why we’re here?” Samiah asked, impatience making her voice shrill.
London took a sip of her coffee. It was too sweet for her liking, but she couldn’t say anything because she didn’t want to hear Taylor’s mouth. She set the cup down and folded her hands on the table.
“I did something I’m ashamed of,” she said. She looked first to Samiah, then to Taylor, giving them both the stink eye. “I took your advice.”
Taylor’s mouth screwed up in a frown. “Our advice?” Then her eyes went wide and she squealed. “You got some dick last night!”
The two older women sitting at the table next to theirs released twinscandalized gasps.
“Dammit, Taylor,” London hissed. “Why don’t you hire a skywriter to plaster that shit all across Austin?”
“But this is a good thing,” Taylor said.
“Yes.” Samiah nodded. “We all agreed that some stress-relieving sex should be at the top of your priority list. But, based on your reaction this morning, maybe we should have clarified that you neededgoodsex.”
“That’s the problem,” London said. “It wassofucking good.” She glanced over at their neighbors, who thankfully hadn’t heard her.
