Page 12 of Three of Hearts

“Please let me know if you ever wanna explore that mama,” he said, blowing out a huge cloud of smoke.

Lisa blushed, her cheeks flushing pink, and shook her head. “This is about Nikki right now.”

“No please, let’s change the subject for a second. What have y’all been up to?”

“Been busy since the grand opening of the dispensary. But we just closed on our dream house! So we’re going to need all hands on deck to pack and move soon” Lisa said.

“Ahhhh congratulations guys! Big flex shit! You know you just need to tell me a date and time and I’m here.”

We were all lost in the haze of our high and got lost in our own thoughts while we finished off the last of the blunt being passed around.

“So what you about to do girl?”

“I don’t fuckin know.” I said, the confusion heavy in my chest.

“Okay, let’s talk out both scenarios. You don’t reach out… nothing happens. You’ll most likely never see them again, and you just move on. Safe. Predictable. No risk. You do reach out… couple things could happen. You run the risk of them rejecting you. You run the risk of them only wanting you as a fuck buddy. Or it could be the best decision, and they feel the same way about you.”

“There’s too many variables in that second option for me,” I decided, shaking my head.

“Agreed,” Lisa said. “So cherish the memory and try to let it go, babe,” she said, her hand finding my knee.

“Now hold up,” Malcolm interjected, leaning forward. “What if I had that same mindset about us? You wouldn’t be my wife right now.”

Lisa had told me about their love story, how Malcolm crashed her wedding to another man. So he had all the credentials to defend the other side of this argument.

“Damn… you’re right, baby. Nikki, I don’t know what to tell you. Let fate decide.”

I left their house feeling just as confused as when I arrived, but I was up an ounce and a job, so I was counting my blessings. The rest would have to figure itself out. If nothing else, this situation proved I needed to focus on getting my life together. A relationship was probably the last thing I should be thinking about, let alone a relationship with two people. But that wasn’t stopping Q and Niecy from living rent free in my mind.

Chapter 11

Three Months after RRABF

Denise

Excitement bubbled in my stomach hearing Q’s car pull into the driveway. I had been sitting on the good news all day and couldn’t wait to share it with him. He walked through the door looking just as sexy as when he left this morning, wearing my favorite outfit, an expertly tailored navy blue Tom Ford suit and holding a bouquet of flowers and a bottle of my favorite red wine.

“Guess what?” I said, clapping my hands together.

“You got an author table at RRABF 2026! Congratulations, baby!” he said, wrapping me in a huge bear hug, his scent enveloping me.

“Wait… how did you find out?” I asked, slightly disappointed I wasn’t the one to tell him first.

“They posted the lineup on their page this morning since tickets go on sale next week.”

“I didn’t even know you followed them,” I said, smelling the fragrant tulips, their sweetness filling my nose.

“I’ve been more excited about this than you have. Yes, I follow them. I’ve been checking every day.”

My husband never ceased to amaze me. I was truly always in awe of the man I married. These past three months had been nothing short of a whirlwind of emotions and confusion, andhad it not been for his patience and reason, I don’t know how I would have fared. I wanted to pretend like our weekend at RRABF was a new and fun experience for us to talk about for years to come, but the truth was, I left Atlanta hurt. And worse, I felt stupid for feeling hurt. Because how had I let this woman who I barely knew affect me like that? I wasn’t new to casual sex. I had lived a little bit before Q, so I knew the number one rule was don’t catch feelings. I didn’t even think that was possible being a happily married woman, let alone happen with a woman. Nikki fucked my head up, and in the months after being back home, it only got worse. Raina tagged us in the pictures we took at the club, and it had become a nightly ritual to check her Instagram page. Q and I discussed that it was on her to get in touch with us first; she’s the one who left without a word. But a part of me wondered if that was my fault. Maybe she had found out I was D. Miller and felt deceived. That’s where Q had to be my voice of reason, telling me that even if she found out, her leaving without the proper communication told us everything we needed to know about how she deals with conflict. I hated that she kept proving my Lynn theory. Lynn was definitely the most unstable, unreliable, hardheaded one out of the group, making the relationships in her life harder than they had to be. But I was understanding to a fault. I put myself in her shoes, imagining how intimidating it must feel to enter into the sanctity of someone’s marriage and be vulnerable. I wouldn’t feel like I had a place either, especially if dynamics, wants, and needs weren’t discussed prior, or maybe she was just that good at seducing couples. Maybe that’s what got her off, and maybe we were way in over our heads. The bottom line was that we didn’t know, and that’s what bothered me so much. I didn’t know why she decided to run, and it was keeping me up at night trying to guess. But I had to trust that if it was meant for us to know, then we would eventually.

My phone vibrated on the kitchen island as I was placing the last tulip in a vase and Q was pouring us two glasses of the wine he bought. I looked at the notification and saw Raina, Gina, and an unknown number had texted me.

Raina: Tickets to RRABF go on sale next week! Whats the plan??

Gina: Booking the room now.

(404) 373-9202: You know I’m there.