Page 17 of Three of Hearts

"Luckily, no. He did write me a very lengthy email apologizing and offering me my job back, though." I laughed.

"I'm sure he did," Niecy said, rolling her eyes playfully.

"What about you guys? I heard my favorite author is about to drop a new book next week," I said, knowingly smiling at her.

"Yeah, about that. I owe you an apology too. I should've been honest with you that night. I was thinking that was the reason you left."

I waved her off. "Girl, no. I didn't put two and two together until weeks later, but if it's any consolation, that wouldn't have changed anything."

"Good to know." She smiled.

"What about you, Q?"

"I'm actually having a grand opening of my first Atlanta auto body shop in a few months. I've been back and forth down there all year getting everything ready."

"What?! Congratulations!"

"Yeah, so we're going to be in Atlanta for a month for the Real Readers of Atlanta Book Fest and to get things ready for the grand opening," Niecy said.

"That's right! I saw you had a table at this year's event. Congratulations to you too. It's crazy how fast this year went by."

"Feels like just yesterday, right?" Q said, his eyes burning into me. The waiter interrupted the tension, asking if we were ready to order. Since we were all still full from eating at the party, we decided to share several appetizers. After Q ordered for us, he decided to dive headfirst into the hard conversation we were all tiptoeing around.

"Niecy and I have talked a lot about what it would look like if we ever saw you again."

"And how did those conversations go?" I asked, taking a sip of my wine.

"We both agreed we needed more than that one night."

A warm, fuzzy feeling spread through my chest, blooming outward until my whole body felt lit from within. I had spent this last year trying to find peace of mind within myself while simultaneously grieving something I never knew I could have. The wellness retreats had been just what the doctor ordered. I was able to really reflect and center myself, finding comfort in the quiet of my mind. The reason I was so drawn to Q and Niecy, aside from the obvious physical attraction, was their effortless tranquility. I immediately wanted to take refuge in that serenity. I had been grateful I got to experience it, and a year later, sitting here with them, I still craved it.

"I think I did too," I responded.

Niecy grabbed my hand from across the table and rubbed it softly, her thumb tracing circles against my palm. Q did the same to the other. I wasn't sure what this would be like or how it would even work, but I knew I wanted to find out.

Chapter 14

Denise

Iwas still sitting in shock that my nephew was Nikki's second cousin as we conversed over dinner. I touched base with both of them to make sure we were all comfortable with the learned dynamic. It was determined that anyone from a sibling's or cousin's in-laws was fair game. It felt like a cosmic coincidence that we hadn't met prior to the book festival, though. But I remembered Amber and Anthony hadn't had a wedding where we would've run into each other. They eloped after she got pregnant in college, and there wouldn't have been anything else I would've seen her at except for the funeral. When I asked her about it, she reminded me of the snowstorm that hit Detroit that winter. Other family members had missed the funeral due to canceled flights as well. She shared that missing the funeral only added to her guilt, but she made a trip up here the week after to spend time with Amber and Josh.

After we enjoyed our appetizers and finished the bottle of wine, it didn't take much convincing to bring Nikki back home with us. We were all feeling it—that deep sexual tension that had plagued all of us for this last year. I made a mental note to give Q his props later for picking that restaurant—oysters were my favorite aphrodisiac. After we arrived back at the house, we were all making ourselves comfortable on our living room floor while Q explained the rules to a card game he'd heard about called Three of Hearts.

"Okay, so think 'I Declare War,' right, but instead of numbers determining the winner of the round, the suits do. So spadesbeat clubs, diamonds beat spades, and hearts beat diamonds. Clubs lose every time unless everyone pulls a club—then the highest number wins. If two players pull the winning suit, they battle and flip again. The winning suit of each round comes with a privilege. If you win off a club round, you get to ask any player of your choosing for a confession. Spades, you get to ask any player of your choosing a personal question. Diamonds, you get to ask for a favor from any player of your choosing. And hearts, you get to request any physical act of your choosing. The three of hearts is the most powerful card in the game—you pull that, we get all four privileges."

The rules made me side-eye where he had "heard" about this game, but it sounded fun, so I was down to play. I was enjoying the smell of coconut and shea butter from Nikki's hair as she rested her head on my shoulder while Q dealt out the deck. It wasn't surprising how easily we fell into the natural comfortability of being so close to each other. It was as if a year hadn't gone by since we last saw each other, and we'd been familiar way longer than that.

"Ready?" Q asked once we each had a pile of cards. We nodded and each flipped over our first card. I had a nine of clubs, Q had a two of spades, and Nikki had a six of diamonds.

"Ayyyy," Nikki cheered. "So I get to ask either of you for a favor, right?"

"Yup," Q said.

"Okay, Q, can you acquire some weed for us? I wanna be high for the rest of this game."

"Mm, that's a great idea," I said.

"I actually brought some back from Atlanta last time I went. Be right back."