Page 222 of Prickly Romance

Vanya chews on her bottom lip.

Kenya glances down.

Sunny is the first to break the silence. “But wait a minute, that seat wasn’t for her.”

Dawn straightens. “She’s right. Sazuki came to the talent show alone.”

“Ashanti must have been running late,” I mumble. Shards of glass are rolling around in my gut. I don’t really want to discuss Ashanti and Sazuki’s second stab at a romance.

“No.” Sunny’s voice rises. “Darrel was chatting with him, so I wasn’t really paying attention. But I’m sure I heard him say that Niko called to invite you to the talent show and he was saving a seat for you.”

Dawn jumps in. “When his ex-wife—I didn’t know she was his ex at the time—but when she arrived, she took the seat, assuming it was for her. Sazuki didn’t ask her to sit there. He looked kind of annoyed, actually.”

“Doesn’t that mean he still has feelings for you?” Vanya points out.

A sprout of hope rises from the ashes, but I stomp it down. “It doesn’t matter. Ashanti will always be in his life, hovering around, waiting for her chance to slip in and get back with him.”

“A relationship is two-sided,” Dawn points out. “If he doesn’t open the door, she won’t have a chance to come in.”

“I want to trust him, but my faith in men resisting their exes is low.” My fingers tremble and I tuck them into my lap. “Things are so complicated. I want to protect myself. I’m afraid that I’ll give him everything and, one day, he’ll still choose the person that he walked away from. I can’t get over that.”

“I’ll be honest with you, Dejonae,” Sunny says. “I sat beside Sazuki today and, honestly, he looks about as broken as you do.”

Dawn agrees. “You can tell he’s exhausted. Max gets just like that when he’s overdoing it at work.”

Vanya looks down at me. “It seems like both of you have made the same decision. And you’re both running from it.”

“What are you talking about? What decision?”

“The decision to choose each other.”

Kenya nods along. “The important thing is whether or not the man loves you. If it’s clear that he loves you, then I say go for it.”

“But Ashanti—”

“If he wanted his ex wife, they would be together,” Sunny says.

Her words ricochet through me.

Vanya narrows her eyes. “Isn’t his misery a confirmation that the person he’s in love with isn’t his ex-wife at least? If he wanted her, she wouldn’t have to try so hard and neither would he. She’s there. Niko’s there. All he’d have to do is walk into that picture-perfect reality. But he hasn’t. Instead, he’s hoping you’ll sit beside him instead of her.”

“What if he doesn’t keep choosing me?” I croak, frightened out of my mind. “What if he gets up one day and doesn’t make that choice?”

Sunny speaks up, “My mom always told me that ‘love is a choice’. If he stops choosing you, then that wouldn’t be love.”

“I think we’ve all had our share of nicks and bruises from past relationships,” Dawn glances at the other women who all nod, “but the one thing Max has taught me about love, is that you can’t kill it. No matter how hard you try.”

As if on cue, all of their phones start ringing.

“The guys want to know why we abandoned them,” Kenya mumbles.

“You should head back.” I drum up a smile. “I’ll think about what you said tonight.”

“And remember, you can always stop by the farmhouse. You’re not just Vanya’s friend.” Sunny squeezes my hand. “You’re our friend too.”

“You’re going to make me cry,” I tease, pretending to wipe at my eye.

The women all give me hugs as they file out.

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