Page 4 of Fever

Claudia shrugged. “I’m not sure, but he was talking in a whisper, and Carla was giving him a schoolgirl smile.”

Jasmine gasped. “Oh my God, that girl.”

We all laughed and shook our heads.

“Let’s pray over this food,” I said.

“Come on, hands,” Phoebe ordered, holding her arms out.

We all joined and bowed our heads.

“Heavenly Father, thank you for this meal we are about to receive. Bless this food for the nourishment of our bodies—”

“Carla’s body too, even though she’s outside flirting with the butler,” Eden added, and we all snickered.

“Yes, Lord, Carla’s body, too,” Phoebe agreed. “In Jesus Christ’s name, we pray, Amen.”

“Amen!” we chorused.

“Jasmine, will you pass the syrup?” Desiree asked.

The syrup was passed down the table one by one.

“So, what’s on the agenda today, ladies?” It was Desiree who spoke up.

“Oh, I’m not telling you anything after you kept a secret from me,” I fussed.

“Come on, seriously. I’m the bride, and she is, too. You can’t get mad at either of us,” Desiree determined.

I twisted my lips. “You only get to use that one time, so if this is it, I’ll move on, but I’m telling you. One time.”

The other ladies chuckled, and Claudia spoke, “Well, what are we doing tonight?”

“Strippers!” Octavia said.

The girls whooped and whistled, and the triplets stood and bumped hips in excitement.

“No!” Claudia said. “No strippers, please.”

We all stopped our celebration and stared at her like she’d been bitten by a snake.

“I don’t know if you’re running a fever or not, Claudia, but you can bet your ass there will be strippers,” Samiyah said. “This will be your last night as a single woman, do you hear me? No more one-night stands and late nights out at the club. I’m surprised you of all people would say no to strippers.”

“I promised Jaden he would be my one and only stripper,” she whined.

“Aaaah!” We all yelled.

“Why would you do that?” Selena asked.

“I just lost my appetite,” Phoebe surmised.

“Speak for yourself,” Selena said. “I bet Jaden would make an excellent stripper.”

“Definitely,” Octavia offered, half-purr.

“Wait,” Claudia held her hands up, “are you two imagining my husband in stripper gear because if you are, we’re about to have a problem.”

We all cracked a smile and burst out laughing. Well everyone but Claudia. She folded her arms and scowled.

“Ewww,” Phoebe, Eden, and Jasmine all chimed.

“You gals wouldn’t love it because he’s your brother,” Selena said, “but come on. You know Jaden would put all male strippers to shame.”

“Okay, heffa, you need to get a man of your own,” Claudia said, rolling her neck.

We laughed some more, and even the triplets couldn’t help but chuckle at that. When Carla finally entered the room to find us all half-bent over laughing, she held out her arms.

“What I miss?”

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