Page 131 of Curvy Girl Summer

I saw the flash of disappointment in his eyes as he nodded. “Yeah, okay. That’s cool. We’ll talk when I get back in town.”

I forced a bigger smile than I felt. “It was nice to see you today, Lennox. Thank you for dinner.”

“The pleasure was all mine.” He took my hand and kissed it. “Until next time.”

With a final wave, I got out of the car and ran toward my building. The minute I had my back to him, the smile on my face disappeared, the enthusiasm waned, and the upbeat persona retreated. The farther I got away from Lennox, the more I felt like my true state of being came to the forefront. Standing at the elevator, I didn’t have the energy to pretend I was in a good mood anymore.

Maybe Ahmad got in my head by pointing out how much Lennox talked, but Lennox forgetting my birthday was the deal-breaker for me.

I’m three days away from my birthday, and I’m no closer to having a man than I was at the beginning of summer. The only thing I had then that I don’t have now is hope.

I turned on the piping-hot water and stepped into the shower. I tried to wash away the date with Lennox, the incident with Ahmad, and the uncomfortable nagging feeling that had been plaguing me for days. Unfortunately, it all was still waiting for me whenI stepped out of the tub. Wrapping myself in my towel, I’d only gotten one foot out of the bathroom when my phone rang.

I flew across the room to get it, hoping it was one of my girls.

It wasn’t.

“Hey, Lennox,” I greeted him with a frown. Trying not to sound annoyed, I continued, “What’s up?”

“Hey. I was just checking on you.” He paused. “You were supposed to let me know you made it.”

“Oh yeah, I’m sorry about that. My mind was somewhere else, and I wasn’t thinking about it. I just hopped in the shower and—”

“Oh, okay, no problem. When you didn’t let me know you made it safely, I had to call and check on you.” He let out a little chuckle. “I wanted to make sure nobody snatched you up on your way in.”

I squeezed my eyes shut and took a breath.

“I’m fine,” I assured him. “I just forgot to give you a call before my shower. But I’m good. Thank you. How are you? You made it home yet?”

“Yeah, I’m not too far from home. I started thinking about that time I went to the…”

I zoned out.

Going through the motions, I moisturized my body and then slipped into a shorts-and-tank-top set. I didn’t even bother to twist my hair. I pulled on my bonnet and then stared at myself in the mirror as the story I was being told went on.

And on and on and on.

I knew I couldn’t do another date with Lennox. I wasn’t sure if it was the current conversation or how Ahmad made me feel about the conversations, but I wasn’t feeling Lennox anymore.

Fucking Ahmad!

“I’m so sorry to cut you off,” I interrupted as I saw Nina’s name flash across my screen. “But my best friend is calling, and I need to take this call.”

“Okay, that’s no problem. Have a good night, Aaliyah.”

“Good night!”

I ended the call with Lennox and connected the call with Nina.

“Nina!” I cried, taking a seat on the edge of my bed. “I’m so happy to hear your voice.”

She laughed. “Well, okay, that either means the date went really right or really wrong!”

I groaned, falling back against my mountain of pillows. “It isn’t funny,” I complained.

“If dating is nothing else, it’s funny,” she replied. “Now, tell me… what happened?”

“Well, I took your advice, and I went on the date with Lennox—”

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