Page 57 of Curvy Girl Summer

He gave me a suspicious look. “What do you know about Terra-Cotta?”

“I was at the open mic where they launched their career six years ago! When they performed the original first verse of ‘The Quickening,’ I was there. I’m not some new fan who hopped on the bandwagon this year when their single got national attention. I’ve been following them since the beginning.”

His eyes got huge. “No fucking way.”

“Yes fucking way,” I said, playfully mocking him.

“I was there.”

My eyes widened. “What?!”

“I was at that open mic.”

“No you weren’t!”

“He was there,” Darius confirmed. “We both were. We were on a double date with the Murphy twins and…” His sentence trailed off into a light chuckle. He took a sip of his drink and then shook his head. “We were there.”

I looked between the two of them curiously. “I feel like there’s more to the story.”

“Oh, there’s a lot more to the story,” Leon snickered. “The Murphy twins had boyfriends they forgot to mention, and once they left the open mic spot, Darius and Ahmad almost got their asses kicked.”

“You lying like shit now!” Ahmad exclaimed. His eyes danced with the amusement of his recollection of the event. Turning to me, he shook his head. “Don’t listen to him.”

I turned to Ahmad with a shocked expression. “You got your ass beat?” I poked at his bicep as it stretched the silky fabric of his shirt. “So, these are just for show?”

His friends hollered.

“I like her!”

“She’s funny!”

His friends’ amusement triggered my own, and I couldn’t keep a straight face anymore.

“Mannnnnnn, y’all some assholes,” Ahmad grumbled before he burst out laughing, too.

“After that beatdown, that’s when Ahmad started hitting the gym. So, in his defense, he wasn’t as brolic as he is now,” Leon concluded. “Don’t let them pretty boys fool you—they got hands now. They been training.” He wiped down his white button-up shirt. “As a former football player, Ibeenin fighting condition. I wasn’t with them that night or I would’ve held it down. They wouldn’t have been able to do anything with this.” He flexed his muscles.

I smirked. “Ohhhh, so they’re new to this, but you’re true to this?”

He nodded emphatically. “Yes. Exactly.”

“I hope you’re not believing his bullshit,” Darius said, refilling his glass.

I quirked an eyebrow. “So y’all didn’t almost get beat up?”

Ahmad made a sarcastic noise. “Oh, nah, we absolutely got knocked the fuck out,” he confirmed.

“But Leon’s over there acting like he was a D-I college athlete and was headed to the pros,” Darius continued. “He played flag football with the community league until he tore his meniscus.”

Leon jumped to his feet and flexed again. “Okay, but is that not football?” He turned his attention to me and winked. “You see it.”

“I sure do.”

“I didn’t think I needed to say this, but Aaliyah is off-limits. She’s here to see how civilized men act, so act civilized, Leon,” Ahmad stated while pointing to his flirtatious friend.

With a smile, Leon lifted his hands in surrender. “I hear you. I hear you.” He then looked over at me and winked.

“Oh God,” Ahmad groaned. “And on that note, I’m gonna need something stronger than this.”

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