Page 171 of Curvy Girl Summer

I started to deny that we were in a relationship, but he spoke first.

“We started seeing each other at the beginning of summer,” Ahmad answered.

“Is it serious?” She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

“I can only speak for myself, but yeah.”

I looked up at him, surprised by his responses. My heart skipped a beat when I found him staring at me. I inhaled slowly, trying to steady myself.

This man…

“Well, I guess I’ll head to the bathroom and stop interrupting what you have going on.” Mecca giggled. “Go, cuz!”

Ripping my eyes from him, I watched her as she continued down the hall to one of the bathrooms. Seconds later, two others came in to go to the restroom. They headed down the hall, and as soon as they were out of earshot, Ahmad began again.

“Do you—?” he started to ask as my cousin came out the bathroom.

Shaking my head, I cut him off. “Not here,” I mumbled as I bent down and grabbed my heels. Ahmad followed me as I climbed the stairs. When we walked down the hall to my bedroom, I glanced over my shoulder at him. “My cousin will listen to our conversation and tell everyone. She’s great. I love her. But she’s nosy.”

“Understood,” he replied, removing his jacket and laying it over his forearm.

I opened the door, and he came in, closing it behind him.

“I still can’t believe you’re here,” I expressed.

I placed my shoes on the floor next to my luggage and then turned around.

Ahmad tossed his jacket on the chair near the door and slipped his hands in his pockets. As he made his way to the middle of the room, my eyes coasted up his body. When our eyes met, the air left my lungs. The intensity of his gaze caught me off guard.

“I can’t believe you left last night,” he countered quietly.

I took a step back and bumped into the wall. Allowing it to hold me upright, I closed my eyes and shook my head. “I can’t do this right now. It’s my birthday, and we’re in the middle of my party.” I pursed my lips. “Why are you here?”

“You said you needed a date for your birthday,” he explained.

“How did you know I didn’t have one?”

“I didn’t know for sure,” he admitted, running his hand over his beard. “But I had to make sure you were good.”

My stomach twisted. Shifting from one foot to the other, I broke eye contact. “Well, thank you.”

“I told you I got your back. By any means necessary.”

I gave a small nod. “You did say that.”

“And I meant it…” He took a couple of steps toward me. “I still mean it.” He paused. “But that’s not the only reason I came.”

I forced my eyes to meet his again, praying he didn’t see the emotion in them. “What’s the other reason?”

“Because you left. Because you’ve been ignoring the fuck out of me. Because I don’t have your number. Because I didn’t want to keep showing up at your place. Because of what happened last night.”

“Last night is not a true representation of who I am or how I get down.”

“But last night was real.”

Exhaling audibly, I felt exposed. It felt like if the conversation continued, I was going to say something I was going to regret. It felt like if I didn’t end the conversation right then, I was going to say too much.

Or worse, embarrass myself.

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