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I collapsedinto bed the moment I got home, intent on staying there for the rest of the afternoon. Who was going to stop me? Mikala wasn't due back until tomorrow, and Earl had agreed to give me today through the weekend off to rest and recover since, technically, it'd been a work trip.
A light knock on my door reminded me that I didn't live alone. “Briana?”
Shit.
“Come in,” I called out.
Tiffany entered the room with a huge smile on her face. “I didn't hear you come in.”
I laughed and patted the spot next to me on the bed. “I'm sorry. I totally forgot to come say hi. It's been...wow. Just wow.”
“Bad wow?”
She sank down onto the bed and rolled onto her side to look at me. I knew she meant well, but a part of me wished I could be alone. Forgetting my time with Dorian would only be possible if I was allowed to forget it. Tiffany wasn't going to let me get off that easily.
“No, I had a great time,” I replied. “I'm just very tired.” I quickly changed the subject and hoped she'd roll with it. “How was your vacation from us? Did ya miss me?”
“Not you, but I sure as hell missed Mikala.” She grinned. “I've had all this extra energy. Practically been buzzing around. I need her to come siphon it out of me so I can get some goddamn sleep.”
I tilted my head back and laughed. I'd missed Tiffany. More so, I'd missed the simplicity of spending time with her. She was the one person in my life – besides Mikala – who didn't want anything out of me other than my company. I never worried about her having ulterior motives, which was a doubt that had plagued most of my relationships since Elroy.
Something about having your boyfriend-then-husband pimp you out for drugs made it much harder to trust people. And allowing yourself to be pimped out made it much harder to trust yourself.
“So, what did you get up to?” I asked.
She snorted. “The same old shit, obviously. I wasn't the one in Hawaii with two sexy as hell billionaires, was I?” She reached down and poked my stomach. “Tell me all the details. Did you sleep with one of them?” Her eyes widened with delight. “Both of them?”
I smacked her hand away. “You're like a dog with a bone.”
She panted dramatically, then joined with my laughter with a long howl. I hoped another deflection would stop her from burrowing any deeper.
“I got you a present!” I leaped off the bed and ran to my suitcase, rummaging around inside until I found the super tacky, super hilarious coconut bra I'd gotten just for her. I held it up in front of my chest and did a little shake of my hips for emphasis.
“That is the best thing I've ever seen!” She curled into her side and laughed. “Do you think they'll let me wear it on stage?”
“I hope so!” I said, tossing it to her.
Tiffany was officially distracted. She immediately whipped off her shirt and tried on the ridiculous garment, strutting around the house like she was an island queen. By the time she started talking about incorporating hulu dancing into her routine, we were both laughing hard enough to make my stomach hurt.
When she left for work that evening, I breathed a sigh of relief. No more questions. I could spend the rest of the night relaxing and unwinding from my trip without having to dodge pieces of conversation that would only lead to pain.
Yet, despite my best efforts, I knew the pain would be hard to hold at bay.
