Page 12 of A Little Kissing Between Friends

“You two enjoy the rest of your night, and you—” she eyed me pointedly “—keep bringing the heat up in here.”

With a final wink, she nodded at both of us and walked off, two cockdiesel women wearing all black following close behind her. I turned back to my brother to see him giving me a look that said, “I told you so.”

“Destiny’s Child type of shit” was all he said before returning to his seat.

As soon as he sat down, Nini walked up holding a silver platter with a mountain of wings, waffle fries, and several one-ounce cups of blue cheese dressing. She slid everything onto the table and then moved to the side, revealing a server I hadn’t noticed. The second woman placed a basket of cheesy garlic bread next to the wings.

“What’s this?” I asked as my stomach grumbled in anticipation.

Nini smiled. “I know you didn’t ask for it, but I remembered you ordered it a few times so I decided to bring you some. Don’t worry about the cost though. I put this on my tab.”

She fluttered her long lashes at me and swished away. I didn’t even need to look at Cody to know what he was thinking. He started humming the melody of “Cater 2 U,” and all I could do was laugh as I dug into the wings.

Chapter Four

Jucee

Baby Mama

“Where’s my baby?” I called out as soon as I stepped into Samir and Morgan’s backyard. No one had answered the door after I’d rung the bell twice, but before I could pull out my phone to call someone, joyous screams of laughter led me around the side of the house.

Morgan’s two girls, LeeLee and Pooh, along with Amani, wore soaked swimsuits and were screaming their heads off as Samir chased them around the yard, shooting jetted streams of likely cold water out of a bulky water gun as the kids jumped in and out of the spray of the sprinklers in the center of the yard. It was obvious that none of them had heard my question, so I turned toward the house to go look for Morgan. Chilling on a lounger under the awning attached to the house, Morgan used her free arm to wave a hand and catch my attention. I headed straight for her, dropping my keys onto the wicker patio table and immediately reaching for the sleeping infant in her arms. She gave her up without a fight, shaking out her arm as she sat up and reached for the canned margarita on the table, taking a long drink before sighing and sitting back.

“Hey, Leese,” she murmured, removing the burp cloth from her shoulder and placing it on the table near her drink.

“Hey girl, hey,” I chirped, shooting her a quick grin before allowing my gaze to naturally return to the cherub in my arms.

Sanai was the newest addition to Samir and Morgan’s household, bringing their combined brood to four. Although she wasn’t who I’d been referring to when I’d asked about “my baby,” I never hesitated to scoop her into my arms whenever I came by to drop off or pick up Amani. At three months, she was a juicy, sepia-toned bundle of sweet-smelling love, and shockingly an exact replica of Amani when he was her age. She looked so much like my son that I’d fallen in love with her the moment I saw her wrinkled face at the hospital. Thankfully, Morgan wasn’t put off by my attachment to Sanai, and let me love on her as often as I wanted.

“Girl!” Morgan suddenly exclaimed, startling me enough that Sanai twitched in my arms. When I glared at her, she gave me a sheepish grin. “My bad. I just wanted to tell you that you killed your set last night!”

I gave her a surprised look. That was interesting. It wasn’t unusual for Morgan to visit Sanity, but no matter how many times I told her it wasn’t necessary, she usually let me know when she’d be there.

“You finally listened to me?!” I teased.

Laughing, she rolled her eyes. “Nah, girl. I went out with some girlfriends last night, and one of them suggested we go there on a whim. You know I’m not rolling through without announcing myself.”

“Which I still don’t understand,” I chuckled, bending my neck to nuzzle Sanai’s neck.

Instead of acknowledging what I’d said, she waved a hand at me. “Anyways, we’re talking about your set. That song! Oh my god!” Dropping her head back, she made a pained face. “It was sexy as hell. I was so wet.”

Widening my eyes, I turned to look at Samir, who wasn’t paying us any mind.

“Uh...”

Morgan snapped her head forward, eyes wide as they focused on me. “Was that too much information?”

Immediately, I nodded. No matter how close we’d grown in the two years since she and Samir had made things official, I did not need to know about my ex’s girlfriend getting aroused as I danced semi-naked on stage.

Bursting into laughter, Morgan covered her face. “I’m sorry, Leese.”

I loved Morgan.

I really, really did.

But Lord did she make my head hurt sometimes.

The line between being good friends and simply being two women who’d sat on the same dick at different times wasn’t thin in the least, but Morgan seemed to have made it one of her life goals to long-jump over it as often as I would allow. For the most part, I let it fly. Morgan was a few years older than Samir and I, and cool as hell. At thirty-five, she was well into her career as a registered nurse, spending ten years at Texas Children’s before trading in the twelve-hour shifts for a less demanding, but just as fulfilling, position as a school nurse for a newly built elementary school.