Page 128 of Avenging Azalea

Sighing, I smiled at my best friend. “How about I don’t and instead tell you about the million and one orgasms Titus has given me in the last few days.”

“Shut up,” Steph said, then screeched at the top of her lungs.

She bounced in the seat beside me like a wind-up toy set loose on the world. Just like that, she managed to wipe away the insanity and questions that had plagued me since my conversation with Matt. Everyone needed a Steph in their life. It should be mandatory.

“Seriously,” she asked, smiling wide.

“Seriously. He is…OMG, better than I ever imagined.”

Steph reached out and grabbed my hand.

“What are you doing?”

“This is a singing moment. We are going to sing,” she said, raising our joined hands up and out of the top of her sunroof as Whatta Man came on the car system. We belted out the Salt-N-Pepa song at the top of our lungs and drew stares from other cars when we stopped at the lights.

“…he’s got the right potion. Baby, rub it down and make it smooth like lotion,” we sang and batted our eyes at one another before bursting into another fit of hysterical laughter.

Reaching out, I switched off the radio, and Steph made a pouty face.

“I just need to tell you that you’re the best friend anyone could ask for and…I love you. Thank you for being my friend, Steph. You mean the world to me.”

Her eyes filled with tears, and she quickly wiped them away as they began to fall.

“Don’t do that. Now I can’t see to drive,” Steph said, making me laugh. “But I love you too, Fawn.”

We gave one another a smile that said more than we could say with words alone. We would always have each other’s backs and be there for each other, no matter what. It shouldn’t be so hard to have girls who were great friends who built you up and loved you for all your crazy, but it was. Steph was as much my sister as George was my brother, and it didn’t matter that we didn’t share a single drop of blood.

I flicked the radio back on and we sang out the rest of the song.

Time to shop and pick out something amazing to wear for dinner tonight. Something that would blow Titus away. There was no wiping the smile from my face as we bopped along.

Chapter

Forty-Two

FAWN

I got out of the backseat, and Naji closed the door before walking me into the office building. It was only a few feet away from the VIP parking space, but he insisted. The guards working the front desk nodded at Naji and didn’t even blink at me.

“Shouldn’t I get a badge or something?”

“You don’t need one,” Naji said, smiling at me.

“Oh…okay.”

“You’re the boss’s woman. You don’t think Titus made it known you have free access to the building?”

“I…um…I honestly hadn’t thought about it,” I said, blushing.

When the elevator arrived, he hit the button for the top floor, but then got off before the doors started to close.

“I’ll wait for you two down here,” he said.

A touch of nerves had me rubbing my palms on my dress.

The elevator slowed as it reached the top, and the doors opened to a large waiting room. I’d never been to Titus’s actual office. Not the old place or this one, so it all felt new and exciting, like I was stepping into some secret world.

The floors were dark, the walls were grey, and every accent was a rich cream or buttery yellow with the odd bold sweep of color, like the red flowers sitting in a vase and turquoise painting of the ocean. Titus had always surrounded himself with hardwoods and warmer colors at home. This was either the office persona, or it said a lot about Nathaniel. With a single glance, you knew the people who worked here would eat you alive if you let them.