“Will you at least give it a chance?” Samiah said. “Sit your cute ass in that chair, pick up a paintbrush, and have some fun, dammit!”

“All right, all right.” London put her hands up. “You know, you’re way too mean for someone who’s getting regular sex.”

“Actually, she’s not getting regular sex,” Taylor said. “Daniel is out of town.”

“Yes, he is,” Samiah hissed. “And I am extra pissed off that I’ve become so addicted to his dick that my vibrator doesn’t excite me anymore.”

“Ugh.” London shook her shoulders in an exaggerated shudder. “I never want to get to that point. Men come and go, but your vibrator is your forever friend. You gotta protect that relationship at all cost, girl.”

“My vibrator stopped working,” Taylor said, plucking a grape from the stem. “I think it broke from too much use.”

“I’ll buy you another one. Don’t fight me on this,” London said when she started to argue. “These days that shit is medicinal.”

“I don’t need you to buy me a vibrator because I have money again,” Taylor said. “Umm…I said that kinda loud, didn’t I?” She looked around to make sure no one had heard her singing about vibrators.

“I take it your new client came through with the funds?”

“Yes, he did. Thank God. Rent is paid and Nessie’s gas tank is full!”

“I figured as much when I saw the new braids,” Samiah said. “They look nice.”

“That’s what I was asking before the painting lady interrupted us,” London said. “How’s it going with the football guy? This makes a week, right?”

Had it only been a week?

Time had stretched like a rubber band since Jamar Dixon had showed up at her pop-up class last Saturday afternoon.

Taylor figured they would be here all night if she tried to recount everything that had happened to her since the three of them met for dinner last Friday, but she had to at least share this week’s most important highlight, if only for their reactions.

“I’d say it’s going well,” Taylor drawled in an exceedingly blasé tone. “I mean, now that we’re dating and all.”

“You’re what?”

Yep, that’s the reaction she’d anticipated. Their simultaneous screeches drew stares from neighboring tables.

“Oh my God, if you could see your faces right now.” Taylor laughed. She held up her hands. “Let me explain.”

She motioned for them to come in closer and dished out an abbreviated version of this past week’s events, starting with her first workout with Jamar and ending with the run-in with Alec Mooney during the Longhorns’ football practice, and their decision to move forward with the story that they’re a new couple.

“Do you really think you can pull off a fake relationship in this day and age with social media?” Samiah whispered.