Queen Move

“Yeah, thanks, Noah,” Kimba says, slicing into her huge wedge of cake.

“Is Daddy being a Kimba-vert?” Noah asks, his grin widening even as Mona’s frown deepens.

“He was,” Mona says, her tone firm, a warning. “But I’m here to break that up. Come on, Kimba. There’s some other people I want you to meet.”

Kimba stands from the wall, her skirt floating around her legs. “Sure. Why not?”

When I saw her at the funeral, I knew it would be like this for me—that I would crave her. That I would want to know her this way again. She knew it, too, and she shut it down. I wasn’t free to do anything about it, to cultivate it when I saw her two years ago. Now I can.

Isn’t there someone you’ve been attracted to?

When Aiko asked me that question a few weeks ago, I didn’t see a path to do anything about my response to Kimba, but now she’s here. I should have tried harder to keep her in my life before. I was a boy then, but now I’m a man.

And there’s a napkin in my head with Kimba’s name scribbled all over it.

Chapter Twenty

Kimba

“So this might be bold,” Barry says, “but could I have your number? Maybe we could get together while you’re in town?”

I should.

For one, I haven’t had sex in a very long time, and I’m tired of doing all the heavy lifting to keep myself satisfied. Also, if I do decide to have a baby in the next year and a half, I haven’t exactly been out there fostering relationships. I’m infamous for the no-strings, hot-and-dirty package. Last but not least, why not? I’m here a few weeks and some companionship wouldn’t be awful. He does have that really lean biker body that I’m afraid if I straddle, I might break, but he’s attractive in a very kale greens kind of way. He’s smart and funny. Seems kind. Focusing on a date with an available man makes more sense than fixating on someone who is taken and has a family. It doesn’t matter that I felt more alive, more seen talking with Ezra than I have in years. I can’t let it matter. I need to do the right thing, and avoiding time alone with Ezra is the right thing.

“Kimba?” Barry frowns, his voice uncertain. I’ve left him hanging.

“Oh, sure. Sorry.” I fish my phone from the pocket of my skirt and we exchange numbers.

“I gotta go.” He grins. “But I’ll call you this week.”

“Great,” I force myself to reply with a smile.

He isn’t gone for two seconds before Mona takes his place by my side, grinning hard. “Did I see you and Barry with phones out?”

“You’re worse than Facebook. I just clicked on him, and you’re already flooding my timeline with ads for wedding dresses.”

“I know. I know.” She giggles and pulls her locs back from her face, knotting them at the crown of her head. “I’m just excited to see you connecting with someone.” Her smile falters and she licks her lips. “Someone available, I mean.”

“All right. Now you’re vague-booking me.” I give her a wry look. “You weren’t this passive-aggressive in eighth grade. Say what you have to say, Janet.”

She glances around the living room where some people are still talking, but most are packing up and making their way to the door. She tips her head to the kitchen. “Come help me for a sec.”

We walk into the kitchen, which is miraculously empty. She starts putting away covered dishes.

“I know you and Ezra used to have a very special friendship,” she says after a few moments. She leans against the counter and gives me a level look. “But you have to be careful.”

“Careful?” I ask, propping my hip on her island. “How so?”

“You know how so, Kimba. Ezra grew up to be pretty impressive.”

He always impressed me.

“I mean,” she continues, “fine as hell now, obviously. Tall, handsome. The whole thing, and smart as all get-out. And he has a huge heart. Lots of people at school get caught up in how kind he is to them, and I tell them what I’m about to tell you.”

“Which is?”

“He’s not available,” she says flatly, firmly. “Aiko is my friend, and I know they love each other very much. They have a son together. Please be careful. You don’t want to destroy that.”