Bittersweet Series  |  Book 2

 

Everyone has a secret…

Trading love and passion for vows and commitment was a decision Sabrena Moore never imagined she would have to make. It wasn’t easy to walk away, but what other choice did she have? There’s no doubt in Sabrena’s mind that she did the right thing…but was it really for the best?

On the surface, Rowan Washington appears to have it all. A good job, a great kid to mentor and a gorgeous new woman in his life. What more could he want? Sabrena Moore. The very woman who clearly wants nothing else to do with him. There’s no doubt in Rowan’s mind that his best bet is to make things work with his new lady and move on…but can he really live with that?

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EXCERPT FROM SOMEWHERE IN BETWEEN
ONE FOR THE TEAM  |  BREE & TASHI

It would be another ninety-four minutes before we finished up lunch and made it to the mall so I could get the truth from Bree, one-on-one.

Once I heard everything, I immediately cracked up.

Bree just kept trying on shoes.

“Girl, I’m sorry,” I said between laughs. “I’m just trying to picture Dez as a house husband.” I cackled again. “I always knew these damn reality shows would be the death of us all.”

“Yeah, well it’s definitely real for me now.”

I watched my best friend as she impatiently tried to force her left foot into a leopard Nine West pump. Suspending my amusement, I grabbed her foot and eased it into the shoe. Perfect fit. “Bree, you know if it wasn’t happening to you, you’d be laughing like hell about it.”

“Your point?”

“Learn to laugh at life. And stop allowing Dez to stress you out so much.”

“I’m not—”

“You are.” I released her ankle and placed her heeled foot on the carpeted floor next to her right one, already adorned. “Stand up.”

She stood five inches taller.

“Walk.” I watched as she strutted over to the mirrored wall. “Those are hot, girl. Take them home to your house hubby and put them to good use.”

She strutted back over, rolling her eyes. “Sex doesn’t solve everything, Tashi.”

“Says who?” I said, laughing. “Because whoever believes that must not be doing it right.”

Bree sat next to me, looking down to admire the shoes. “You know, I’m not even mad that he’s taking time off from work. He deserves a break to do whatever he wants. We’ve got enough money to get by for a while…”

“But?”

She looked at me and shrugged. “I just wish I knew what he was really up to.”

“What’s he saying?”

“That he wants to make the last year up to me.”

“Is that so hard to believe?”

Bree tossed the shoes into the black box. “What’s hard to believe is that he would leave me with no word…for months…and then come back like L.L. talking about loving me better.” She frowned. “Where the fuck they do that at?”

“Soaps. R&B videos. Oh…and romantic comedies.”

“Exactly.”

We sat quietly for a moment as she gathered her thoughts. Of course, I had two cents but I kept them in my pocket.

“I don’t trust him, Tashi.”

“That’s understandable.”

“What if he’s really up to something?”

I shocked myself by replying, “What if he’s not?”

“For real?” she asked, just as surprised as I was by my blind support of Desmond Moore.

“If you really want this to work, you have to give him a chance, B.”

She grabbed her bag, almost amused. “Well, look at that. Since when did you become Team Dez?”

“Since I assumed you disqualified the challenger.”

I waited for a reply, but she dismissed me instead to go pay for her pumps.

No surprise there. Just Bree being Bree.

I remained seated, wondering if I should continue being her matrimonial cheerleader or tell her what I knew her heart wanted to hear.

Bree came back minutes later, delight replacing the annoyance I’d seen in her eyes when she left. “Girl, guess what? I got an extra fifteen percent off! I simply love a good sal—”

“I ran into Rowe last week. He asked about you.”

Her excitement shriveled into a crude grin. “That’s nice.” She carefully opened the tote bag holding her new purchase and reached into the black box. “The saleswoman even gave me a discount card for next weekend. Want it? I sure as hell don’t need to be spending money unnecessarily while Dez is at the house trying to find himself—”

“There’s more.”

She turned away.

“Rowe—“

“No, there isn’t,” Bree responded, calmly. “No more. There is nothing else.”

“You can’t keep pretending—”

“My husband is L.L. and he wants to love me better. Remember?”

She glared at me and I stared back, searching her eyes. Looking for a reason to push the issue until I saw it was pointless. Bree had already escaped to that place where I couldn’t reach her.

She was great at that.

So I left her there and shook my imaginary pom-poms. “Yeah. Team Dez. Got it.”