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feeling

particularly seaworthy.

Imani was the first of the three crowded around the round table covered in drinks and appetizers to see her. As soon as she waved, their other two friends turned and smiled.

“Reagan!” Sue shouted as she set her wine glass down and clambered to her feet. “I haven’t seen you in a million years! Where the hell have you been hiding?” she asked, wrapping her in a tight hug without waiting for a response.

“Who has she been hiding under is the better question,”

Imani interrupted.

“Very funny,” Reagan replied with a smirk before giving her a kiss on the cheek. “You cut your hair,” she added, stepping back to admire the cropped cut.

Imani shrugged. “I’m wearing it natural these days.”

Reagan knew the portion she left unsaid. I’m wearing it natural these days, and you’d kno

w that if you were ever around.

“It’s a good look. Very sexy,” Reagan replied before taking the empty seat between her and their other friend Kimber.

Imani’s stony expression softened just a little. Leos do love compliments. “You’re wearing yours a little short,” she said, running her fingers through Reagan’s side-swept hair.

“Not on top,” she explained, reflexively touching the freshly shorn sides and back. “Do you like it?”

“It’s okay. You know I like it when you leave it longer and play with some color,” she replied, saying more with her eyes than her mouth. “Is that how your girl likes it?”

“Oh, don’t be so jealous, Mani,” Kimber chided playfully as she poured Reagan a glass of red wine from the bottle on the table. “You always get so possessive when it’s not your bed she’s leaving her potter clogs under.”

“Okay, okay, let’s get o this topic quick,” Reagan said as she signaled to the server that she wanted to order.

“I mean . . . I’m not gonna lie,” Sue shifted her black cat-eyeglasses as she wiggled her eyebrows. “Inquiring minds are dying to know exactly who has you all wrapped up.”

“We know who. That straight matchmaker lady,” Kimber responded.

Reagan took her time taking a long sip of the dry, rich wine. She was more interested in Imani’s silence than Sue and Kimber’s chatter. One was normal, the other was not.

“Can’t be too straight if she’s sleeping with a woman,”

Sue interjected.

“Oh, God. I’ll never date a straight girl,” Kimber decided.

“Not again.”

“You just had bad luck with that Pillow Princess,” Sue said as she topped o her glass before refilling her own.

“I’m sure they’re not all like that.”

“I don’t know.” Kimber shook her head as she clinked her glass against Sue’s. “I think maybe they’re just used to

laying there, or maybe they don’t know what to do and freeze.”

Sue shook her head. “You can’t paint people with such a broad brush. You didn’t know what to do either the first time you slept with a woman. Did you just lay there like a starfish?”

“Bitch, please. You know I am a very enthusiastic lover,”

Kimber replied with a laugh. “What the hell is the point of just lying there.”