The Build Up by Tati Richardson

Author:Tati Richardson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Carina Press
Published: 2022-12-14T19:29:53+00:00

Chapter Nineteen

Ari

I handed Bella her favorite cup of pumpkin spice latte as I sat next to her on the bench at the park. She smiled, grateful for a cup of warmth as she watched the girls and her husband playing on the playground. At three years old, the twins were fast as lightning, and Zach was having a hard time keeping up. The October air was crisp, swirling the orange and yellow leaves all around them. It looked perfect, as if Bella had staged the outing. I looked around, waiting for a camera crew to pop out from the bushes. They all had on various shades of designer plaid prints and looked like an ad for laundry detergent or something. Bella, coordinated in a Burberry print poncho, dressed as the chicest mom of toddlers that I’d ever seen. I swear, the woman didn’t know the meaning of the word casual.

“Malia! Sasha! Slow down, loves!” yelled Bella, peering over her copy of Harper’s Bazaar.

I smiled. “You know, I still can’t get over the fact that you named your girls after the former First Daughters.”

Bella turned to me, pulling her shades onto her nose with a quizzical expression. “Name a greater duo of sisters? I dare you.”

“Hmm. Venus and Serena? Beyoncé and Solange? Debbie and Phylicia? Oh! I know! Tia and Tamera?”

Bella turned to me with folded arms. “Okay. Fine! I get the point!” We both let out a laugh as Bella nudged me playfully.

“So, what made you join us on a Saturday afternoon? Don’t you have a social life, girl? Work? Renovations?” asked Bella, taking a long sip of her latte. “Or some fresh man to get under? Didn’t I tell you to find a man to get under?”

“Can’t I just want to see my best friend and my gorgeous goddaughters? They’re getting so big. Maybe I’ll push them on the swings. Give Zach a break.”

Bella put her shades on top of her head and furrowed her brow. “Cut the shit, Ari. You hate playgrounds. You’d rather take the girls shopping and get them sick off Pinkberry. So...what is this about?”

I pulled the zipper of my insulated vest up and took a deep breath as it all came out like word vomit. “Maybe I willed this to happen. You did tell me to get under a man. Then I did. And I didn’t stop even though I said I would. It was, well is, so damn good. We probably, no, definitely, shouldn’t be doing this. And I...”

“Wait! What are you talking about?” Bella interrupted. Her face was obviously full of confusion at my rambling. Hell, my own ramblings confused me.

“I slept with Porter, Bella. Well. I take that back. Because slept with implies one time and well...there have been multiple times. So, I’m sleeping with him, I guess.”

Bella turned to look at me, silent as a stone. Bella’s mouth normally moved a mile a minute so clearly, she was beside herself.

“Bella! Say something! Anything. I made a mistake, didn’t I? I mean, I should have learned my lesson with Maurice.

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