Free Get More by Nia Stephens Page B

froze her skin, except where Justin touched her. He seemed to carry the heat of the LA sun within him—his hands were burning against her cheeks, his kiss like a mouthful of Red Hot candies. She could almost taste fiery cinnamon.
    Bree finally noticed Sam honking a few yards from where she and Justin stood.
    â€œOh! I have to go. ‘Night, Justin!”
    â€œGoodnight, Bree.” He kissed her again, briefly, on the cheek, when he leaned over to open her door. “See you soon!”
    Bree blew him a kiss as Sam pulled away from the curb. “Love life turned around?” Sam asked.
    â€œAt last!” Bree said happily. She was still feeling a little fluttery. She knew perfectly well that a kiss, however hot, didn’t really mean anything. But she also knew that this was why people were willing to compromise—a deep attraction that had nothing to do with preferring theater over basketball, or basketballover theater. She might be willing to compromise a great deal for heat like that.
    As the clock on the dashboard clicked to two-thirty, Bree’s cell phone began to ring.
    â€œYes, Mom . . . I know, Mom. I’m on my way home now . . . with Sam . . . A party at NYU . . . No, I’m not drunk . . . No, Mom, really. Not drunk. At all. Two glasses of wine . . . No, you can’t speak to Sam, he’s driving! I’ll be home in fifteen minutes, you can decide whether I’m drunk then! Fine, fine. Whatever. See you soon.”
    Bree had a hard time taking her curfew seriously. Half the time, her mother wasn’t there to check anyway. And the reason why her mother did leave her home alone some weekends was because she knew she could trust Bree not to be an idiot. But when her mother was around, Ameera felt obliged to pretend to enforce her curfew.
    At two thirty-two, Bree received a text message from Kylian:

    How was For Colored Girls Who Tried Online Dating
When the Rainbow Was Not Enuf?

    Bree laughed, and read it aloud for Sam.
    â€œSo what do you think about online dating so far? Better than suicide?” he asked her. In addition to reading and writing poetry, Sam had an interest in contemporary theater.
    Bree grinned at him in the rearview mirror. “Better than Cats !”

Chapter 6
    Soap Opera Love
    â€œI don’t get it,” Sutton said, sprawling on Bree’s couch while Bree carefully applied foundation. Bi-weekly trips to Spa Kenya in Harlem for facials kept her skin fairly clear, but it wasn’t flawless, and Bree wanted it to look flawless.
    â€œWhat is there to get?” Bree asked, blending the foundation carefully at the edge of her chin. “He’s nice, he’s cute, he wants to spend more time with me. Why wouldn’t I go out with him again?”
    â€œBecause he doesn’t talk about anything but himself? Clearly, he thinks you’re just arm candy.”
    â€œJust what?” Bree applied a cream blush from Tarte to both cheeks. It was almost invisible, which she adored, and looked like she was actually blushing.
    â€œArm candy. Something pretty to hang on his arm, like a nice watch,” Sutton supplied.
    â€œThat would be arm jewelry, not candy.”
    â€œWhatever! The point is that you’re supposed to be looking for true love, not just another cute guy.”
    â€œâ€˜The course of true love never did run smooth,’” Bree quoted, trying to decide between a smoky eye and plain black liner. Reasoning that smoky eyes might be a little much for a basketball game, she applied black pencil with a bit of gold glitter, Urban Decay’s Midnight Cowboy.
    Sutton sputtered furiously in the background.
    â€œThis is exactly what you always do!” she griped. “You go on a sucky-to-lukewarm first date, but you’re so tender-hearted, so, ‘Maybe things will work out after all!’ So . . . so Pollyanna that you agree to go out on date two, date three, all the time knowing that it’s not