BWWM Interracial Romance 5: Love After Halftime by Elena Brown Read Free Book Online Page A

ever forgive me?”
    “Me forgive you?” Marlene asked, dragging Tina into the kitchen where they always sat. She had just opened a bottle of red wine, to drink herself to sleep, and brought down an extra glass to share. “I should be the one sending you flowers.”
    Tina sat in her usual stool on the other side of Marlene’s butcher-block table in the middle of her kitchen, and Marlene sank onto the stool across from her. Despite the familiar seating arrangement, the setting still seemed strained. Regardless of what Tina said, there was still a sense of awkwardness in the air. Marlene wondered if it would always be there, like a silent wall between them.
    “I haven’t slept a wink since our fight,” Tina confessed, twirling the wineglass in her frail little hands. “I feel so bad about what I said.”
    “Me too,” Marlene admitted. “I’ve just… been lost. I feel so shameful…”
    Tina sighed, avoiding Marlene’s eyes. “I won’t lie and say it’s been easy, Merl, but… I understand more what you’ve been going through.”
    Marlene found it hard to hide the shock in her voice. “You do?”
    Tina nodded, finally looking her friend in the eyes. “And I don’t know why I blamed you alone, Merl. I mean, it takes two to tango, right?”
    Marlene nodded, then shook her head. “It just hurt my heart that you thought I begrudged you marrying Joe, Tina, when all I ever wanted was his happiness… and yours.”
    “I know that,” Tina sighed. She looked tired, almost haggard. Marlene hated to think she had something to do with Tina’s discomfort or severe, troubled appearance. Then again, like Tina had just said, it took two to tango. “I just, even though I don’t want him anymore, and he sure doesn’t want me, I still don’t want anyone else having him. Especially my best friend!”
    “That’s why I had to tell you,” Marlene said, patting her friend’s frail, white hand. “I couldn’t live with myself if I harbored this secret, knowing the whole while how hurt you’d be.”
    “I guess part of me knew that,” Tina said, doing more than sipping her wine. Without a word, Marlene silently topped off her glass. “That’s why I’ve been cringing over those words I said the other day at lunch.”
    “Trust me,” Marlene chuckled, sipping her own wine as relief washed over her. She hated thinking Tina hated her . “They were well deserved.”
    “No they weren’t,” Tina insisted, voice rising. “Was I happy with you? No. Am I still happy with you? Not exactly, but… you’re not a liar or a whore!’
    “I should hope not!” Marlene replied.
    They laughed nervously, sipping their wine. Tina finished her glass, but Marlene didn’t feel right about topping it off for her again… and Tina never asked. They had always been so comfortable together and now, as Marlene had feared, that wall made the silence more than awkward; it was nearly unbearable. They sat for another few moments, Tina glancing at her watch once too often for Marlene’s taste.
    “Got a hot date?” she asked, trying – and failing – to hide her irritation.
    Fortunately, Tina didn’t notice. “Actually,” she said, standing up abruptly, “that’s another thing I came to tell you. You and Joe getting together, well… it was kind of the closure I needed to move on with my own life.”
    “Yeah?” Marlene asked, following her to the door. She wasn’t sure what her friend meant, but it certainly sounded promising.
    “You know that lawyer I was telling you about?” she said, grabbing her purse from next to the expensive floral bouquet and holding it close to her, as if protecting it.
    “The one who helped you refinance the house?” Marlene recalled vaguely.
    “Right, well… he’d been asking me out for months, but… I still felt disloyal saying ‘yes,’ you know?” When Marlene nodded, she continued. “But after your little… revelation… I decided, ‘why not,’ right?”
    Tina stood, chin out, head