"There; now that’s out of the way." Zara steps back.
I chuckle. "Can’t believe you girls managed to get Z to hug."
"You’re right. I don’t normally indulge in superfluous emotions, except when it comes to you." She stabs a finger at me.
I sniff again, get a good whiff of the pastries that are arranged on the table. There are— I stare. "Are those penis-shaped cookies?"
Amelie nods happily.
"And those bonbons are supposed to be—"
"Balls, it would seem." Zara’s eyes gleam. "I know which one I’m eating first."
"Ms. Balls-of-steel," I refer to her by the name a well-known mainstream daily has nicknamed her, "I didn’t think you needed more balls inyourorbit."
"One can never have too many of them, darling. You just have to be careful to keep them all up in the air at the same time, if you know what I mean.”
“Not exactly.”
She opens her mouth, no doubt, to explain herself, and I raise a hand. "Don’t need the details.”
She shrugs. "Hey, one needs to get one’s protein fix. I just choose to get mine this way."
There’s silence, then the girls burst out laughing.
“Though, perhaps, just this once, I might favor going for the biggest ones of them all.” She narrows her gaze on two of the balls which are larger in size than the others.
Once more, silence descends. After a few seconds, Zara looks up and spots the rest of us staring at her.
“What?” She scowls.
“That’s the first time I’ve heard you talk about a specific pair of balls,” I murmur.
Zara lowers her chin to her chest so her hair falls over her face. “I think we should park this conversation for another time. Don’t want to steal your limelight today, babe," she mumbles under her breath.
I peruse what I can see of her features. "OMG, you’ve met someone.”
She seems taken aback, then laughs—a little weakly, I think, "What? Of course not. What gives you that idea?"
"Because you’re blushing." Summer’s lips curve at the sides.
Her cheeks pinken further. "Me, blushing?" She waves a hand in the air. "You girls are imagining things. Also" —she glances at the table loaded with pastries— "I’m hungry."
As if on cue, my stomach rumbles.
"That’s a ton of goodies." I glance from Amelie to the table, then back at her. "Did you really make all of these?"
"Yes." She rubs her palms. "I had so much fun. We were taking the jet, so I transported everything over."
"Almost ran out of space, too." Karma chuckles.
"Speaking of—" I narrow my gaze on her. "Should you even be here?" Not only is Karma pregnant, but she also has a heart condition which means she needs to be very careful not to exert herself. Summer mentioned to me that she kept this from Michael until recently. After which, he’s refused to let her out of his sight.
"Don’t you start, too. It was almost impossible to convince Michael I’d be fine."
"I’m surprised he agreed to let you come," I murmur.
"Him agree to let me come?" She sets her jaw. "Nothing and no one is keeping me away from enjoying the wedding of one of the Sorority-of-the-Seven.” She grins. “Besides, he’s here, too, as is Weston, my own personal heart specialist." She winks at Amelie. “Don’t worry, we all know whose heart he cares about the most.”