Chapter 41 #2
He leads us from the bar to the half dozen steps next to a raised space where our fate awaits.
His grip is firm on my hand, rubbing circles into my thumb as we walk by a large group.
We pass a brick fireplace across from beams with hanging string lights twinkling over aged hardwood.
Our seats are between the other two teams.
Kendrick stuffs notecards into his black pants. Were we supposed to study?
Rachel is talking to the side of Shins’s face. Her hands and mouth are moving a mile a minute while he stares at the other end of the room. Completely bothered and unamused.
“Alright, teams. The couple that answers the most questions correctly will be our winner,” Melvin declares. “Any questions?”
“I’m not fucking him.” Bread points to Kendrick. “You’re handsome, bro, but we’re not like that.”
“That’s not a question,” Melvin notes. He signals for his assistants to pass us whiteboards with dry-erase markers.
We’re doing this for charity and steak and lobster.
Antonio leans over to me and says, “Don’t overthink it.”
Melvin strolls past us with a Vaseline smile like that man from The Hunger Games. “Before we start, tell us what you do and how you met.”
Rachel pats Shins’s thigh. “Since we’re the only couple up here, we’ll start.
” She stands and snatches Melvin’s mic. “We’re engaged.
” There’s a squeal and a flash of a large rock.
“We’ve been together since high school, but we’ve liked each other for much longer.
Our families play tennis together. They’re members of the same country club. ”
“Country club?” Someone in the audience scoffs. “Girl, this ain’t Laguna Beach.” A wave of laughter flows from one end of the crowded room to the other.
Rachel looks to Shins with a pout. He sighs and takes the mic after telling her to sit down. “We’ve been together for ten years. She’s a real estate broker. I play for the Buffalo Steel.”
The audience whistles for the rugby team.
Shins passes the mic.
“I’m Bread, and this is Kendrick.”
“I’ll take a bite of your loaf, big boy!” a woman catcalls.
“Who said that?” Bread shields his eyes from the spotlight on stage. “Don’t play with me. You sound fine as shit. You can get these gluten-free strokes!”
“Bring the little one too!” another shouts. “I like short kings.”
Kendrick drops his head.
Antonio steals the mic from Bread. “Sit your ass down,” he grits before smiling to the spectators of this circus. “A round of applause for Kendrick and Bread. They both play for the Steel, as do I.”
“Captain, my Captain,” the three rugby players sing.
“Alright, enough,” Antonio chuckles. His face softens. “This is Miriam. She has a PhD in mechanical engineering.”
“Come on, Queen!”
“Let her know!” he shouts.
“Please don’t encourage him,” I groan.
“She’s amazing, and she recently accepted a job at the Jefferson Moselle Community Center. We have a separate donation box for them near the bar. Please show your support.”
I unshield my face from embarrassment. “What?”
He covers the mic. “Whatever we raise tonight, I’ll match it.”
“I—”
“Beautiful couple,” Melvin says. “How long have you two been together?”
Antonio clears his throat. “It’s new, but she’s been my best friend for three years.” His smile is wide. “I had a crush on Miriam for the longest. I first saw her in her high school while visiting a friend. She was on her way to an engineering club meeting.”
“You never told me that,” I whisper.
“It took a while for her to notice me. Years, actually.” He bites his lip and stares down at me through a fan of lashes. “One unfortunate incident on New Year’s Eve became the best night of my life.”
“Aww,” the crowd says.
Rachel’s scoff barely registers. I had no idea that Antonio first saw me in high school. Most of my days involved my nose in a book, but still. I always thought he remembered me from the times I babysat him.
“You two might need to go on another show.” Melvin fans himself. “Let the games begin! Question one. Who is your partner’s celebrity crush?”
Our hands scribble across our boards, careful not to reveal our answers.
Rachel and Shins get their first strike after she guesses Lea Michele. Shins’s answer is Regina Hall, who is different from his future wife in every way. He guesses Regé-Jean Page, for obvious reasons, and frowns when Rachel reveals Theo James.
Awkward.
Rachel’s face is so red, I hand her my water bottle.
Kendrick and Bread get two points for each writing Halle Berry.
Antonio guesses my crush: Usher. My guess for him is Eva Marcille. Gorgeous. Hazel eyes. Model figure.
“Tatyana Ali?” I ask, my breath lodged in my throat.
He lifts a shoulder, keeping his eyes on his now-empty board. “I had a crush on Ashley Banks growing up. It just stuck.”
Jumping to conclusions is illogical—premature decision-making not seeded in analysis. The coincidence that Antonio’s crush happens to be my celebrity twin doesn’t feel like one anymore. It feels personal. Deeper.
If you knew how long I’ve wanted you.
Melvin clicks his heels and spins to the audience. “Let’s see if we can get Team Fiancé and Team BFF on the board. Question two: What is your partner’s favorite movie?”
Kendrick and Bread fail epically. Shins and Rachel also stumble.
“The Players Club?” She turns her nose up, flicking her hair over her shoulders.
“He likes The Best Man too, for Candy.” Antonio snorts but clears his throat at Rachel’s glare.
“Miriam, what’s your answer?” Melvin asks.
Must everyone look at me?
My focus drops to the floor. “Well, it depends. The Sandlot is one of his favorites,” I say. “So is A League of Their Own. Mortal Kombat is up there.” His eyes are on me when I glance up. “You also like Predators. That’s a good one.”
He stares a beat before revealing his board. All four movies are there, in the order I mentioned.
“Look at that!” Melvin encourages the audience to cheer. “Antonio?”
He shifts to face me. “Aliens is your all-time favorite. You also love Brown Sugar.”
I motion to his outfit. “I’m not the only one.”
He grins. “It wasn’t bad. Alien vs. Predator is your honorable mention.”
I startle at Melvin’s clapping and turn my board.
“I think these two should get bonus points. What say you, audience?” The spotlight bounces off Melvin’s teeth. He extends the mic toward the roar of applause.
“Let’s turn up the heat!” Melvin clicks the heels of his dress shoes and pumps a fist into the air.
Sweat tickles my armpits at whatever “heat” means. Fantasies. Sex positions. Public sex confessions. Antonio and I will lose on the technicality that I’ve barely made it off the starting block of the pleasure Olympics.
“We can stop if you’re uncomfortable,” Antonio whispers. His hand covers my clenched fists in my lap.
“It’s fine.” I shift in my seat and eye an exit. “My answers won’t win us any bonus points. Vegas and my kitchen table are the only two highlights, which doesn’t say much because we were friends both times. I guess that doesn’t matter, because you were friends with all of the—”
Antonio’s mouth teases my lips apart. His large hand cups my cheek as he slides his tongue against the seam of my mouth, shattering my thoughts. My body tingles when his fingers splay across my thighs.
“Your past is behind us, as is mine,” he says. “Nothing else matters except the memories we make. Got it?”
I’m about to make memories on this stool.
“Yeah.”
He pecks my lips. It’s not until Melvin squeals that I remember we’re in front of an audience, inside a packed bar, telling our business.
“It’s like that, Maid Miriam?” I conceal my face in the crook of Antonio’s neck at Bread’s smile. “Why you hiding? We saw you.”
“Sure did!” a woman yells from the back of the room. “Tongued down with words of affirmation and aftercare? Where can I find one?”
“With two-day shipping!” someone else shouts.
“Not two-day shipping,” I say through a cackle.
Antonio’s laughter rattles his chest. He pulls me closer and kisses the top of my head.
“Alright, alright.” Melvin shushes the crowd. “For the sake of time, we’re moving on.”
A chorus of boos fills the room.
Guess I’ll keep my sexual fantasies for a rainy day.
By the end of the night, Antonio and I clean house.
Our quirks and habits.
Our favorite ways to relax.
We know it all.
The event raises thirty thousand, plus an extra ten grand for the community center.
I’m pretty sure Antonio fudged the numbers, but who am I to correct his math?
An audience member approached us before we left, saying they were interested in becoming a donor for the center after hearing about our work.
My knees almost gave out when I heard the pledged monthly donation.
It’s around ten when he drives us back to my house. The ride is smooth in buttery leather seats heated for my comfort. Tonight proved that our relationship wins fancy Italian dinners when put to the test, and that I can kiss in public without making a run for the door.
Once I got used to being in a fishbowl onstage, I was calm. Settled. It was the perfect night. I should be relaxed like Antonio, who’s strumming his fingers on the steering wheel to whatever R it’s been here all along.
His SUV rolls to a stop in my driveway. The steady hum of my pulse and the scent of cedar with tobacco thicken the air.
“I’ll walk you to the door.”
I’m on him before his hand reaches his seat belt. My fingers dig into the short hairs of his beard, and my lips crash to his.
“Mir—”
This man has every right to be afraid. I would be too if someone mauled me in my car like they were possessed. Once I stopped thinking about all of the reasons we’re not right for each other, desire took over. And she wants a word.
Antonio’s eyes flare before he pulls me over the center console to straddle him.
My winter coat traps my skirt from riding up my thighs.
He widens his legs, focusing on stretching mine over his frame.
A heat stroke might be in my future with all these extra layers, but for now, I throw caution to the wind and hump him in my driveway for all to see.
Our war of lips and tongue wanes when Antonio strokes his thumbs over my jaw. Each kiss is gentle, slow, and measured.
He presses his forehead to mine. “I don’t want to rush this, Doe. I want you to be comfortable.”
“I love you,” I whisper, my body vibrating from the heat in his gaze and these damn layers. “Come inside with me.”
“Are you sure?”
“Only if you want to.”