Chapter 31
FAMILY-FRIENDLY
JAHLANI
Jahlani feels as though she’s cheating on her family as she pulls into the cobblestone driveway for the second time.
She should be trying to mend things with them—to be better, to try.
But things here with them are easier. Calmer.
Happier. Here, she doesn’t have to think so much about what she’s doing.
This time, the door is covered in Christmas decorations.
Somehow, she finds herself in the kitchen with Gwen—which she doesn’t mind.
It’s refreshing. She talks about everything.
Her latest project, a crazy buyer, how she got into art, and then Roman.
“I just worry about him,” Gwen says, scooping out pasta into a bowl.
“Worry?”
“That boy just always seems to have his head in the clouds. He’s been like that since he was a kid, and I hate that he’s still working at that bar,” she says, sipping from her wine. “It’s a shame.”
Jahlani is quiet for several moments, mixing the salad.
“Roman is brilliant, Gwen,” she says, slowly. “He has this way with the customers. He’s so expressive and controlled. He’s very personable and works so hard. It’s not easy what he does, but he’s good, and he likes it. He’s happy. Shouldn’t that count for something?”
Gwen sighs heavily. “Happy doesn’t pay the bills, baby.” She pats her arm as if to say, you’re so cute, so young, so na?ve. “It doesn’t cover the cost of her health.”
Jahlani lets out a long sigh, scratching her temple because she understands now.
Why Roman is the way he is.
“Gwen, you should be proud of him. You should cheer him on. Support him. What you think matters to him.”
She sets her glass down, her head tilting. “Did he say something to you?”
Jahlani shakes her head. “No, I just … I see how hard he works and how good he is with Lucy. He’s trying.
He has a lot on his plate, and I just think you might be being too hard on him,” she says, her voice quiet.
“Sorry if that’s overstepping. I’m gonna .
.. set this on the table.” Jahlani squeezes past her, not waiting for her reaction.
The rest of the night is spent playing an intense game of Catan over milk and cookies.
Roman is patient, taking his time to explain the rules, brushing his fingers over her thighs, resting his arm on the back of her chair, and reminding her to drink.
It’s well past eleven when they get back to his, and he’s tucked Lucy in.
He shuffles out to the living room, lifting her legs to drop them in his lap as she hits the play button on a show. He peels both her socks off before moving to massage them. She drops the remote across her chest, leaning further into the couch.
“What’s going on?”
“They’re trying to figure out how to kill their sister’s husband.”
He snorts. “That’s sick.”
Jahlani shrugs. “He deserves it. You’ll see.”
Twenty minutes later, Roman is nodding at the screen. “I see.”
She laughs, looking at him.
“What’s that look?” he asks after a beat.
Jahlani sighs, looking toward the ceiling. “Nothing. I’m just happy.”
He turns to her. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“Good. I like it when you’re happy.”
She sighs, turning back to watch the show. “Me too.”
And as they watch the main characters argue on whether to cut the brakes of the husband’s car, his fingers rubbing soothing circles, Jahlani thinks about how maybe it is possible for things to come in threes.
Lucy.
Roman.
Her growing relationships with everyone.
Despite everything she’s been through with her parents, Micah, her financial dilemmas, and school, she feels something she didn’t foresee happening anytime soon.
She feels hope.
“Okay,” Jahlani says, clapping her hands together in the front of the lecture hall the next day. “We have two more topics and then we’re done.”
A few students whoop from the back. Jahlani laughs, feeling light and airy and good. Her eyes gloss over Roman who sends her a wink. She averts her attention back to the screen, pulling up the next PowerPoint.
For the past week, she’s been blissed out.
She’s glowing. Thriving. Healthier. Apparently, great sex and even better conversation does that to a person.
There’s a loud energy that seems to thrum around her when she’s sharing the same space as him and they meet each other’s eyes.
The first day back in class was … disastrous.
She bumbled her way through the lecture, making mistakes to the point that several students had to ask if she was feeling okay.
All because of him.
Later that night, they laid out even more ground rules that resulted in her being pressed into the kitchen island. She moves around the room as students take notes. The loud chime of her phone receiving a text message sends a thrill through her.
Ro
Come over.
Her body burns and she can’t stop her lips from turning upward.
Jahlani
Don’t text me. I’m working.
Ro
Okay.
Ro
I’ll stop if you agree to come over tonight.
Ro
I have perfected the craft of cinnamon rolls.
She snorts at this, getting ready to type a reply when a student calls her.
“Uh, Miss … your messages are showing up on the screen.”
Jahlani looks up and she reaches forward to rip the HDMI cord from her MacBook. She lowers her head, cheeks flaming, before looking at her phone.
“Would you look at the time—I’m late for an appointment.”
“We still have forty-five minutes—”
“Class is over,” she says in a rush, typing on her phone as students filter out, not looking up.
Jahlani
We’ll talk later.
“New rule,” Jahlani says in the entryway, slipping off her shoes. “You can’t text me anymore.”
She stops when she rounds the corner, unable to fight the curve of her mouth when Lucy stumbles to her. She lifts her up, placing her on her hip as she walks toward Roman.
“What’s all this?” she breathes out, stepping toward the dining room table that’s laid out with food. He shrugs, rubbing the back of his neck.
“My way of apologizing. I tried to get all your favorites. I even”—he lifts the box to reveal pineapple pizza—“got this monstrosity.”
She scoffs. “This isn’t going to work.”
He sighs, dragging a hand down his face. “I know.”
“That could’ve been way worse.”
“I know.”
“That could’ve been expulsion.”
“Yeah.”
“And was really, reckless—”
“Yup.”
“Of me,” she says, setting Lucy down on the ground. “I shouldn’t have used my laptop, or I should’ve turned off my notifications. I’ll do it tonight,” she says, stepping into his arms. “This is crazy, Roman,” she says against his chest.
“We’ll be more careful,” he says, his body rumbling against her. “Two more weeks until the semester’s over.”
She pulls back, her stomach dropping. “Already?”
“Yeah. And then you’re all mine,” he says, smiling.
As long as this isn’t an itch.