Chapter 5
Raphael
“Why did I let you talk me into this?”
Laughing, I placed my hands on Ashlynn’s arms to steady her. Once I was certain she wouldn’t fall and bust her butt, I released her, bending down to tie her skates. “I asked you out for Valentine’s Day, you said yes, but said, and I quote, ‘I’ll go out with you, but I don’t want to do what everyone else is doing. Nothing overly romantic.’”
Ashlynn rolled her eyes. “One, I don’t sound like that. Two, I did say I didn’t want anything overly romantic, but skating, Raphe? Do you not remember the last time I tried this? I fell and broke my arm.”
I stood, shaking my head. “You were also thirteen years old, at Crystal’s, and wearing skates two sizes too big. Instead of getting in the adult rink, you should’ve taken your ass to the kids’ rink. But nooooo, you wanted to impress ol’ boy from your chemistry class. There’s only a handful of people here, you have nothing to worry about.”
Instead of responding, Ashlynn flipped her middle finger, and I laughed harder, causing her to frown. “Why is my pain hilarious to you?”
“Your pain? More like your bruised ego.”
Turning, Ashlynn swung her arm back, trying to hit me, but I moved before she could connect. Her eyes widened as the weight behind her swing caused her to lose her balance yet again. Thankfully, she righted herself before she fell.
“God don’t like ugly. And, Dream, your ass is too fucking beautiful to be mad because I’m telling the truth. Now, as I was saying before you tried to sucker punch me, at your big age, you should know how to skate. Since you don’t, you gon’ learn today.” I held out my hand for her to take, but she stared, as if contemplating her next move. “Trust me, Dream. I got you.”
Grumbling under her breath, Ashlynn reluctantly accepted my hand, and allowed me to lead her to the rink.
On the drive back from Uncasville Saturday night, after we got something to eat with my staff and hit up the casino, Ashlynn agreed to go out with me for Valentine’s Day. I was happy she agreed but had no idea what we could do that would appease the terms she’d given me while being something fun and unexpected. I’d racked my brain trying to find the perfect place for us to spend out first Valentine’s Day in five years. My first choice was Dave Busters, since for as long as I could remember, Ashlynn liked to brag about “busting my ass” in basketball, but I decided against it because DB was also a place where we shared way too many memories. I didn’t want our past together to overshadow the memories we were creating presently. Roller skating came completely out of left field. A curveball neither of us saw coming, especially not Ashlynn.
Once we made it to the side of the rink, a young woman skated over, wearing a bright smile. “Hi, you must be Raphael.”
“I am, and you must be Gabriella.”
“That’s me.” She turned to Ashlynn. “And you must be my student for the next hour.”
Ashlynn’s eyes bounced between me and the woman, before they finally settled on me, narrowing into thin slits. “Student,” she repeated.
I nodded. “I told you, you’re going to learn to skate today. It’s a one-on-one lesson with a professional.”
“I know you did,” she snapped. Her gaze slowly landed on the rink. “But?—”
Feeling her body tense beside me, I moved to stand in front of her, blocking as much of her sight as I could. “I’ll be right there with you. I won’t leave your side, I promise.”
“Fine, but if I fall, you owe me.”
Two hours later, Ashlynn plopped down beside me on the bench, and lay back, placing both of her legs on my lap. “Please get me outta these death traps.”
I unloosened the strings and pulled the skates off, dropping them next to mine. “Death traps? You only fell twice.”
“Twice is two more times than you said I would.” Ashlynn poked me in the arm. Her finger barely made a dent in the skin. “Now, you owe me.”
“That’s what I said. Are you ready to tell me what?”
“Not yet.” She tilted her head to the side and stroked her chin. “Whatever it is, I gotta make it good. You’ll rue the day you let this ass,” Ashlynn pointed to her butt, “touch that floor.” She pointed to the skating rink, now filling up with midday skaters. “I hope you’re ready, mister.”
I’d purposely booked this private skating lesson for Ashlynn during the Early Bird Skate to prevent possible embarrassing moments, like she claims to have suffered when she fell. After handing me one of her boots, Ashlynn picked up her phone and began scrolling. I shook my head, unzipping her boot and sliding it on her foot.
“It fits,” I yelled, jumping up from the bench. The quickness of my movement almost knocked Ashlynn to the floor.
Grabbing the back of the chair, Ashlynn caught herself. “Raphael? What the hell are you doing?”
Ignoring her question, I continued, “The shoe, it fits.” I fell to one knee, fighting hard not to laugh at the attention my outburst garnered from everyone in the vicinity of us. “Oh, Cinderella. I have searched far and wide for you, scoured this great city known as DC, and its surrounding areas to find the woman whose foot for which this boot was made. I rode the Green Line from Greenbelt to Branch Avenue and back. I withstood the craziness of the X2, 70, and 92 buses, walked the trails of Rock Creek and Anacostia Park, and danced on the corner of 7th and Florida Avenue, hoping to attract someone who knew where you were.”
Ashlynn gasped; her eyes stretched wide. She whipped her head around, then covered her face with one hand while trying to make me stand with the other. “Omgosh, stop, Raphe.”
“Tell me I don’t owe you, and I’ll stop,” I whispered.
“Fine, you don’t,” she grumbled. “Get up.”
“Hmmm … On second thought, maybe you should admit how much fun you had skating before I end this little Skatespeare scene.” At Ashlynn’s silence, I added, “Get it? Instead of Shakespeare, I said skates … because we’re in at a skating rink.” The joke was met with more silence, and I grimaced. “Ouch, tough crowd.”
“Even though you’re so embarrassing, I will say I did have fun, and I might want to do it again after a couple more lessons. Now,” Ashlynn grabbed my hand and pulled me to the bench, “sit down. People are staring.”
I sat but didn’t speak. Neither did Ashlynn. We stared at each other for a beat before both of us burst out laughing and playfully bumped each other’s shoulder.
“Honey,” an older woman who looked vaguely familiar said, capturing mine and Ashlynn’s attention. She was tapping the hand of an older man, but her eyes were on us. “Isn’t that Nate’s brother?”
“Shit,” I hissed, glancing at Ashlynn, but she didn’t hear me. She wasn’t even looking at me. Her focus was on the woman. Her smile was no longer in place, replaced by a scowl as if she was ready to curse the woman out if she said something Ashlynn didn’t like. “Dream, chill.”
“You know her?”
“I met her a few times. She’s Stephanie’s ‘aunt’.” I curled my fingers into quotes. “Her and Stephanie’s grandmother were best friends.” I watched as Ashlynn’s features relaxed. “And the guy she’s with?—”
“Nate who?” the man asked, turning himself in a circle, before facing us. His face lit up with recognition. “It sure as hell is. ’Ingine Turtle what the hell you doing here?” His head reared back once he noticed Ashlynn, and he gave us a sly smile. “And who is this beautiful young woman?”
I hated the nickname Mr. Calvin, Nathaniel’s next-door neighbor, gave me, but because I liked the older man and had respect, I never told him. He was one of the coolest dudes I’d ever met. Smooth as hell, and every time I saw him, whether visiting Nathaniel or when he stopped into Weed the People, he regaled me with stories on life as a playa in his hay day.
After zipping Ashlynn’s second boot, I stood, then helped her up. “Hey, Mr. Calvin. Ms. Morgan. This is Ashlynn. Ashlynn, this is Mr. Calvin and Ms. Morgan. They live next door to Nathaniel and Stephanie.”
“It’s nice to meet you both,” Ashlynn told them, shaking both of their hands.
Ms. Morgan pursed her lips. “Ashlynn. That’s a different name, but for some reason, I swear I heard it before.”
Mr. Calvin rubbed his chin, stepping closer to us. “Now that you mention it, I’m pretty certain I did, too. I just can’t remember where.”
Yep, time to go.I’d heard one too many times about how Mr. Calvin and Ms. Morgan talked too much, and the surprises they’d accidentally ruined because of their inability to mind their business. They’d ruined a few secrets that had worked in Nate’s favor, like when they inadvertently told Stephanie that Nathaniel was in love with her right before she confessed to being in love with him. But I didn’t want them to mess this up, not for me and damn sure not for Ashlynn.
“I’m sure you’ll figure it out, but we were about to leave. Y’all have a great time.” I placed my hand on the small of Ashlynn’s back, ready to lead her to the exit, when Ms. Morgan stopped us.
“Wait a minute. I could’ve sworn Stephanie mentioned Nathaniel’s sister having a friend named Ashlynn.”
Mr. Calvin snapped and pointed at us. “She sho’ did. ’Cause we was drinking that good wine Nate had hidden in the pantry. We ain’t know it was special, but the bottle was so pretty. My Morgan is a sucka for pretty thangs.” He placed a chaste kiss on Ms. Morgan’s cheek before continuing. “Anyways, I ain’t neva eva seen that boy so upset. He ran upstairs like he caught us having sex in his office again. When Stephanie came back to us, she told us what was wrong. Said she was gonna ‘smack down the group chat’ or something along those lines to see if Ashlynn could get Nate a replacement bottle. Say,” he motioned to Ashlynn, “you wouldn’t happen to be the same person, would ya? I been trying to find that wine in stores, and ain’t been having no luck.”
“Umm … Well … I …” Ashlynn looked at me to help, but I just shrugged. She smiled. “Yes, sir, I’m the same person.”
“Really? Look, honey,” Ms. Morgan started, sidling up beside Ashlynn, “your people’s wine is delicious. I usually don’t drink the stuff ’cause I can’t shake the image of putting something in my mouth that’s been crushed under someone’s nasty, fungus-infected, bunion-having feet.” She gagged, shaking her head. “Hopefully, since you’re,” she ran her index finger up and down her arm, “like me, y’all don’t do that shit. But, if you did, I wouldn’t be mad. That toe-jam juice is amazing.”
Ashlynn sputtered a laugh. “Oh no, ma’am. We press our grapes through a machine.”
“Honey, Stephanie told us the same thing.”
Ms. Morgan waved a dismissive hand. “Stephanie would say anything to get me to shut up and not embarrass her. But if you can get us a couple bottles, it would be appreciated. When I tell you the wine put me in a mood. Whew! Calvin couldn’t keep his hands off me.”
Mr. Calvin nuzzled her neck. “I sure couldn’t. Not when it felt like I was being baptized in the rivers of Jordan.” He threw his hands in the air. “Praise Jesus. Hallelujah.”
“Oh, shit.” Ashlynn slapped a hand to her mouth to cover her laughter.
“On that note, we gotta head out.”
Giggling like a schoolgirl, Ms. Morgan waved. “Y’all be safe, now. I’ll be sure to tell Stephanie and Nate we saw you.”
“Wow. Wow. Wow,” Ashlynn said, ten minutes later as we stopped beside my car.
I laughed, opening the passenger door, and helped Ashlynn inside. Then rounded the hood, sliding into the driver’s seat. “Yeah, that was?—”
“Unbelievable.”
“I was gonna say crazy, but that works, too.”
Ashlynn buckled her seat belt. “I’d heard stories about them from the girls, but seeing them in person … Wow.”
“Yeah, they’re a mess.” I started the car, pulled out the spot, and headed back to the vineyard to drop Ashlynn off. As much as I wanted to check on the status of the wines we’d infused on Monday, after her meeting with her pops and uncle, Ashlynn and I vowed not to disrupt the infusion process. At least, for another eight weeks. “Nathaniel was pissed when he found them drinking his bottle of Cozy Book Corner Chardonnay. He’d been saving it for years.”
“I know. Dina called me on three-way with Stephanie. I’m glad we kept barrels of it in the cellar. Who knows what would’ve happened had I not been able to get Uncle Lance to check for me.”
“I’d be visiting my brother in jail.”
She chuckled. “Nah. It wouldn’t have gotten to that. Had I not found some, I would’ve given him a bottle from my own stash.”
We rode in silence as the sounds of the local radio station’s mid-day lunch mix filled the vehicle. I waited for Ashlynn to mention Ms. Morgan’s parting words. I knew she’d heard them, despite her facial expression not giving anything away. It would only be a matter of time before Stephanie and Nathaniel found out about Ashlynn and I being out together. Once they knew, Hayden and Daxton would be told, followed by Dina, who would more than likely tell everyone else.
We were caught, and we hadn’t gotten us off the ground yet.
“Dream?”
“Hmm …” Ashlynn looked up from her phone. “What’s up?”
I sighed. “You know they’re going to tell Nate and Steph, right?”
Nodding, she slipped her phone back into her purse. “Yeah, I know. I’m not worried.”
“You’re not?” I asked, unable to hide the surprise in my voice. Shit, I was. I had no idea what this meant for us.
“Nah.” Ashlynn took my hand, lacing our fingers together. The feel of her hand in mine sent a ripple of excitement zipping through my veins. “I might’ve suggested we take things slow, but what I didn’t say was we’d hide anything. I don’t want this time to be a repeat of the last two times. If we’re going to make it, we … I have to let go of my fears. At this point, whatever happens happens. We’ll deal with our families when it comes to that point.”
“Sounds good to me.” I relaxed in my seat, not wanting Ashlynn to see how happy I was at her words. It felt like the weight of the world was lifted off our shoulders. We were finally able to breathe. This was exactly what our relationship needed. The very same thing I craved years ago, loving out loud.
By the time I pulled up in front of the offices of HFV, I wasn’t worried about anyone finding out about us. I was more concerned about when I would see Ashlynn again. For the most part, we spent every day together, except Sunday, when her grandparents held their monthly family dinner at the vineyard. But if we weren’t together, we would spend hours texting, talking, or video-chatting.
“I had fun.”
Ashlynn smiled. “Me too, even though you tried to kill me.”
“Here you go.” Pulling her close, I brushed my lips against her forehead. “I went five years without you. Do you seriously think I’d risk fucking eternity?”
“You better not. I might come back and haunt your ass.”
“I don’t doubt it,” I told her. My eyes slipped to her lips, and the urge to kiss Ashlynn threatened to consume me. But I refused to give into temptation. If Ashlynn wanted to take things further, she would be the one to make the first move. Not me. Clearing my throat, I sat back. “When can I see you again?”
“I don’t know. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe tonight.” She shrugged. “You tell me.”
“I’ll see you tonight.”