Chapter 12 An Unexpected Re #3
Amari's face betrayed her.
Simone screamed.
"HE KISSED YOU!"
"Lower your voice!"
"Was it good?"
Amari laughed.
"I'm not discussing this."
"That means yes."
"I hate you."
"Was there tongue?"
"SIMONE."
Simone danced across the living room.
"Oh, Officer David got upgraded from avocado police."
Amari threw a pillow at her.
Simone caught it.
Then her expression softened.
"Are you happy?"
Amari stopped.
The question was different.
She considered it.
"Yeah."
Her smile returned.
"I am."
Simone nodded.
"Good."
Tan arrived at his apartment twenty minutes later.
He barely got inside before his phone buzzed.
Amari: Home safe.
He smiled.
Tan: Good. I had a great time tonight.
Three dots.
Amari: Me too.
Then—
Amari: Your kissing improved.
Tan laughed.
Tan: Wow. So we're grading now?
Amari: Growth requires feedback.
Tan: Friday. 7:30.
A pause.
Amari: Deal.
Tan set the phone down.
It immediately rang.
Dad.
Tan stared.
"No."
He let it ring.
It stopped.
Then Mama called.
He ignored that too.
Then Grandma.
Tan closed his eyes.
"This family is insane."
Grandma called again.
He answered.
"Hello?"
"How'd the date go?"
Tan laughed.
"Why are you awake?"
"Don't worry about me."
"It's almost midnight."
"You aren't my father."
"Obviously."
"So?"
Tan walked toward the kitchen.
"It went well."
Gloria gasped dramatically.
"Define well."
"Grandma."
"Is she nice?"
"Yes."
"Pretty?"
"Very."
"Christian?"
Tan stopped.
"I don't know."
"You didn't ask?"
"It was the first date."
"Mm."
Tan smiled.
"Don't start."
"Did you ask her out again?"
"Yes."
"Then you like her."
"I do."
A pause.
Gloria's voice softened.
"I'm glad, baby."
Tan leaned against the counter.
"Thanks."
"Bring her to Sunday dinner."
"No."
"Why?"
"Because we had one date."
"You brought that basketball boy DeAndre over after knowing him two days."
"He was ten."
"Still."
"I'm hanging up."
"Okay."
"Love you."
"Love you too."
He started lowering the phone.
Gloria added,
"Wear the gray sweater Friday."
Tan hung up.
He laughed until he couldn't help himself.
The weeks after that first date passed effortlessly.
Friday became another dinner.
Then Sunday afternoon at an outdoor market.
Then coffee before Amari's workday.
Then a movie.
Then Tan cooked dinner at his apartment.
Amari discovered he actually knew how to cook.
He discovered she was incapable of chopping onions without crying dramatically.
She discovered he preferred old-school hip-hop while cleaning.
He discovered she danced through nearly every song whether she knew the words or not.
They talked.
Not just flirted.
Talked.
About work.
Family.
Fear.
Marriage.
Children.
Faith.
Expectations.
Money.
Boundaries.
Amari told him what Craig had done to her confidence.
Tan listened without trying to fix her.
Tan talked about the fear that someday he'd learn something about the Lee family that would change how he saw himself.
Amari didn't tell him blood couldn't define him.
She simply reminded him that learning where he came from wouldn't erase who he'd become.
He remembered that.
Their physical attraction grew too.
Sometimes painfully.
One evening, Tan kissed her outside her house until Amari had to push both hands against his chest.
"T."
He immediately stepped back.
"What?"
She laughed breathlessly.
"If you keep kissing me like that, you're not going home."
Tan stared at her.
The invitation hidden inside the warning was obvious.
He wanted her.
Badly.
But he also understood what intimacy meant for Amari after Craig.
Tan ran one hand slowly along her arm.
"Then I'll go home."
She blinked.
"What?"
His breathing wasn't exactly steady either.
"We don't have to rush."
Amari stared.
"You don't want to?"
Tan laughed softly.
"That is very much not the problem."
Her cheeks warmed.
"Then why?"
"Because I want whatever happens between us to feel good tomorrow too."
The answer left her quiet.
Tan kissed her forehead.
"I'll call you when I get home."
Amari watched him walk toward his car.
Part of her wanted to drag him back inside.
Another part felt deeply seen.
Safe.
She smiled.
That word no longer frightened her as much.
Three months after their grocery-store reunion, Tan finally invited Amari to Sunday dinner.
He delayed as long as possible.
Not because he was ashamed of his family.
Because he knew them.
"You're acting like I'm meeting the President," Amari said as they drove toward the David house.
"Presidents are easier."
"Stop."
"I'm serious."
"Why?"
"My grandmother will ask questions."
"Okay."
"My mother will ask more."
"Fine."
"Ella will study your entire outfit."
Amari looked down at her fitted cream sweater and jeans.
"Why?"
"She's Ella."
"And Travis?"
"He'll probably cross-examine you."
Amari laughed.
"And your dad?"
Tan smiled.
"He'll like you."
"You know that already?"
"Yeah."
"How?"
"Because I do."
Her expression softened.
"That was smooth."
"Wasn't trying."
"Even smoother."
Tan pulled into the driveway.
Before he could turn off the engine, the front door opened.
Eva appeared.
Tan closed his eyes.
"Here we go."
Then Gloria appeared behind her.
Then Ella.
Then Harold.
Then Travis.
Amari stared.
"Did they wait at the window?"
"Absolutely."
She burst out laughing.
Terrence finally appeared behind everyone.
He took one look at the crowd blocking his doorway and shook his head.
"Can y'all act like you've seen company before?"
Eva stepped outside.
Amari suddenly became nervous.
Tan noticed.
He reached for her hand.
"You good?"
She looked at him.
"Yeah."
He squeezed gently.
"Come on."
The moment they stepped out, Eva smiled.
"Amari?"
"Yes, ma'am."
Eva hugged her.
Not an awkward handshake.
A hug.
"Welcome."
Gloria was next.
"So this is the beautiful girl."
Tan groaned.
"Grandma."
"What?"
Amari laughed.
"I like her already."
Gloria beamed.
"See?"
Ella whispered loudly,
"She's gorgeous."
Amari smiled.
"Thank you."
Travis stepped forward.
"Travis."
"Attorney brother."
"Future attorney."
"Tan warned me."
Travis looked offended.
"What did he say?"
"Cross-examination."
"I've already got questions."
Tan pointed toward him.
"Don't."
Everyone laughed.
Then Terrence stepped forward.
For a moment, Amari simply looked at him.
This was the man.
The officer who'd rescued a five-year-old boy from a street.
The father Tan couldn't mention without pride entering his voice.
Terrence smiled and extended his hand.
"Terrence David."
Amari took it.
"It's really nice to meet you."
"Likewise."
He studied her for a second.
Not suspiciously.
Warmly.
Then he glanced toward Tan.
His son was looking at Amari differently.
Terrence recognized it immediately.