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Long past the promise of a nightcap to restart our steamy setting, Adriel must be getting ready to run out of here. This is too much. Too embarrassing. Too fast.
Stepping around me, he walks over to the sofa and puts his hand out to greet my sister. “You must be Justine. Nice to meet you. I used to love when my brothers surprised me with visits. It’s been a while since that’s happened though.”
Color me surprised.
Where I would have turned away from seeing someone's family drama clearly unfold before me. Adriel turns toward it.
He eases the tension between my sister and me by just being present.
It feels like he aced a test that I didn't realize I was giving him.
Justine lights up knowing that we’re not going to have a sisterly blowout. I’ll have to talk to her about this later. This wasn’t the plan.
She moves her laptop to make space for Adriel, and he sits next to her. Justine looks him over in an assessing way that only a little sister could get away with. It’s over-the-top and ridiculous, but I like her protection. I’m usually the one doing all the care.
“Nice to meet you too, cowboy.” Justine tucks her legs under her seat and angles to face him and asks, “When did your little crush on my sister begin, cowboy?”
Showing no signs that her line of questions is too invasive, he plays it all off with ease.
“Your sister doesn’t know this, but when she started at the library, I saw her help some kids pick out picture books. She knelt down every time she spoke to them to be at their eye level and spent nearly an hour picking out books and reading each one to them. It was that small thing that showed how big her heart is. I knew I wanted to get to know her more.”
I didn’t know that. My initial intentions were a lot thirstier than that.
“Plus, I like cats too,” he adds.
“Well, you better not just like them, you better love them. She’s a decade away from being a crazy ‘ol cat lady.”
I burst back in the room and say, “That’s enough of the interrogation there, sis. He doesn’t need to know that.” I see her tactic of trying to weed out unfit guys early by gauging their reaction, but today’s not the day. “Shall we do a rain check for that coffee, Adriel?”
“I’d love to stay if you don’t mind. Coffee still sounds perfect,” Adriel says.
Now that he’s staying, Justine has picked up her line of questioning.
“Any siblings, cowboy?”
“I’m the oldest of four brothers. They’re around.”
“You can tell a lot about a person based on their relationship with their siblings,” she says.
“My brothers and I are all a bit introverted, so we’ve got our own things we’re pursuing right now. Very competitive as kids. I’ve also got four guys that are practically my brothers. They know me better than anyone. Luke is bit of a celebrity, but I just think of him as a kid with bowl cut. Kenji took over his family’s Japanese inn in town, and we used to talk about how we’d update our family businesses together when we were young. We both have big shoes to fill. Brandon is the principal at the elementary school. Great with kids and can ease the tension in any situation. Then there’s Jackson. He’s my best friend. Really pulled through for me when I could barely recognize myself. I’d do anything for any one of them.”
He really seems to be taking my sister’s questions seriously.
“You’ve passed my preliminary test. I’m inviting you to stay for dinner. I’m about to make my specialty,” Justine says.
“What’s that?” Adriel asks.
“Chicken adobo. Classic Filipino dish, and Jules’ favorite. She loves to eat it but hates to cook it. Not much to it, she just doesn’t like chopping garlic, and there’s a lot of garlic.”
“Well, if it’s her favorite, you should probably teach me how to make it too.”
“I love that for you two.” Justine pops up and walks over to the kitchen. “I bought all the ingredients on my way over.”
I love that for us, too.
Chapter Seven
Adriel
