“Is that why you do it?”
“No. I call him Pop because he was always there for me and I respect him like another parent. If that hurts you?—”
“It doesn’t hurt. It wasn’t easy to accept. Not the part about him being another parent, but the implication that maybe I wasn’t always the father I should have been. That’s not your problem, though. It’s mine. That was on me and the choices I made.”
She stares back unblinkingly. She doesn’t answer, isn’t making this easy for me. I don’t deserve easy. If I’m honest, I don’t want it. Whatever she’s holding back because I’ve hurt her, I want to earn it, so I’ll take whatever she can freely offer for now.
“What do you say to dinner tonight?” I ask before she assembles an answer to mollify me, not wanting a response she doesn’t mean yet.
“Dad, seriously?” She pulls back and peers up at me. “This is homecoming of my senior year. You really think I’m spending Saturday night with myfather?”
“It was worth a shot,” I tell her with a grin.
Her frown eases and she blows out an tired laugh. “There’s a gospel brunch tomorrow. They’ve asked me to say a few words. Wanna be my date?”
“I’d like that very much.”
“Speaking of date, where’s Ms. Spencer?”
“Niomi?” I try to make my shrug and my voice casual. “Not sure. Why?”
“You were definitely giving offI’m so into youvibes around her.” She nudges me with one slim shoulder. “And you told me she was the one you kissed at that party. You still like her?”
“We’re adults. I’m not planning to pass her a note that says check yes if you like me, no if you don’t.”
“This from the dude who was gonna use a grand gesture to ask her out. You won’t tell me what it was?”
“No. I still might get to use it someday.”
“You need my help to make sure it’s not wack.”
I bark out a laugh and tip her tiara to the side, making her yelp and reach up to straighten it. “If I actually ever decide to do it, I probably will need your help.”
“Okay. Just don’t blow it. I love that lady.”
“So you’re basically using me to get close to Niomi.”
“Well it only works if you actually get close to her.” Celine waves at a few girls I recognize from her court on the field today. “I gotta go, Dad, but gospel brunch tomorrow, k?”
“Have fun, but not the kind I have to bail you out for.”
“Promise. Say hi to Ms. Spencer for me.”
I’ll try to remember, but if that kiss with Niomi last night was anything to go by, it might slip my mind.
CHAPTER TEN
niomi
The Candlewood Hotelis wall-to-wall over thirties. Janelle is babysitting the hot girls at the concert, and we are in here doing the electric slide to Cameo’s “Candy.” How times have changed. The crazy thing is this song is so old, the generation before me was dancing to it in this same hotel twenty years ago. Celine will probably still be dancing to it when she’s here and a fresh crop of hot girls are at the concert. The more things change, the more they stay the same. This song is a classic, though. It gets the people moving and the blood flowing.
“So this is where all the old folks are,” Ron says, surveying the crowd soon after we arrive. “I wondered.”
“Let ‘Get Low’ come on,” I threaten. “You’ll see who’s old.”
“I need to holler at the DJ and make sure that’s not in the mix. No one wants that geriatric bump and grind.”
I punch his shoulder. “Boy, I got your geriatric. I guess you weren’t serious about Janelle then.”
