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“What?”
“She didn’t spell out ‘okay’ or even end it with a smiley face. She basically punched the ‘o’ and the ‘k’ on her keyboard and hit the period to let you know it was over. So if it’s not over on your end, you’re screwed.” She took another sip.
Luke felt panic clawing up his throat. “That doesn’t make sense. It’s not like I broke up with her.”
“How can you break up with someone you technically weren’t dating yet?” She tapped her temple. “Michelle’s looking for something solid. She doesn’t want to play games and that’s what you appear to be doing.”
“No, I’m not. I’m serious about her too.” He held the phone up and shook it.
Ashanti shrugged. “That’s life.”
Determination welled. Luke turned to Ashanti, his jaw clenched. “Do you have time this evening?”
“For what?”
“Meeting my parents.”
Ashanti slowly lowered her cup. “Are you serious?”
“Let’s do it.”
“Alright.” Ashanti’s eyes glistened. “I’m game.”
The fire he’d felt in that moment slowly but surely slipped away as the evening progressed. As he locked up the shop. And as he escorted Ashanti to his car.
By the time he spied his parents’ apartment—a sprawling expanse above his grandfather’s hardware store—his hands were shaking. He tightened his grip on the wheel to keep his nerves a secret from Ashanti.
This was such a bad idea.
Ashanti, on the other hand, seemed more energetic than ever.
She dove for the door handle. He stopped her. “Wait. Take a minute to prepare yourself.”
“Prepare for what?”
He glanced at her fearfully. “Anything.”
“Luke, I’ll be fine. And so will you. I mean, what’s the worst your parents can do?”
“Disown me.”
Ashanti whistled under her breath. “They’d really do that?”
He frowned. “Yeah.”
“Well, you don’t need their money anyway.”
Yeah, but he wanted their love and support. Which would dry up when he admitted to breaking the one rule they’d hammered into his head since he hit puberty.
“You ready?” she asked, looking at him this time.
“Are you sure you want to do this? I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“Luke, for me to get hurt, I’d first have to have a low self-esteem. And you know, my self-esteem is stupidly high. Maybe without reason but there you go. Barring that, for them to hurt me I’d have to actually like you and, no offense, but you’re not my type.”
“None taken. It’s the same here.”
She smiled brightly. “Does that help?”
