Rohan was calling her out. He felt she was so used to people running away when they found out or distancing themselves that she didn’t know how to handle it when that wasn’t the response she received, so, in turn, she began to push.
She opened her mouth and closed it, glancing toward the table. He watched her swallow, and he couldn’t help but wonder if she would tell him to leave. It wasn’t what he wanted, but if she said the words, he didn’t know if he’d be able to accept it and respect her wishes.
When the silence hung longer than he would have liked, he released her chin and took a step back. Would silence be his answer?
Jalen brought her hands up and gripped the sides of the lab coat he was wearing. “I...I don’t want you to.”
“You don’t want me to what? To stay? To leave?”
“To go. I don’t want you to go,” she replied.
Rohan released a breath that he hadn’t known he was holding. While they’d only been dating a couple of months, there was something about the woman who stood in front of him.
“I owe you an apology, though. I lied to you, and I shouldn’t have.”
“I never explicitly asked you who they were, so you didn’t lie to me.”
Jalen smiled at him, and he reached up and ran his knuckle along her cheek. They moved up in line. Only one person was left in front of them, and he double-checked that Kodi had said five fries.
“Yeah, the twins will share one, and still not eat it all, and the other two should be enough for the girls.”
“And what about you?”
“I’ll eat some of theirs, but I’m honestly not that hungry.”
When it was their turn to order, Rohan ordered three large fries and two medium fries. He knew the mediums were already enough to feed two people, but he wanted to make sure there was enough, along with drinks. The total was given, and Jalen reached for the crossbody she was wearing, but he paid before she could.
“Here, let me pay you for the girls,” she said, taking out some cash.
He rolled his eyes playfully at her, pushing her hand away. “Did I ask you to pay me for them?” She glared at him, and he smirked at her. “Tell you what. I’ll let you pay me by going out with me this week.”
“I’m free on Tuesday and Sunday, but I’m taking the girls to the park for a picnic if the weather is nice.”
“I can deal with Tuesday.”
They got their food and drinks a minute later and headed over to the table. They sat across from one another, placing the fries in the middle as they handed out drinks.
“Jae?” Rohan listened to Kodi call in a questioning tone.
“Yes,” Jalen told her simply with a nod.
“Good,” Kodi responded. “Since that’s all good now. We’re going to the park on Sunday, so you should come. Mikal sort of invited Alynn.”
“Can we go, Uncle Rohan? They’re going to have a picnic,” his niece told him excitedly.
“We can’t just invite ourselves,” he responded. In no way did he want Jalen to think he was trying to impose on her time with her siblings.
“You didn’t invite yourselves. Mikal did, and so did I,” Kodi informed him before placing a string of curly fries in her mouth.
“She has a point,” Jalen pointed out.
Rohan nodded, though he would call her later that night to ensure she didn’t feel obligated just because his niece was excited about it. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t curious about the dynamic between the five, and he was damn curious to find out how it ended up that way. He was content to wait until she was ready to tell him. Rohan listened to the girls strike up a conversation, looking forward to Tuesday and Sunday.
13
Jalen loaded the tablecloth and picnic basket into the back of her vehicle while Kodi strapped the youngest siblings in. They were going to the park to have a picnic. She tried to take them at least twice a month when the weather was nice. Today, Rohan and Alynn would meet them there.
Once she had those things loaded, she went back to the apartment to grab the cooler with the drinks in it, get Landon out of the front door, and make sure the door got locked. Her little sister had been spending a lot of her time on the phone, either talking or texting, and Jalen was sure it was with the boy she’d gone to the movies with.
