“Together is fine.” He’d said Imani was single, so that meant I wasn’t meeting two families. “Three adults and two children?”
He nodded. “Imani’s single right now. Even if she was in a relationship, I don’t know if she’d bring a partner to something like this. It’ll be okay.”
“I trust you.” And, despite everything, I did. Or perhaps because of everything. I’d witnessed nothing but pure kindness from him and obvious affection from his family.
“I’ll be in touch.”
“Yeah. Okay. I look forward to it.” I met his smile. “Thank you.”
“No, thank you. I—” He swallowed. “I love my sisters…but to know I have a brother? Man, I wish you could stay in Mission City forever. Not going back to Toronto.” He held my gaze. “I get the feeling your life isn’t a bowl of cherries there.”
“Is that an expression?”
“I have no idea. But I love cherries, so I’ve just made it one.”
I smiled. “No, it’s not easy. But moving across the country might not solve all my problems either.”
“Look, I might be speaking out of turn, but—” He drew in a sharp breath and let it out slowly. “I know we barely know each other. And that blood isn’t everything.”
“No, it’s not. Evidenced by our father.”
“Yeah.” He winced.
“But you were saying?”
“Just that…we have a huge basement. We can turn it into an apartment for you. You can live rent-free and get back on your feet.”
I stood there—completely stunned. “You just met me yesterday.”
“Well, yeah. But I’ve known about you for a bit of time. Jai and I are in agreement about this.”
I wanted to argue. He didn’t know me. I might be a horrible person. I wasn’t…but that was hardly the point. Still, I had to give him something. “I’ll think about it.”
“That would be great.” He gazed over at Jai who headed our way. “Time for you to go back to camp?”
Jai nodded. “Keegan and I have to go. Cody’s amazing, but he needs a break as well.” He turned to me. “Cody’s our camp psychologist. Totally reliable—but, in the end, the camp’s my responsibility.”
“I get it. Thanks for coming.” I smiled. “I really appreciate it.”
With that, we all said our goodbyes, and the family headed out.
I walked Daphne while Zahir cleaned the kitchen. That hardly felt fair—but he seemed to understand I needed time.
That said, when I returned to the house, I knew what I wanted.
Chapter Fifteen
Zahir
“I’m sorry, can you repeat that?”
I stared into Andre’s dark-brown eyes. Trying to parse his words. Although, really, they were pretty clear.
“I want to have sex with you. Like, sleep with you—but in the sexual way. Or, like, make love. But that feels too forward to say. Because I know you’re not in love with me.”
I could be, though. So damn easily.I took a deep breath. “Is this because you feel gratitude?”
“Well, sure. But that’s not why.” He scratched his stubbled cheek. “My mom said to wait until I met the right person—and I just know you’re the right person.”
