“It’s more than that. Kiara’s family lives across the river in Poughkeepsie. They’re tight. I’ve been to a few family dinners. Apparently the guy she dated before, high school sweetheart and whatnot dumped her after the cancer diagnosis.”
“What the fuck?” I spat part of the taco out covering my mouth. Who would dump this feisty, smart, sexy woman? An damn idiot that’s who.
Chase held his hands up and took a drink of his lime soda.
“True Story. Word of advice, when you meet her family for dinner, Momma Roberts is intense. She loves her kids and she will eat you alive if she thinks you might hurt her girl.”
“Thanks, I guess. Though I don’t see us meeting the parents anytime soon.”
Chase smiled. “Oh you will.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because it all starts out as friends and before you know it, you’re meeting them under some benign pretense of a family BBQ.”
“Please tell I’m not wrong. You guys didn’t date, ever, right?” Because right now, I’m not sure how I feel about all of this.” I waved my hand around and sipped my own soda.
“No, we did not. Never saw each other that way. We met in PT and one time my mom was late picking me up after rehab. Dad was coaching and could care less now that his star player was benched for life. Anyway, Momma Roberts showed up to get Kiara and invited me to dinner. I think she might have been trying to set us up, but it wasn’t working for Kiara and I.”
“Nice.” I joked.
“She has three Aunts who own a restaurant and basically try to outdo each other cooking. I think I gained twenty pounds that night. They kept filling my plate and it was so good you couldn’t say no.”
“I’ll keep that in mind if she ever tells me more than a publicly recorded fact about herself.”
“You have to understand, she spent her junior and senior year in the spotlight as an Olympic hopeful only to have her dreams taken away when she got sick. It was an incredibly public thing, you were already in boot camp and gone.”
“I don’t recall anything in the local news and back then my mom was telling me everything including the church gossip.”
?
??All I’m saying is tread lightly and I think you’ll be alright. She’s the kind of girl that deserves all the romantic gestures, but only if you mean them. No bullshit, buddy.” Chase grumbled seriously.
“I thought you had a girlfriend.” I said.
“I do. Love her to bits, but Winnie can’t cook, and I’ll probably starve. I accept that truth. My girl gets an A for effort, plus she can feed me in other ways.”
“Gross, man.” I tossed a few shreds of lettuce at him and he swatted them away chuckling.
“I meant intellectually, you pervert.” Chase threw lettuce back at me and it was good to spend time with my friend even if we reverted to being idiot adolescents.
“Sure you did.”
We had a good laugh over that and he shared her latest exploits in the kitchen. I don’t think he lets her cook for fear she’ll burn his house down, and I don’t think homeowner’s insurance covers overzealous girlfriends with waffle makers. So it’s probably in everyone’s best interest they have an intellectual relationship, whatever the fuck that means.
He rapped his knuckles on the table making his point. “So my advice is to keep at it. Let her realize you’re not going anywhere and you’re not going to dump her for a stupid reason.”
“My mission has been to get this girl on a date. A real date. Dinner, conversation, and see where it goes. If she’d give me the time of day before freaking out about something and shutting down that would be nice too, but I can be patient.”
“Invite her to Easton’s, it’s neutral territory, public, and safe.”
I think on this remarking, “Pedro did make her a signature drink.”
Chase nodded.
“Let her see how you are with Remi and your brother. Nothing says decent human being then by letting her judge you on how you treat others.”
“What do you know about Remington.” I didn’t like that Chase was asking about her. Heck, I didn’t want anyone asking about her. Remington Kennedy was the little sister Andy and I never had and I felt protective about her. If I asked Andy he’d probably tell me to drop it, but I’m sure he hired her without checking her background or anything. He had a softer spot for damsels in distress than I did, but the sweet girl grew on me like wild moss and I wasn’t about to let anyone mess with her.