The One I Want

“We sure are,” I reply, entertained by him but bitter that I missed the moment to appreciate her properly. “I bet Gil’s happy to have a night off.”

Moving toward the door, Mike says, “He wasn’t upset,” and then opens it. “Have a nice night.”

We can take a hint. I hold my hand out to Juni, and whisper for only her ears, “You look incredible.”

She reaches up and weaves her fingers through my hair just above my right ear. “I like your hair like this.” After a quick rub over the scruff on my face, she adds, “And this. You’re looking every bit California tonight, Drew, and I approve.”

“That’s why I did it.”

She takes my hand, and we hop in the car to go to dinner.

Together.

On a date.

Like a couple would.

I kiss her when we’re tucked in the back of the car. It’s not something I felt I could do in the lobby and has me now wondering what we should or shouldn’t be doing at all. My brother’s house is a safe place. I’m not worried about us going tonight. I worry about work on Monday and how we’ll separate the two parts of our lives.

“Drew?”

“Yeah?”

Still holding hands between us, she says, “Where’d you go off to?”

I push down the what’s-to-come scenarios playing out in my head and refocus on what’s happening right now. “I’m here with you.”

Accepting my answer, she nods and then stares out the window.

Are we making a mistake?

Or is it too late?

There are so many ways this can go wrong.

But I don’t want to dwell on those. I want this night with her, my family, and my friends.

We walk up the stairs of the brownstone with our hands still clasped together, and I knock. The large wooden carved door opens, and my mom throws her arms wide. “Andrew!”

“Mom? What are you doing here?”

“I flew in to surprise you, and Nick and Natalie. I’ve been missing you guys so much. It’s too quiet at the house. Come here.”

Releasing Juni, I embrace my mom. “Oh wow. Yeah, it’s a surprise, all right.”

She squirms, and I know what she’s about to do. Juni never stood a chance to escape before my mom is hugging her, too. I say, “She’s a hugger.”

Juni’s grin is as wide as her face when she hugs her in return. “It’s so nice to meet you.”

Standing back, my mom still clings to Juni’s arms. “You too. Natalie was telling me about you.” Shooting a glare full of daggers in my direction, she adds, “Because my sons don’t think it’s important to talk about anything but work.”

When my mom takes Juni’s hand, Juni says, “That sounds just like Drew.” She’s led inside, leaving me on the stoop staring at these two women becoming fast friends.

“I love that you call him Drew. We tried to get that one to stick when he was a preteen, but he’s only ever wanted to be called Andrew.”

They move into the living room while I shut the door and hang Juni’s jacket up. When I reach the kitchen where everyone—Natalie, Nick, Jackson, Tatum, my mom, and Juni—are hanging out, Nick greets me with a whiskey neat, and says, “I swear I didn’t know.”

“Mom meeting the woman I’m dating on the first date I take her on . . . yeah, make it a double.”

When I see my mom showing Juni her crystal necklace, I’m on the move. “Excuse me, Mom, I need to speak with Juni in private for a minute.”

My mom smiles like I’m trying to get away with kissing my girlfriend in the closet. Actually, that’s not a bad idea. “Take your time.” My mom winks at Juni. Oh God, this night is going to be long.

Juni and I step outside on the back patio, and I close the door behind us. The lights and the group’s laughter stretch out here, but I know we’ll have a few minutes to ourselves.

With a glass of wine in hand, she asks, “What is it?”

“Don’t tell my mom about the science fair project being tied to your parents’ theorem. She’ll flip out, and we’ll never hear the end of it.”

“It’s pretty unbelievable.” Juni believes in fate and all that, maybe not to a New Age guru level, but more of the romantic notion side of things. I don’t want to hurt her, but I’m just not a believer in that stuff.

If I had known my mom would be here, I would have prepped Juni in the car. The words race from my mouth on borrowed time. “It is, so she’ll jump on that bandwagon and talk about recognizing the signs when you see them, and that will lead to talk of the list—”

“The ex-elementary science fair champion and the daughter of the winning topic’s discoverers now seeing each other . . .” She shakes her head and takes a sip of wine. “Yep, no signs there.”