feet and pulled his wife up with him. “Delia, could you help Soraya and I in the kitchen with dinner?”
“We ordered dinner in,” Soraya whined, but Graham was already leading her toward the kitchen. Delia slowly rose from her chair and grabbed her and Soraya’s wine glasses. Just like that, I was alone with Jurnee.
“You aren’t saying anything. Should I assume you aren’t interested in going out with me?” I followed her gaze to my pocket that held my phone. “Look, yes, I enjoy the company of women. I’m not seeing anyone right now. I had a great time at dinner with you.” Her silence was killing me. “I’m not good at serious, but I excel at practicing.”
There was nothing else for me to say to sell the idea. I removed my arm from the back of the sofa and turned to face her. Her beautiful green eyes sparkled, and a smile slowly spread across her face. Jurnee’s smile was beginning to wake parts of me that had been dormant for years.
“Are you asking me out because you feel bad I got stood up?”
“Twice.” Her glare made me laugh.
“Thank you, Anderson.” She turned toward me and slid one of her legs under the other. “Yes, I’ve been stood up twice.”
“Sorry, and no.” I sighed. “I’m asking you out because you’re fun to hang around with and not bad to look at.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“Come on, Jurnee. Say you’ll go out with me.”
“I’ll go out with you.”
“Yeah?”
“Yes.” She giggled.
The sound of her giggle sent a bolt of excitement through me. She grabbed her long reddish-brown hair and put it over her right shoulder, leaving the left side of her neck exposed. The thought of my lips gently kissing her neck should have evoked Eric’s reference to me being a pussy. It didn’t.
“Good.”
Jurnee picked up her phone from the seat next to her. “What was the approved time to text you again? I don’t want to miss my window of opportunity.”
“Jokes. You’ve got some jokes.” Chuckling, I brushed my fingers down the exposed side of her neck. “You don’t have to text me. I asked you out. When are you available?”
She threw herself back against the sofa. “I’m in a city where pretty much everyone I know is in this apartment. I’m always available.”
“Where did you find an apartment?”
“Brooklyn. It’s on the smaller side.”
“Most apartments in the city are small.” Retrieving my phone, I ignored the vibration of new text messages coming in and pulled up my calendar.
“Your calendar is color-coded?” She peered down at my phone.
“Are you looking over my shoulder?” I moved my phone out of her view.
She grinned, “Nope.”
“Color-coding helps ensure I don’t miss anything.” I showed her my schedule for tomorrow.
“Is every hour is accounted for?”
I tilted my head and looked at her. “Yes. The hours of one’s day should be accounted for. Right?”
Her hands flew into the air. “How do you have time for spontaneity?”
“I schedule it.”
“You schedule your spontaneity?” Jurnee smirked. “That doesn’t even make sense.”
Checking my schedule for what could be moved, I tossed out an idea. “How about we have a spontaneous dinner tomorrow night? I don’t have it on my calendar, so it will be spontaneous.”
“Sure. Dinner tomorrow, but that doesn’t count as spontaneous.” She flashed a killer grin. “We should go rescue our hosts from the kitchen.”
Jurnee headed toward the kitchen. It occurred to me as I followed her that I hadn’t stopped following her since I met her. What was going on with this woman? What was she doing to me? I watched her hop onto one of the chairs at the island next to Delia. My thoughts had moved onto tomorrow night’s date and having her undivided attention.
Eric was right. I am turning into a pussy.
15
Jurnee
Reaching for my ringing phone, I knocked my eyeshadow palette into the toilet. Shit! I answered my phone as I stared down into the toilet bowl. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath to calm my nerves.
“Hello.”
The Michigan State fight song rang out from the other end of the phone. There were a few people who would be playing the fight song to hype up for the homecoming game. Tilting the phone to see who was serenading me, a smile spread across my face when I read the name.
“Hey, Floyd. Are we ready for this game?” I pressed my eyes shut as I submerged my hand into the cold toilet water for the soggy eyeshadow.
Floyd sat next to me in my first class at Michigan State.