Purposefully Coincidental ✓

21. Poker

Leo

The past week, Josephine and I have been talking on the phone every day.

That night her brother saw me in her bathroom, I texted her and asked if I could call. She didn't answer, but instead called me right away.

Her voice was calm and not strained. I didn't want to bring up or ask what happened after I left, so we just chatted away.

I didn't stop until I made her laugh, just to make sure she was really okay.

Now, I'm in my truck, my visor down and making sure my hair is in place as I had the windows down on the way to Josephine's place.

She invited me to a 'game night' with her girlfriends, Candice and Ananya, and two of her brothers.

I don't know for sure if one of those brothers is Roman, but I'm guessing not.

I wasn't sure what a game night really meant. Are we actually playing games? Or is it just what everyone calls these get-togethers? When my cousins and I meet at Lusso, we just call it a family meeting or family dinner.

And I'm not ashamed that I Googled what one should wear to these kinds of meetings. In the end, I had put on what I usually wear; jeans and a simple shirt.

I knock on Josephine's door and when she opens it; she gives me a big grin.

"You're the first here." She waves her hand for me to enter.

"You said eight, right?"

"Yup." She walks back into her little kitchen. "But eight for them means nine."

"Oh." I frown.

"But that's alright. You can help me with the snacks." She tells me. "Take this bowl to that table, please."

She hands me a bowl filled with chips over the wall slash cabinets that separates the living room from the kitchen. After placing it where she told me to, I lean against the fridge and wait for her next request.

While doing so, I take her in. She's wearing lounge shorts but they're cut and frayed at the middle of her thighs, showing silky smooth skin. Her shirt is big, and the neckline is so wide, it turns into an off-the-shoulder shirt when she moves to grab a plate from one of the cupboards, revealing her nape.

She doesn't have her earrings on, and it makes her look more young.

"Could you put this into two plates?" She gives me a bowl of some salsa and two smaller plates.

"Si."

She grins at me and faces the stove again.

For almost half an hour, she gives me tasks and I execute them without complaint.

"So," she sighs, drying her hands. "We're done. Now, they just need to arrive."

"Are they always this late?" I ask with a smile.

She rolls her eyes. "Yeah. But it's okay. I knew they wouldn't be here till like nine."

"That's a good thing." I say, my hands in the pockets of my pants.

She frowns and scrunches her nose in confusion. She looks adorable doing it. I want to kiss her nose.

"Why?"

"I get to spend an hour alone with you."

She beams, and it's so infectious I grin off her smile.

The knocking on the door breaks our little moment, and she goes to open the door.