Playing For Keeps

10| Chapter 7-Lola

There's a mini Tayo in front of me. The resemblance is uncanny. And on his way to being a little heart-breaker, unlike his brother. It isn't enough that he sprouts such cheesy lines that make my cheeks flush, no he adopts the classic bad boy pose. Fingers push in his pyjamas pockets, smirk ready and mischief swimming in the depths of his eyes.

''Jack! Come back inside.''

''I'm coming, mom. Tayo brought a girl with him. And she's pretty. Can I date her if he isn't?''

Tayo chuckles, lifts his brother from the ground and tucks him under his armpit. He ruffles his hair as his brother continues screaming, the sounds reminding me of when Gbolahan and Timi used to play with each other before he went to college. Both boys are so lost in one another, they don't notice that I'm still outside.

Leaping off my toes and rocking on my soles, I peer to the side finding similar houses and taking note of the shrubs around their home, the well tended garden to even with the growing cold and the car his Nana had driven back to their home.

Maybe I should have followed them instead of getting on the death trap known as Tayo's bike.

Was it nice to sit on? Yes. But he didn't have any feelings for either his safety or mine. Thank heavens, his visor was dark otherwise I'd have been screaming or throwing up at his back.

''I can't believe I forgot you outside. Come on. FYI, my parents are so excited to meet you and they might have told my uncles and aunts who brought their kids and what should have been a family dinner is now a fair. Don't worry,'' he says, and pulls me inside.

Their welcome mat's soft to the touch, my toes dipping in and feeling the texture of the stick family wash over me. It's of a little family with the dad waving while holding on to the mother's hand and the children.

He removes bunny slippers from a closet and drops them before me, moving along the hallway. After exchanging my shoes for them, I push through, taking note of the many family portraits, the hanger for my jacket and somewhere to hang my bag pack.

''Are you sure we can't back out now? I didn't sign up to meet the family so early in this ruse.''

He chuckles. ''When I woke up this morning, no one told me I would be someone's boyfriend. But here I am. Get on with the program, I know I have.''

With those words, he drags me and pushes me till we're standing in the middle of his living room. The walls were painted brown, the color accentuated by the cream sofas lined at the wall and the wooden table in the middle and at the sides. There's a brown and black rustic mug in the middle with frayed edges and a nice fireplace by the end. The entire layout's open with the kitchen bearing a more modern black-and-gray aesthetic compared to the living room.

Like Tayo had warned, there were a lot of people inside. What I hadn't accounted for was how many exactly. Just a quick glance at each smiling face gave me more than ten adults and quite a multitude of children.

''That's her, mom. Isn't she pretty?'' Tayo's little brother, Jack, says before coming to stand next to me. Like a little rockstar, he wags his eyebrows before taking my hand and pulling me to one of the chairs.

Just like dominoes, everyone falls into the other seats and stare at me, flashing their grins with their eyes unmoving from my frame.

''Don't scare the girl. Now Tayo hasn't told me anything about you. Tell me everything,'' His Nana says, stretching out her hand toward me. I grab hold of it, pulling myself from my chair till I squat beside her. Her grin widens as she turns to Tayo before looking back at me.

''Well, what do you want to know? I can't promise I'll be interesting.'' My cheeks flush as her interest in me grows stronger with every passing second.