Page 61 of The Kiss Countdown

“I swear you get more handsome with each passing year,” she says, and Vincent beams at the compliment.

He places a hand on my shoulder. “This is my girlfriend, Amerie. She sprained her ankle so she can’t get up.”

I shake off his hand and stand just well enough. “Actually, I’m doing a lot better. It’s nice to meet you.”

Shelly’s eyes twinkle as Vincent sighs. “I’m so happy to meet you, Amerie. Welcome to the family.”

Shelly sits across from me, next to Mrs. Rogers. Her eyes light up when they land on the platter of oysters Mr. Rogers ordered. “Oh, yum!”

Mr. Rogers frowns as Shelly places one oyster on her small plate but doesn’t say anything. I guess he’s on his best behavior at his wife’s request.

Shelly, however, isn’t playing by the same rules. Sheshoots Mr. Rogers a sly look before saying, “Anyone else want one? Amerie?”

I shake my head no.

“My Mimi isn’t a big fan of seafood,” Vincent says, quoting from the list I sent him weeks ago.

Though it shouldn’t, my stomach dips. He hasn’t called mehisMimi since our visit to the Space Center, and then he was teasing. Now the name rolls easily off his lips.

“Anyone else?” Shelly says. “Camille? Lance?” When no one takes her up on the offer, she shrugs. “Suit yourselves.”

“Now, that is enough,” Mr. Rogers finally explodes as Shelly loads two more oysters onto her plate.

“What?”

It’s like I’m watching a scene from the iconic showMartin.

“Are you enjoying yourself?” Vincent asks me.

I ignore the goose bumps his rumbly voice causes and nod. “I am. I don’t have a large extended family. It was always just my parents and me, so our dinners were never this lively.”

“Lucky you. Can you imagine the kind of looks people would throw our way whenever we went out to eat in a group like this? Shelly and Mom can get rowdy. It felt like doing the walk of shame leaving the restaurant. Every Sunday.” A pained look crosses his face.

“I swear,” Mrs. Rogers says exasperatedly when Shelly smacks Mr. Rogers’s hand as he tries to reclaim an oyster from her plate. “You two are worse than Vincent and Camille used to be, and you’re twice their age.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that, Momma,” Camille says. “Vincent was pretty horrible to me when we were kids. Vince, remember when you and Tay used to act like I was invisible, and you didn’t know where my voice was comingfrom? It was cute when I was seven, but so annoying when I was twelve. At least Lance never joined in with y’all.”

Vincent frowns and looks around. “Mimi, did you see where my sister went? I could’ve sworn I saw her sit by you earlier.” He makes a show of looking down the table. “Lance, where is Cami?”

“Amerie, count yourself lucky you’re only his girlfriend and can walk away from his foolishness at any time,” Camille says.

I turn to Vincent. “You’re right. She was here earlier, but now she’s gone. I hope she comes back before we’re ready to start eating.”

“Woooooow.” Camille stretches out the word. “You actually found someone willing to go along with your absurd sense of humor. Well done, Vince.”

Breaking character, I turn to Camille. “I’m so sorry, but I had to. I’m an only child, so I never got to tease any siblings when I was younger.”

Camille shakes her head. “I guess Momma was right about you two being perfect for each other.”

I force my smile to remain. This family sure loves throwing around that phrase.

When I look at Vincent, his grin is wide, and my heart does a flip-flop.

Shelly lets out an appreciative sigh. “Young love. We love to see it.”

We’re finally ready to eat, so we flip over the little round cards from red to green. Instantly, waiters carrying side dishes swarm our table. When they leave, large servings of rice, fried bananas, and potato salad are right in front of me in elegant silver dishes. Another set of waiters comes to offer portions of filet mignon, ribs, and steak, just to name a few.

Vincent digs into his flank steak, taking a heartymouthful. When he catches me staring, he holds his fork out to me. “Want to try a piece?”

---