Page 78 of The Cask

“No.”

“You’re not Greek?”

“Yes, yes!” I nodded. “I am, yes.”

“And you don’t know”—he made the hand gesture and face again— “Impossible!”

I pointed. “You’re Greek?”

“Yes.” He was grinning. “This is our hand sign.”

“Oh, wait, I’m tired. You meant Greek, like you’re in a fraternity?”

“Yeah.” He made a face. “What did you think I meant?”

I laughed. “I thought you meant you were from Greece.”

“What?” He joined in with my amusement. “Why?”

“My father’s Greek—Afrogreek.”

“Oh really? Born and raised in Greece?”

I nodded. “Yeah, born and raised.”

“Why did he leave Greece?”

“He moved here to go to school in Atlanta. He met my mom, they fell in love, got married, had me, and then moved to Richmond and we’ve been here ever since.”

“Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever heard the term Afrogreek.” He lifted his glass in the air. “That’s what’s up.”

Studying him, I crossed my legs. “So, who is Omari Fortune?”

“You know me.”

I cocked my head to the side. “I don’t know where you come from.”

He swiped his face with his hand. “There’s not much to tell. I went to school at Hamilton University. I created an online business during undergrad that ended up making me a lot of money. I made some good investments, opened a restaurant, and now I’m here doing the same thing.”

I observed him as I let the flavorful liquid play on my tongue. “So, your origin story starts with you in college at HU?”

“It’s the origin of how I became…this version of me.” When I continued to stare at him blankly, he cleared his throat. “I don’t really talk about life before college. Most people don’t want to know.”

“Well, I’m not most people. I want to know.” I leaned forward, putting my hand on his knee. “I want to knowyou.”

He held my gaze as he drank the Amontillado. When he pulled the glass away, he slowly licked his lips. “Okay, I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”

“So, I can ask you anything?”

He nodded. “Anything. As long as I can ask you anything in return.”

“Yeah, that’s fine,” I said quickly. “When was the last time you went on a date?”

“Monday,” he answered. “With you.”

“This only works if we tell the truth when we answer the questions.”

His brows furrowed and he gave me a suspicious look. “I am.”

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