Page 62 of The Switch: A Friends To Lovers Romance

Yeye nodded sagely. “I’ve seen the destruction the drug business brings to vulnerable communities. It’s sickening.”

Nai Nai murmured her agreement.

“One of the concerned parents reached out to the paper, but the police won’t move in on the drug dealer because, unfortunately, not all of them have the community’s best interest at heart.”

“Isn’t investigating a drug dealer dangerous?” Nai Nai gasped.

“It doesn’t matter to me,” Ashanti said earnestly. “If the truth can help save someone’s future, I’ll pursue it no matter the consequences.”

Luke felt a stupid smile climbing his face, but he was powerless to wipe it off. Ashanti was so ditzy and impulsive around him that he sometimes forgot how accomplished he was.

“Look at Luke,” Nai Nai tapped Yeye’s shoulder, “he’s so proud of his young lady.”

At her words, Ashanti swung around and pinned her eyes on him.

Luke cleared his throat in an effort to redirect everyone’s attention. “Would anyone like some water?”

A few of his aunts raised their hands. Luke shuffled out of the room and slipped into the kitchen. He opened the cupboard to grab some glasses when he heard the click of heels pattering toward him.

“I’m sorry it had to come to this,” his mother said from behind him.

Luke spun and set the cups on the counter. “Are you, Mom? Because you didn’t look sorry earlier.”

“Don’t you understand how desperate I am?” she hissed. “I’ve tried everything I can think of to get through to you. Yeye agrees with the dangers of intermarrying. He’ll talk some sense into you.”

Luke doubted that, but he didn’t want to say so and further enrage his mother.

As far as he could tell, Yeye was every bit as smitten with Ashanti as Luke had been the first day that he’d met her.

Instead of picking a fight, Luke filled a glass and offered it to her.

She stared at it suspiciously. “What’s this?”

“Water, Mom.” He raised the cup, letting it hover in the air until she took it. At last, she accepted it and drank deeply. Luke watched her and sighed. “Don’t skip any more meals.”

She gazed at him with a slightly dazed expression.

Luke grabbed the tray and left his mother in the kitchen.

Chapter Eighteen

“And that’s when I told the peanut vendor—‘how much would you sell these for if I was allergic’?” Ashanti laughed. “The guy’s eyes got so big…” She couldn’t even finish because of the laughter that boomed in the room.

Yeye’s pale face was redder than her nail polish and his eyes had collapsed into themselves so they were barely slits.

Nai Nai, Luke’s grandmother, wiped away a tear. “You are too much. Did you really go to such lengths to get a discount?”

“The peanut guy was being stubborn! What was I supposed to do?”

Nai Nai coughed as she struggled to regain her composure. “I can barely believe it.”

“Don’t act like you’re so innocent,” Yeye said to his wife. He waggled an accusing finger. “You’ve done worse to save money.” He leaned forward, a twinkle in his eye. “This woman intentionally looks for clothes with broken zippers or discoloration and asks for a discount.”

“I don’t want second-hand clothes but I don’t want to pay exorbitant prices.”

“True that.” Ashanti nodded.

“But here’s the thing,” Yeye boomed, “we own a clothing store!”

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