He points at my plate. “You still have pie left. In the entire time you’ve been harassing me, a piece of pie has never survived this long on your plate.”

“I’m starting to understand why most people think little brothers are annoying.”

Suddenly he sits back. “Don’t tell me a girl has you like this?”

His statement hits a little too close to home. “You’re just a kid so I wouldn’t expect you to understand.”

“I’m not a kid. I’m twenty-two.” He says this with the kind of pride you can only have when you’re that young. Not that I’m so much older at twenty-five but next to Luke, I feel like a bitter, washed up old man. 

“Yeah yeah. You’ll be on Depends before long.”

“This girl must be something to have you looking like that. I mean, if even the pie hasn’t cheered you up.”

It makes me think. Why is Rissa affecting me this way? The whole purpose of this is to get her out of my system. To show her how wrong she was and make her regret her decision. It was supposed to make me feel better and give me closure. But there’s nothing final about how I feel for her.

“What’s so special about this girl anyway?” Luke is watching me with genuine curiosity.

It makes me uncomfortable. Like I’m some kind of math problem that he’s trying to solve.

“She used to be everything and then she was nothing.”

Luke is staring at me with newfound interest. “Damn, man. That’s deep. It sounds like she ripped your heart out.”

“Don’t trust women. That’s what they do. They rip your heart out.”

“What are you telling my baby?”

I jump when Anita appears at my elbow. Luke just gazes back at me innocently like this is all on you.

“Nothing. Just telling him again how lucky he is to grow up eating like this.” I give Anita my most charming smile. She just raises an eyebrow.

“Are you taking care of yourself?”

Great, now I have both mother and son watching me like I’m at risk of slitting my wrists any moment. All the hovering is making me claustrophobic. Coupled with all the worry coming my way from Tank, I’m starting to think all this family togetherness has a serious downside.

I smile up at Anita. “Haven’t you figured out why I’ve been coming here all this time? I’m hoping you’ll take me home with you.”

“Seriously, you’re flirting with my mom?” Luke looks disgusted. “All right. I’ll meet your brother if it means you’ll stop flirting with my mom. And the other ones. Just don’t expect some big happy family reunion or whatever. I mean, do they even know about me?”

“Yes, they all know about you.”

The bell above the door tinkles and I look up. Over his shoulder I see Tank. Then Emma. A few moments later, Sasha follows behind.

Shit.

“What’s wrong?”

Clearly I must have said what I was thinking out loud. So I don’t even try to prepare an explanation. He wouldn’t believe it and I wouldn’t have time to deliver it. Tank sees me and he turns to say something to Emma. We’ve only got maybe sixty seconds before they descend on us.

“I didn’t plan this I swear.”

Luke glances over his shoulder. When he turns around, his face has turned to stone. “Coincidence right? Does he just happen to have a pie fetish, too?”

“He knows I’ve been here bugging you but I didn’t think he was going to just show up. This is not his style at all. It’s probably Emma’s idea. His girlfriend.”

“Great. He’s staring. Did you tell him I was black?”

Anita looks mortified. The tops of her cheeks turn red beneath her cinnamon complexion. “Luke! I’m sure they don’t care about that.”

“Is that why you’ve been holding back? I wish you’d told me. That doesn’t matter to any of us. Not in the way you’re thinking anyway.”

Luke sits back with a smug smile on his face that looks far too mature for his age. “Let me guess. Some of your best friends are black, right?”

"Not my best friend but my most beautiful friend, definitely. Actually it's funny you should say that because here she comes now."

By this time, Sasha has made it to our table. Before I can even open my mouth to greet her she throws herself into my lap. “Finn! I only tagged along because Emma told me you’d be here. Thank you so much for that referral. I got the job!”

It’s hard to keep track of what’s going on with a lap full of curvy gorgeous woman but I make an attempt to keep us upright. I'm aware the entire time of Luke's stunned silence as he watches us.

“You’re welcome, sweetheart. Trust me, I was doing them a favor. They’ll be lucky to have you.”

Sasha finally releases the stranglehold she has on my neck and slides into the booth next to me. “Still, thank you so much.” She finally seems to notice that we’re not alone. She blinks at Luke and Anita. “Oh, hello.”

“Sasha this is my little brother, Luke.”

Luke is still staring at her with his mouth hanging partially open. If his eyes get any bigger, they’ll take over his face.

“Uh, hi.” He gives her an awkward wave.

Sasha doesn’t seem to notice his discomfort. “This is your little brother? Oh is this the brilliant one? It’s so nice to meet you!”