Page 22 of Passion

I nodded then kissed his lips as Daniel made his way to the porch. He was frowning, probably thinking Gentry had done something to cause what he saw. “Hey, baby girl. You okay?” he asked as he glanced at Gentry.

“Yeah. I just miss my babies.”

He frowned more. “You haven’t seen them?”

“Yes, but Clayton won’t let them come home until he gets to know Gentry. I swear he thinks Gentry is gonna cook them for dinner. As if I was a horrible judge of character. I would never put my children in danger. But it is what it is. How are you?” I asked.

I only gave him that much of an explanation so he would know Gentry hadn’t done a thing to cause what he saw. “I’m okay,” he said as Jream ran to the porch.

“Hi, Aunt G.”

“Hey, baby.”

She kissed my cheek then shyly said, “Hi,” to Gentry.

“Hi, Jream. How are you?”

She blushed as she responded, “Good.”

I chuckled. The man had that effect on women. I saw that when we went to dinner Friday night. Jream was six years old now. She was a year older than Kizzie. However, that didn’t stop her from recognizing a handsome man when she saw one. When Daniel’s wife joined us, she said, “Hey, y’all.”

“Hey, Jorie.” I turned to Gentry. “Baby, this is Jorielle, Daniel’s wife. I didn’t know if you remembered her name. Jorie, this is Gentry.”

She smiled politely and shook his hand. “Hi, Gentry. I remembered your name. You had so many names to remember, so I am not offended if you forgot.”

“I didn’t forget. I’m pretty good with names. But nice to meet you again,” he said with a smile mirroring hers.

I realized that Gentry could be different versions of himself, dependent upon who he was around. With Daniel and my dad, he was short and serious. He gave Jorie his friendly side because that was what she gave him. “Well, let’s go eat,” Daniel said. “I’m starving.”

Jorie rolled her eyes playfully. Daniel was always hungry. It was no secret why he was a big guy. He ate his fair share of food and someone else’s fair share as well. “Okay. I’ll meet y’all in there in a minute.”

Once they went inside, I turned to Gentry. “This is crazy, but I’m falling for you already. The tenderness you’ve shown me has been so overwhelming. I don’t have a choice but to fall in love with you. It won’t be long at all because I can feel it now. I just want to be sure before I say it.”

He stroked my cheek with his thumb. “Well, let’s just start practicing. I’m falling too, so we may as well start saying it now. It’s inevitable, and I don’t have a problem expressing myself. I love you, Elle.”

My heart fluttered. Although he wasn’t quite there yet, knowing that he would eventually get there, right along with me, gave me chills all over. “I love you too, Flem.”

He leaned over and kissed my lips then grabbed my hand. His eyes stayed on mine until we began heading to the door. When we were back at the table, I could see the concerned look on my mama’s face. I knew we would be talking before long. She would be able to help me through this.

My mama had the ability to help me through anything I was going through. Between her and Jorie being my sounding boards, along with Yunique and Keke now, there was no reason for me to sink into depression. I had plenty of support. While Keke wasn’t here, she said it would be nothing for her and Vegas to hop on a flight to get here for me if I needed them. While I was getting close to Alexz and Skyler since they were my sorors, I wasn’t at the point where I would let them in on my personal shit.

After we were seated, Gentry held my hand, rubbing it between his, then lifted it to kiss it. It seemed everyone was watching us. Finally, my dad said, “Let me bless the food.”

Everyone grabbed hands, and he prayed for a minute or so. Once he was done, everyone started passing the casserole dishes around the table to fill our plates. All that could be heard was the clinking of utensils on plates until Daddy said, “Gentry, I can tell that G is extremely calm around you. Thank you for that.”

I was surprised he called him Gentry. He and Daniel were so damn protective. Gentry nodded. “Yes, sir. I plan to be whatever and whoever she needs me to be. I want to be her peace just as much as I want her to be mine.”

I leaned against him, knowing I was being everything but that right now. I had been emotionally unavailable this week. We’d had sex, but I wasn’t as in the moment as I had been. It was like I was just there so he could get his. I felt horrible about that too, especially since I enjoyed sex with him so much. My lackadaisical attitude was taking away from the experience for both of us. He didn’t even try to get at me last night. He just held me close.

It seemed after Gentry’s response, the tension eased in the room, and they began talking more, including Daniel. By the time we were about to leave, Gentry was calling my dad DS. My dad refused to answer to anything else. Since Daniel didn’t go by DJ, my dad decided to go by Daniel Senior, which abbreviated to DS.

Jorie and Mama started clearing the table, so I stood to help them. The minute I walked into the kitchen, my mama took the dishes from me, set them in the sink, and pulled me into her arms. Jorie gently rubbed my shoulder. “I know this is so tough, baby. I miss my grandbabies too. When did Clayton become so untrusting of you?”

“I don’t know, Mama. I mean, I understand his hesitancy with the situation. I should have told him, even if I didn’t tell anyone else. He’s making it seem like I would allow my children to be in an unsafe environment though. Arranged Hearts does thorough background checks and prescreenings. They ask your preferences before you’re matched. I’m more than sure if Gentry didn’t like kids, they wouldn’t have paired him with me. They know my kids mean the world to me.”

“What are you going to do?” Jorie asked.

“I’m going to give him time. It’s not like our arrangements are through the courts. Knowing the terms we agreed to in order to create them, he shouldn’t have been shocked as to how I chose a husband. Who has kids with their best friend and it not become more? We weren’t making love; it wasn’t raunchy or anything like that. We had sex for the sole purpose of having kids. That was it. When I found out I was pregnant with Dakota, we stopped and haven’t had sex since.”