“Yeah, I should be heading home now,” she said out loud.
The group protested with various degrees of sadness. “How are you going to learn what happens if you leave now?” the movie star doppelganger said from the other side of the table. “I’m only in Jersey for twenty-four hours before I have to head back to L.A. Last chance.”
“Hey, I swear you look like the guy from—”
“Time to go!” Kareena interjected. “Joe, you’re brilliant, and I hope I’ll have another opportunity to play Dungeons with you soon. Frankie, thanks for letting me come to your home. And, Gina? I’m going to come and visit you for Mexican pizzas!”
“Don’t forget,” the guy Kareena called Frankie said. “We’re playing again in a few weeks. Do you have our number?”
“I do,” she said. She motioned to the Indian dude next to her. “Rahul texted it to me earlier.”
“Do you want me to walk you out?” Rahul said. “I mean, this was a date.”
Kareena snorted. “Your character is about to take control! Stay. But let’s go to your sister’s restaurant for pancakes soon.”
“You got it.”
They hugged, and Prem had to hold himself back from lunging across the room and tearing them apart. Before he could make a move, Kareena took off her cape and tossed it over her recently vacated chair.
“This was awesome.”
“Glad you had fun,” Rahul said. The dude turned to Prem and glared.
What the hell was that about?
Prem stepped aside and let Kareena pass him. He brushed his fingers against hers, and they tangled for a moment before she moved by. The room had already turned back to their game. “Now that our witch is gone, who’s going to be brave enough to open the chest?”
He thanked Su-jin again when he reached the kitchen, petted Luke, the Pomeranian, and left with Kareena at his side. They got into his Audi, and he punched in her address.
“I can’t believe you drove here because you thought I was in trouble,” she said after they got onto the main road. “I mean, I know you’re not that far, but still. Also, you don’t have to drive me all the way home. That’s forty-five minutes each way at this time of night.”
Prem just grunted at her as he followed the directions on the screen. He watched out of the corner of his eye as she pulled her phone out of her bag and scrolled through text messages in the dark console of his car. She let out a laugh. “With the way you were panicking, it’s like you think I found my soul mate already. I know getting the money means a lot to you, but I promise you I’ll give you the heads-up before I get that far.”
He couldn’t blame her for automatically thinking that his only vested interest was the money, but it still hurt. “Kareena, that guy wanted to go down to brown-town.”
“Go down to . . . oh my god. Prem, Rahul was into Dungeons and Dragons. I was intrigued. He asked me to play with him and his friends. And just because we—”
She bit her lip, cutting off the rest of her sentence.
Prem shifted in his seat. “No, I think you need to finish that thought,” he said evenly. “Just because we what?”
Kareena waved a hand in dismissal. “Rahul hates eggs, North Indian food, and has a pumpkin spice latte obsession. We’re better off as friends, Prem.”
“Perfect brunch date,” he asked, and tucked her hair behind her ear. “What would you want in the morning? When you’re not having birthday paranthas from your grandmother.”
The corner of her mouth quirked. “I love eggs, too. My mom used to make them for me when I was a kid, and now there is a sense of nostalgia attached to them.”
“Scrambled? Fried? Over easy? Hard-boiled?”
She laughed. “Scrambled. The delicious soft way that looks all bright and yellow. There is nothing like scrambled eggs with coffee.”
“Cream and sugar?” he asked.
“Cream. Peppermint, regardless of the time of year. Why all the questions?”
“Now I know what I’m making you in the morning.”
Prem navigated down the single-lane street toward 1-9. The sun was already setting behind the mismatch of row homes crowded together on sidewalk streets. Groups of people were out walking pets, or on their way to restaurants. In the dimming light of Hoboken, Prem cursed at how much he wanted to say, and how little he knew how to say it.
Rina adjusted her ponytail in the visor mirror and settled deeper into her seat. “Prem, if you’re insistent on taking me all the way to Edison, the least you can do is talk to me.”