“Do you have anything you have to do to prepare for your mom and sisters coming in tomorrow?” he asked as we pulled out of the church’s parking lot.

I shook my head. “No, I’ll pick them up from the airport tomorrow evening, then take them over to the hotel. Besides, that, I don’t have anything else planned for today or tomorrow.”

“Well, I need to clean up my apartment a little before my family gets in.”

“That’s cool. Want me to help?”

“Nah. You’re my girlfriend, not my maid.”

“I don’t mind. Plus, you and Aaron are so neat anyway; how long will it take?”

“Exactly, that’s my point. Just let me do this, and then, I’ll come back to pick you up. Say...in about an hour? Then, we can hang out and get something to eat.”

I shrugged. This was unusual. Since Jeremy and I started going to church together, we’d always did something together right after.

“It’ll just be about an hour,” Jeremy repeated.

“Okay, cool. It’ll give me a chance to change into jeans or something.”

“Nah, don’t do that.”

“Why not?” I frowned. “We’re just gonna hang out, right?”

“Yeah, but I love looking at your legs and Sundays are the only time I get to do it.”

“Okay,” I said as he pulled up in front of my dorm. “So an hour.”

He nodded before he leaned over and gave me one of what I’d come to call a soul kiss. When I pulled away, there was so much more that I wanted to do with him. But we hadn’t gotten there yet, and I loved the way Jeremy wasn’t rushing us. It was like he was allowing our relationship to just simmer.

When I pushed open the door to my room, I half-expected to see Dru. But the room was empty and I wasn’t that surprised. She hadn’t come to the room last night and I didn’t see her in church. I guess she was taking Senior week seriously. My girl was tearing up the streets.

I kicked off my shoes, laid back on the bed and sighed. There were so many reasons for my joy and one that was near the top of the list was how Jeremy had bounced back from his desire to be the Senior Pastor at Pilgrim’s Rest. Even now, it just seemed so ridiculous, but I couldn’t be mad at his ambition. I was just going to have to help him channel it in the right direction.

I was looking forward to every moment of that. Rolling over, I glanced at the photo that Jeremy and I had taken the day after our first kiss. We’d taken it in one of those mall photo booths, but it was the best picture because we were just being us. I took it from my desk and stared at it, loving the way I was leaning back into him, loving the way his arms were around me.

I didn’t know where this was going with me and Jeremy. I was so looking forward to going home and beginning the next chapter of my life. But would that life really include Jeremy? He had to decide this week whether he’d been going to Howard or Duke. Of course, I held hope in my heart that he’d go to the HBCU since it would be close to my home, but what I knew for sure was that he had to go where God led him, not where I wanted him to be.