“I know, right? Like, I’m not going to prison because I helped some other guy make money. If I’m going to prison, that money better be in my fucking pocket.”
Dad burst out laughing.
“That’s my girl,” Mom said dryly. She walked over to my dad and kissed him. “I blame you.”
“You’re the one who gave her that mind,” he replied, wrapping one arm around her waist.
“You’re the one who gave her those morals.”
“She’s got great morals,” he murmured against her mouth.
“Yeah, yeah,” she whispered, kissing him again before pulling away. “Let me know if you think of anything else we need at the store.”
“I will. Love you two.”
“Love you back,” I called as I led the way out of the house.
We climbed into my mom’s car, but she didn’t start it up right away. Instead, she looked at me with a small smile.
“What?”
“I hope you know that we’re proud of you.”
“Because I got epically fired from my job?”
“No, because you stuck to your guns,” she said, turning forward again to start the car. “You walked out when you saw shit you weren’t comfortable with, and even after your boss called and told you to go back in there, you didn’t back down.”
“I pretty much fucked myself,” I grumbled. “But thanks, I guess.”
“You’ll find something new,” Mom said reassuringly. “I bet you’ve already got emails waiting for you. Have you turned your phone on yet?”
“Hell no,” I said, taking a drink of my coffee.
My parents always had the best coffee, and I could never figure out why. Once, I’d even bought their entire setup when I was feeling homesick, but it wasn’t the same.
“You’re going to need your phone at some point. What if I need to get ahold of you?”
I waved between us. “You could just turn your head.”
“I’m guessing you won’t want to be up my ass forever.”
“You really have a way with words.”
“Thanks, it’s a gift.”
“I don’t want to see all of the notifications waiting for me,” I said with a sigh. “There’s literally no one that could be trying to reach me that I want to talk to.”
“Well, you’ve got all of your cousins that are going to want to see you.” She glanced at me. “How are you guys going to make plans?”
“Right.”
I stared at the familiar route to my grandparents’ house, holding back my confession with sheer will and a clenched jaw. My mother didn’t need to know that I’d been all over a guy at a party the night before. She really didn’t need to know who I’d been with.
But, as the silence dragged on in the car, my stomach began to sink.
“You could call Myla from my phone, I guess,” she finally said. “Or Meg.”
“Who told you?” I snapped, turning in my seat.
