Lilit smiled. “No. Prince Abdul was just a very good friend. He taught me all about investing and stocks. Pointed me in the right direction. All this money was made by yours truly.”
I was in awe and looked at my surroundings to seethe evidence of everything my aunt had accomplished.
“Tell me about this William.”
I sank deeper in my chair and grabbed a cookie. This was one subject I wasn’t sure about revealing. Nobody knew about my lifelong crush on William except Elspeth, and that was more of an unspoken understanding. It wasn’t typically something I vocalized.
“He’s Elspeth’s half brother from Scotland.”
Lilit hummed knowingly. “The Scots make great lovers.”
“I wouldn’t know.”
Lilit looked at me without blinking. It felt like minutes passed, and my palms started sweating.
The words bubbled up before I could stop them. “Okay, alright. We hooked up once. It was incredible. I’ve been in love with him since I was seven, and now he’s living with me and Elspeth, and every time I look at him, I want to jump his bones, but he doesn’t want to take my virginity because he’s going back to Scotland in a few weeks and he’s emotionally unavailable.”
Lilit whistled in exasperation. “Okay, we’re going to need something stronger than tea.”
A glass of sangria later, I told my aunt everything about William and all the ways I loved his silent strength, selflessness, and good heart.
“That’s quite the pickle, Nairie, but I’m proud of you.”
“For what?”
“You’re pursuing your dreams, dating, exploring your sexuality. I have a feeling William will come around.”
“I don’t know. He’s so against us being together.”
“He’s just scared. He’s probably been hurt before,and you mean a lot to him. He doesn’t want to leave you high and dry. Or rather, wet.”
“Ew.”
“Have you ever considered moving?”
“Moving? I’m already living with Elspeth.”
“To Scotland, of course.”
I coughed on my sangria. “Um, no.”
“Could make for quite an adventure. Normally, I wouldn’t condone moving for a man, but let’s face it, you’ve got nothing else going on for you here.”
“The whole family is here, and I have my job at the shop.”
“Yes, organizing filing boxes must be integral to the business.”
“Mom and Baba would freak. How would I make money over there? Where would I live?”
“You worry too much about your parents. And you’ll figure the rest out.”
I huffed. “Yeah, right.”
“The thing you have to focus on now is making that handsome devil mad with jealousy.”
“Already ahead of you. Mom’s been trying to set me up with some guy from church, and I finally said yes.”
“Perfect.”
