She pulls out the ice cream and turns on Love Island. By the end of the episode, my phone vibrates in my pocket, so I pull it out.
She looks at the screen and double takes. “He’s calling you?”
She sounds so surprised. “Yeah,” I say, looking at the screen. “He is.”
“Well, answer it.”
I accept the call. “Hey.” My heart starts fluttering in my chest.
“Hey, baby. Where are you? Thought you’d be here by now.”
Gianna’s mouth drops open as she gawks at me. I blush, watching her face twist.
“Sorry, I –– uh –– I’m actually at home.”
“Babe, we talked about this. You don’t have to stay at your mom’s. Just stay here.”
Gianna’s face falls into awhat the fuckexpression. She slaps her hand over her mouth. And I don’t know what to say to him. I start panicking.
She pulls the phone to her mouth and in a weird voice, she says, “Hey, bro.”
I hear shuffling on his end. “Is that G?”
I answer, “Oh, yeah –– uh, that’s her.”
“Yeah, it’s me, brother. I have your girl.”
I wince, watching her. She throws her back and laughs when she sees my face.
“Is this a joke?” Benson asks.
“No,” I whisper.
Gianna pulls the phone to her. “No, it’s not. But let me make one thing clear, brother. We may be family, but Lucy is my chosen family, so if you hurt her, I will hurt you. Do you understand?”
It’s quiet for a moment. Then I hear him chuckle. “Fuck, it’s about time, G. I’ve been waiting for you to come around.”
“Yeah, well, I made a mistake, and I’m owning up to it. And guess what? She’s not coming over tonight because she’s staying home with me.”
“Oh,” he laughs. “Is that, right? Lucy?”
I look at her over the phone. “Actually, I wanted to see him tonight.”
Gianna rolls her eyes, and then she says into the phone, “Whatever, lovebirds. I’m so serious, Benson, if you hurt her, I will never forgive you.”
She gets up and walks into her bedroom. A deep heavy emotion rolls through me. At first, I don’t think I’m going to cry. But she just had a two-second conversation with Benson that means she’s on board with us, and her approval means the world to me. I take a deep Camdenth.
After it’s gone silent, Benson says, “Lucy, are you still there?”
His voice sends me to the place I don’t want to go. It’s scary here. Now that we have her approval, he might decide he doesn’t want me. He might change his mind. Her approval doesn’t change things, but it changes everything. “Yeah,” I say with tears in my eyes.
“Can G hear me?”
“No.”
He asks, “Are you okay? Do you need me to come over?”
“I don’t know,” I say, wiping my tears.
