Luna didn’t miss a beat. “And Mia?”
He lifted his bottle to the light to see how much beer remained, trying to decide if he should grab another one. Hermes settled at his feet with a deep sigh. “I would tell you that she doesn’t work for the store, but I have to give her credit since the online shop she created is pulling in regular business. Our mail lady has gotten into the habit of asking for pickup packages whenever she stops in.”
“Nice sidestep. I only care about it on a personal level, and I would say she’s been good for you. I’m glad you found someone nice, Ross. I can’t wait to meet her when I’m back for the summer.”
“Maybe.”
“What do you mean maybe? Do you not want me to meet her?”
“No, I do. It’s just—I don’t know, Lu.”
There was a moment of silence before Luna pushed ahead. “You guys are together, right?”
Frustration simmered inside of him. Any other relationship, any other woman, the answer would have been clear. If it had been a multiple choice question, all three options would have the same word:Yes. Mia liked him. He was wild about her. She was in his bed so frequently, it felt like something was missing if he didn’t fall asleep with his arms wrapped around her. He was even planning something special for her birthday in a few weeks. This temporary relationship had already lasted longer than any of Ross’s previous ones, and it seemed more real. Every single ingredient that made up a steady, growing relationship was there except for the most important ingredient of all—verbalized commitment.
He massaged the space between his eyebrows. A headache was on the horizon. “I don’t want to talk about this with you.”
“Who else are you going to talk to? Hermes? Seriously, Ross, you can talk to me if you want. I’ll even do minimum Judgy McJudgerson.”
“Yeah, right. Besides, what do you know about these things?”
“I’ve had a relationship or two.”
“Does dating someone for a month count as a relationship these days? We’ve had Brita filters longer than some of your relationships.”
“I can’t help it if I’m particular. And I don’t think you’re one to talk.”
Ross scoffed and almost choked on his drink. “Particularis a funny way to say Judgy McJudgerson, Lulu.”
“Whatever. I’m not completely naïve on the topic of love,” Luna said, her voice fringed with hurt.
He was about to snap back at this statement because what Ross had wasn’t love. But the words became stuck in his throat. At the same time, he didn’t trust himself to recognize it. This was something that happened to other people.
Ross and his bottle of beer settled on the couch in the living room. He leaned his head against the top of the sofa. “To be honest, I don’t even know how to define whatever it is that we have. Fling, I guess. All I know is that whenever Mia talks about the future, I’m nowhere close to being in it.”
“You’ve had flings before, and they never seemed to bother you.”
“I guess because I was the flinger and this time, I’m being flung.”
Luna laughed. “I believe we have a name for this, and it rhymes withschmarma.”
“I thought you said you were going to hold off on judging.”
“I said minimum judging, which means there will still besomejudging. Let’s put it this way, instead of getting a gut buster, half-pound burger, you’re getting a gourmet slider made from the most tender of judgment.”
When he didn’t respond, she continued. “So, I take it you don’t want this to be a fling.”
“It doesn’t matter what I want,” he muttered in grumpy resignation.
“Of course it matters.”
“No, it really doesn’t. She’s already applied to all these programs. It’s only a matter of time before she’s gone. What exactly am I supposed to say?Don’t go? I can’t do that. This is something I can’t compete against, so I’m not even going to try. And even if I was able to say something, what exactly would I be offering her to make the sacrifice worth it? I don’t have much. We’ve scraped by our whole lives and no matter how many sales we make, I can’t imagine anything differently. I’ll probably end up in a secondhand coffin. Plus, her father hates me, and Mia deserves someone better.” He didn’t mean to express so much, but it all came rushing forth like an avalanche of frustration.
“You’re offering heryou—”
“That’s not enough.”
He must have shocked her because there was silence on the other end of the phone.
