Atlantic City is hot! Staying another day, maybe two. I’ll see you mid-week.
Love you. Don’t bankrupt yourself and watch out for bad decisions and buffet dinners.
Not necessarily in that order.
I toss the phone down and reach for my lotion. My grandmother has always been a force of nature, but as she’s gotten older, she’s hit a new level in the video game she calls her life. Sullivan’s Fine Jewelry got its reputation in Alexandria because of her and my grandfather and their work ethic. She’s always so proud to tell people she’s designed holiday gifts for at least three of the past First Ladies. My grandfather helped her get the business started, but let’s be clear: it was all her. Until I came along, that is, and if we’re being honest, I think I’m just an extension.
The quiet settles in around me as I smooth the lotion over my arms, my legs, my shoulders, a citrus scent filling the air. It really was a good day. Now, I’ve got a productive evening ahead, and no one wants me for anything at all. Nowhere to be. I am golden.
I’m busy rubbing a knot out in the bottom of my foot when the one person I don’t need to think about while I’m in my bathroom wearing a towel pops into my head like an unwelcome guest.
My hand stills mid-motion. Nope. Absolutely not. Not Ty and not right now.
I pick up speed, like I can outrun the thought. The second I let myself linger on it, it’s not just Ty. It’s how adorable and awkward he was trying to navigate a room of young teenagers. Little does he know that when we’re young, we’re like newborn vampires. It’s how he let me step in and help bridge the two girls who were bickering, but it’s not just his coaching skills.
It’s his hand around mine earlier, steady and warm while I showed one of the girls how to tie off her bracelet. It’s the way he’d crouched down without thinking, bringing himself to their level like it was the most natural thing in the world.
It’s the look he gave me when I handed him his bracelet.Peace.I gifted him peace and he looked at me like I was handing him an Olympic gold medal.
I press my lips together, dragging the towel through my hair a little more aggressively than needed. I chose that word for him the same way I choose everything for everyone—read the room, find the right thing, hand it over. I’m good at that. I’ve always been good at that. What I don’t let myself finish thinking about is whether I’d even recognize it if someone tried to do the same for me.
“You kiss a guy out of necessity, and suddenly he’s everywhere,” I mutter. “Note to self: think before kissing anyone again. Ever. And stop thinking about him.”
Pizza. Planning. That’s the night. Not hockey players. Not confusing lip contact. Not the way his fingers had lingered forjust a second too long when he’d tied that bracelet onto my wrist.
Strength.Something I obviously need right now.
My stomach does an annoying little flip.
“Absolutely not,” I tell my reflection, pointing at myself like I’m the problem here. “We are not unpacking this tonight.”
My phone starts ringing.
I grab it without looking, grateful for the interruption. My mistake.
“Hello?”
“Vivian.”
My jaw clenches automatically. I close my eyes briefly, bracing myself as I pull the phone away just long enough to check the screen.
My mother. Because apparently, the universe decided I was having too nice of an evening.
I put the phone to my ear again. “Hi.”
There’s a pause on the other end. Not long, but long enough to feel deliberate. Like she’s deciding which version of herself she’s going to share with me.
“I wasn’t sure you’d pick up.”
I lean my hip against the counter. “Well, in all fairness I didn’t look to see who was calling before I picked up. You could have been my pizza.”
“Well, at least you picked up,” she says lightly, but there’s an edge tucked underneath it.
“I’m expecting to arrive any second,” I say, keeping my tone even. “So if you could just?—”
“I won’t take long.”
Another pause. Another calculated breath.
