“When did you find out about this?”
“Last week.” I internally cringe, hating how the truth pops out so easily around her. I’ve never been a great liar, especially when it comes to my parents.
“Well, the Abbot function was planned two months ago, and you committed to that first.”
I frown, not remembering committing to anything.
I wasn’t asked, I was told.
“There will be some important business connections we need to make, and we want you at your best.”
No, they don’t. They just want to show me off, boast about my near-perfect grades, then talk about how I’m going to join the family business. They can’t wait for me to start pursuing a future in real estate.
“Your father is hoping to secure the Emmett deal, and it would be good for you to observe him in action. Tomorrow night is unmissable.” Ma gives me a pointed look, and I just stand there, my shoulders slumping when she turns her back to check out my tux. “Yes, that’s fine.” Spinning back around, she gives me a smile, which quickly fades. “Stand up straight.”
My shoulders automatically ping back, and she lightly pats my chest before gliding out the door.
A ding from my phone has me reaching for it, and I can’t help snickering at the image Mac’s just sent me. He’s standing on the deck with Ben, who’s smiling nicely, while Mac gives me the finger. His smirk is so… him, and I shake my head with a soft laugh.
I never thought I’d become friends with a guy like Finn MacAlister. We’re opposites in almost every way, but he took me under his wing last year. I was a terrified freshman, and he seemed to sense that I would lose it without a little help from a friend. So, he became that friend, even when I didn’t ask him to be.
He’s the last person my parents would ever want me associating with, but there’s something about the guy that makes me feel understood in a way I never have before.
We got on great last year, played good basketball together, hung out between classes. I helped him maintain his grades so he could keep playing, and he helped me put my laptop awaywhen my brain was fried. Even though he’s a year ahead of me, we ended up bonding. And maybe I do really want to be at that lake house, acting like a twenty-year-old man, rather than a tux-wearing mini-Li. I don’t want to become my father. I don’t want to observe how he secures some big deal so he can buy another building or shopping mall. So he can demolish another house to build a multistory apartment complex in its place.
None of that stuff lights me up.
My phone dings again.
Mac: Come on, Jimmy Boy. Don’t leave me hangin’.
I smile and shake my head, my insides getting all tight and painful again.
Rubbing my forehead, I stare at my bedroom door. Then, before I can stop myself, I’m walking through it and heading down the marble staircase. My socked feet don’t make a sound as I pad through the grand entrance of our house and head toward the sunroom. My parents always spend the morning in there, drinking tea like they’re lord and lady of the manor.
Neither of them grew up like this. They’re the children of Chinese immigrants. They didn’t know wealth and opulence. They knew hardship as they tried to adjust to an entirely new culture and make ends meet in a world miles away from the only one they’d ever known. But then my grandfather got into real estate. I’ve heard the story a million times before. He started small, buying a house and doing it up before making a quick sale. He made some sweet cash and quickly got addicted. He worked his way up, and by the time my father graduated from college, my grandfather was running a multimillion-dollar company. My father gleefully jumped on board. He met my mother at Li & SonGlobal Enterprises. She was a PA, and apparently it was love at first sight.
I still don’t believe you can love someone the first time you see them, but they swear it’s how it happened. Whatever. He put a ring on her finger, and when my grandfather died, they grew the company even bigger.
“I disagree,” Ma says calmly as I hover by the doorway, testing out the mood of the room. “I think salmon pink on a man can be quite fetching if it matches the tone of his skin. You, my love, would not look good in salmon, so no, you may not try something new tomorrow night.”
Bàba lets out a patient sigh, and I edge into the room.
“Ah, Jun Hie. Good morning.”
“Bàba.” I nod, and he smiles at me. The guy never shows his teeth. It’s always a closed-mouth grin… just like mine. We look so much alike. Ma loves it. She’s spent her life calling me her mini-Li.
“Come. Have some tea.” My father points at the table, and I walk toward it but don’t sit down, resting my hands lightly on the back of the chair closest to me.
“Actually, uh…” I swallow and force the words out. “I need to get going.”
“Where?” Ma sits up straight, her laser eyes trying to burn a hole through my skull so she can see my every thought.
I clench my jaw for a second, trying to keep my voice calm and unaffected. “I have a basketball thing. It’s in Aspen. A team-building exercise.”
Bàba’s eyebrows wrinkle. “But you’re returning to Nolan the week after next. You can do team building then.”
“This is an extra thing.” I shrug. “Just something the players are organizing for themselves.”
