Mom settled down in the seat beside me with that knowing gaze all mothers were gifted with. “What happened?”
Hesitation stung my tongue at first, then after a sip of Mom’s coffee, I remembered she had a tendency to make everything better.
“Getting Lucas to open up, refrain from avoiding certain topics, is like pulling teeth from a pair of bears on a stroll with their cubs.”
“He’s a guy. It’s sort of what they do.” She slid one of her knowing looks over to my dad. “Right, honey?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he deadpanned.
Mom chuckled. “Case in point.”
Explaining everything in detail, I held nothing back, including his words before I stormed off, head on fire.
I needed to get the fuck away from you.Ninewords no one should live by.
“What do you think he meant by that?” Dad asked, stroking the gray stubble on his jaw.
I shrugged, willing stupid emotions not to get lodged in my throat. “All I know is he would have married Harper if I didn’t accidentally mic-drop my digital diary online.”
That factoid is what shattered me the most, thoughts of him just letting me get away—himgetting the fuck away from me—without a fight.
“If it were me he was in love with,” I went on, “why not take a chance and tell me instead of giving a ring to someone else?”
Mom sighed, reaching over to tuck a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “Honey, if you want to know the answers to those questions you need to ask Lucas yourself.”
She wrapped her arm around my shoulder, and I squeezed my eyes shut, readily leaning into her embrace.
“Can I stay for a while? I’m not quite ready to go home yet.”
Mom rubbed my shoulder, kissed my forehead, then said, “Stay as long as you want, Macy Cake.”
Later on whileup in my room, I took advantage of time away from Lucas to catch up on finals pre-work. Additionally, I updated my resume, submitting it to magazines all over the country in hopes to get called in for an interview. Letting the opportunity withHot Shotfloat by haunted me. I’d probably never be offered an opportunity as good as that again.
Regardless, I needed to find work after graduation.Redbook,Maxim,AllYou,Cosmopolitan,andAllure, were all the places I’d applied to, fingers crossed for some type of post-grad internship or, better yet, a job offer.
In need of a snack, I headed down to the kitchen, catching a glimpse of my parents cuddled up on the family room couch, munching on popcorn while watching Iron Man. Relief washed over me, thankful I hadn’t caught them getting down and dirty.
“Grab yourself some popcorn and join us,” Dad insisted, mouth full of popcorn.
For Christmas, they’d purchased themselves one of those old-fashioned popcorn machines that sits on a stand. Hands down, it made the best-tasting popcorn, like the kind you’d get only at the movies. I grabbed a bowl, scooped up some of the buttery goodness, then took a seat on the smaller couch, cringing at first, praying they’d never had sex on that one, too. I never passed on a chance to watch Iron Man, watching it over ten times with Lucas, each instance discovering some little tidbit I’d missed before.
The doorbell rang, and my dad padded over to answer it, leaving Mom to gush, cheeks tomato red over Robert Downey, Jr.
Beats later, Dad said, “Macy Cake? Look who’s here to see you.”
I turned around, nearly dropping my bowl of popcorn.
My stupid heart squealed, jumping up and down like a cheerleader in my chest, cheering,Yes, he’s here! I said, yes, yes, he’s here.
Lucas stood, dressed in a white form-fitting T-shirt, basketball shorts, flip-flops, and a UCLA ball cap positioned backward, atop his head. Missing him, he definitely was a site for sore eyes and heart to see.
He rocked back on his feet, flashing that half smile I could never tire of. “Hey.”
27
Waiting for her to come home got old pretty quickly, and when Sage told me Macy wasn’t at her apartment, I knew she’d gone home to her parents.
“Honey,” said, Paul, Macy’s dad. “We can stream Iron Man upstairs.”
