AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I let out a disappointed sigh, feeling like a fraud as I whip out my phone and quickly Google 'what to buy your artist boyfriend.’ An iPad is crossed off the list immediately; I can't afford it, and he prefers to draw on paper. A picture of a Bob Ross mug makes me snort, and I’m clicking the link to purchase when my perusing is interrupted by a phone call.
“Ma,” I groan upon answering. “I can't talk right now, I'm in a crisis.”
“Let me guess,” laughter rings in my ear, “shopping for the boy?”
She knows me so well. “This is impossible.”
“You can’t find anything?”
“Nothing good,” I grumble, briefly distracted by a hoodie that maybe Jackson would like.
“Elaborate, hun.”
“A shitty framed picture and an arguably not shitty Bob Ross mug that is apparently available in three Targets near me.”
“Hun, that sounds fine.”
“You know, you're not supposed to lie to your children.”
Ma snickers. “I'm not lying. It sounds great.”
I huff, still not convinced. “It just feels so... inadequate. Like none of it is good enough.“
“Luna, is it...“ Mom pauses, clearing her throat. “Is it the money thing?”
The money thing. Aka my boyfriend being rich. Disgustingly rich. Maybe a millionaire. Or a billionaire. We didn't iron out the details but it's got to be rich-rich if he can drop a couple of thousand dollars on a dress. Rich enough that anything I buy him will look pitiful compared to whatever he gets me, or whatever he could get himself.
“He's not going to care how much you spent,” Ma says gently. “And if he does, he's a piece of shit.”
“He's not. He won't care.” But I do. For some reason. I don't know, I just want to do something nice for him, for once. Something equally as nice as everything he does for me.
“You shouldn't either.”
I know I shouldn't. I know I'm being silly. But I care.
A lot.
31
JACKSON
“I should warn you.”
Luna's whispered words bring me to a halt. I glance over my shoulder and find her dithering at the top of the stairwell of her mom's building, staring at the apartment at the end of the hall, nose scrunched and expression pained. I raise a brow, gesturing for her to continue.
“She's going to be excited.”
“Okay?”
“Like, really excited.” She manages a couple of steps towards me, close enough that I can grab her hand. “And a little forward.”
“Apple doesn't fall far from the tree.”
Luna’s free hand smacks me on the bicep. “If anything she says makes you uncomfortable, just tell her to back off, okay?”
“I have four sisters who live to make me uncomfortable. I can handle your mother.”
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Luna rolls her eyes but she lets me drag her down the hall. We stand outside a pale pink door for a grand total of three seconds before it flies open and Luna gets yanked forward, wrapped up in the arms of a woman the spitting image of her. “There you are!”
