Series: Like Us Series by Krista Ritchie
Total pages in book: 241
Estimated words: 236417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1182(@200wpm)___ 946(@250wpm)___ 788(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 236417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1182(@200wpm)___ 946(@250wpm)___ 788(@300wpm)
“Kidding, kidding,” Lo cuts in and sends me a look like PDA is disgusting, don’t do it—but he’s already given his wife a wet willy at the table. So the threat feels less like a threat. More like a suggestion.
I kiss my girlfriend politely on the temple. Nothing risqué or pearl-clutching.
“Spider-Man: No Way Home,” Lo mentions, and they all talk animatedly about how that is a viable contender to Guardians. But not Infinity War.
This is the night. It’s the one where I completely, fully understand that I’m not going anywhere. That this is it.
This is permanence.
It’s been building inside me—this feeling of acceptance from a family who had every right to never accept me. They brought me into the fold, and now I just know they’re not gonna let me go so easily. For once, it’s not me clinging tooth and fingernail to the better path. It’s holding on to me.
My lips curve higher, and I take it all in more strongly.
How Lily asks Xander and Easton if they have enough yams—previously frozen and microwaved to perfection. They’re a Hale favorite. How Kinney sneaks chunks of meatloaf to Salem beneath the table. How Lo sees and pretends to be in on the secret with his daughter. How Maximoff checks on his own daughter from the baby monitor, and in those moments, Farrow stares lovingly at him.
How Luna tips her head on my shoulder, like she’s a little tired, but she’d rather stay here with everyone than disappear to her room.
It’s warm and happy and soulful, and I’m not just sitting inside it. I’m a piece of it. Yeah. There’s not much better than this.
If there is, I know I’ll feel it one day. Sky isn’t even the limit. I’m always gonna shoot for the moon.
But the one next to me—it can’t be beat. I smile down at Luna.
And then a phone rings. The whole table goes quiet. Sam Stokes said he’d be calling the remaining Fizzle Four tonight—to give three rejections and one humongous offer. Xander and Luna have had their phones face-up on the table, waiting for their uncle.
Luna’s screen is blank.
“It’s not my phone,” Xander tells everyone.
And then I realize, it’s my phone. I dig it out of my pocket, and my stomach flips. It’s my dad. “I’ll be a sec.” I slide out from the table, standing. Off Lo’s sharp concern, I say lightly, “It’s God. You want me to put in a good word with the big guy upstairs for you?”
“Yeah. Tell Him you’re not funny.”
“I could, but I don’t think He’d believe me.”
Luna laughs.
On my way out the door, I grin at Lo. “Your daughter still thinks I’m funny.”
He flashes a dry smile. “Thank God for that.”
“You bet I will.” I lift the phone to my ear.
Humor fades with my grin as soon as I leave them behind. As soon as I’m on the living room couch and I’m wondering if my dad just wants to chat, if he’s looking to meet-up for a beer or what.
“You busy?” he asks me.
“Just eating dinner.” I unearth Baby Ripley’s pirate parrot stuffed animal from between the cushions.
“With who?” His voice is quiet, almost timid. Not how he usually sounds, that’s for sure.
I frown. “My girlfriend’s family.”
“Right,” he murmurs.
I sink back slowly. Was he expecting an invite? It’s not my place to open those doors to him, and I don’t really want him around Luna yet. “You working tonight?” I ask casually.
“Nah, I’ve got the night off.” His voice cracks a little, and he coughs out a strange sound. “There’s somethin’ I wanna talk to you about.”
I tense. “Alright.”
“This is gonna be the last time I call you.”
Confusion balls up like white noise in my ears. “What?”
“This, right here, it’s the last time we talk.”
My hand goes to my mouth, my stomach in knots. “You’re using—”
“No. I’m clean. Been clean, and I’m gonna join that program the Hales run. I’m gonna get your mom in it too when she gets out. But this…this is goodbye.”
I don’t understand. I don’t understand. My eyes start burning. “What do you mean?”
“After the whole Vanessa shit…her tracking you down, I can’t promise you that Bridget won’t trust that woman again, and I can’t leave your mom. I won’t leave her.” His voice shakes. “I talked to Bridget and she’s also not gonna be in contact with you anymore. You can think we’re choosing each other over you, but that’s not it for me. Not exactly.”
A rock ascends my throat. Elbow is perched on my rigid thigh. I have a palm to my forehead like my skull has gone heavy, and I tighten the phone to my ear. “What is it then?”
“I’m letting you go.”
It slams deep into me, and raw emotion builds so rapidly, I start crying into my hand. It’s relief and guilt for feeling relieved and something else…something more…