Just Pucking Money [COMPLETED]

Chapter 47 - Game night with new friends

Lily

Turns out, the new room is perfect for me. Ginny and Tony are respectful and warm. They keep inviting me to watch movies with them and we've even have a few game nights.

Tony loves space, so I inevitably end up listening to all he's learned about constellations and black holes. It's amazing to me that an eleven-year-old can name every single space ship-craft-explorer-whatever we've ever sent up there.

Ethan is respectful of their wishes for no sleepovers, so when we spend time together, we always end up at his place.

With my room secure and Ethan insisting on paying for most of my meals, I can finally breathe again. I still try to pay once in a while when I'm out with him, but he very rarely lets me. It's as if he's finally seen how tight money is for me and understands.

He doesn't insist on expensive restaurants any more. If we go shopping, he asks me where I want to go. He even came with me to the large discount store and watching him take it all in was hilarious.

And the sex is amazing. Once he realized I meant it when I said he's the only one that's ever made me come, that I haven't ever managed to get myself off, he went on a mission to change that.

Some nights, he'll take a seat by the end of the bed and coach me. Never touching me, he'll tell me what he wants me to do and how hot I look. It took a few tries, but eventually, I came with him just sitting there.

After that, he climbed on top of me, kissed me and told me that I now have a way to always remember him.

"What are you doing for Thanksgiving?" Ethan is getting dressed and I'm checking an assignment on my laptop.

"What?" I ask and look up.

"Thanksgiving. It's next week."

"Oh, I don't know yet. Not much, probably. Ginny invited me to have dinner with them."

His phone buzzes and I watch as he picks it up, sighs, and sends the call to voicemail.

"Your parents again?"

"Sorry." He grimaces.

I hate that they keep calling him with updates about his engagement dinner. Which apparently now is a party. But at the same time, it's a reminder that we're on a deadline.

The mood turns somber, and I know he's thinking the same.

"What do you usually do?" he asks and sits down on the bed next to me.

"Dad used to get takeout. It was like the one time a year we splurged and did that. And then we'd watch Christmas movies all day. Mom hated Thanksgiving. She didn't like turkey and thought the stress wasn't worth it. Especially since it led to my grandma having a heart attack one year. Thanksgiving to them was the beginning of the Christmas season. Dad loved Christmas. And so did mom. While she was alive, they would go all out with decorations and they'd go caroling and bake cookies."

I lose myself in the memories for a while, wondering if I'll ever get back to a place where I have traditions and a family to share them with.

I shake my head. "My stepmom tried to do a traditional Thanksgiving, but it was never what I wanted." I take a breath and look up at him. "What about you?"

"My mom hosts a very traditional Thanksgiving dinner every year. She invites a few other people, and it inevitably turns into a business meeting. If she can find business partners from Europe or Asia that haven't had a traditional American Thanksgiving dinner, she is over the moon. She makes sure there's all the fixings. Turkey, sweet potato pie, green bean casserole and a thousand other dishes."