Page 61 of Faking Romance

I place a hand on Licorice’s back and stroke her warm, soft fur. “Licorice, I hate to break it to you, but your mom and I have a busy night planned. So you’re going to have to find something else to do.”

I go to take her away from Roxy but Roxy puts up her hand. “You can’t move her yet. She’s being so cute,” she protests before she leans down to kiss Licorice’s head.

“No way. She needs to go. I am not done with you yet,” I grumble.

Roxy laughs and leans over to kiss my cheek. “We have all night.”

My phone pings with a text and I roll over to check it. My heart sinks as I see a text from my mother.

Egg Donor: We’re having a birthday dinner for your father on the twenty-second. Let me know if you can’t attend.

Groaning, I toss my phone back on the nightstand.

“What’s that about?” Roxy asks as Licorice suddenly wakes and runs off to have her nightly ritual of zoomies all over my apartment before passing out in some weird spot like in the kitchen sink, half on the arm of a chair, or curled up on my robot vacuum.

I lean my head back on the pillow and stare up at the ceiling. “That was my mother. Apparently, she’s having a party for my dad on the twenty-second. And my attendance is expected.”

Roxy rolls to her side and I glance over at her. “I can go. I mean, if you want me to go.”

I roll on my side, and we stare at each other. “You want to meet my family?” I ask.

She nods. “I mean, you met my family tonight.”

“Yes, but your family is…normal,” I point out. And they were normal, albeit very smart and accomplished but normal. They didn’t say condescending things or badmouth her. They all seemed supportive. I know Roxy has a chip on her shoulder about not being as accomplished as her siblings, but I didn’t see any red flags.

“Can I ask you something?” I add as I search her eyes.

“Sure.”

“Why do you feel inadequate compared to your siblings? I mean, I get they’ve done a lot in their lives, but so have you,” I state because it’s true and I can’t figure out why she doesn’t see it.

Roxy rolls onto her back. She’s quiet for a moment and I think she’s not going to answer me, but then she does.

“My siblings were all in the gifted and talented program in school. They took AP classes and my older sister even graduated a year early. I was just…normal. I took normal classes. I got normal grades. I did normal activities. I wasn’t an overachiever, and no, my family never said I sucked, but I just…teachers would say things and my friends. I once went on a date with a guy who just wanted to meet Cybil. Anyhow, I guess, I hid away in books because it was something that took me away from my inner thoughts, an escape. This store is the first time I’ve felt like I even belong in my family,” she explains and then turns her head to look at me. “It’s silly, isn’t it?”

“No. It’s not,” I assure her.

“Anyhow, after the guy thing with Cybil, I just decided not to be serious with anyone until I met Richard at the end of college. We dated close to a year. It was the longest time I had ever been with anyone. And then, he asked me to move in with him. Things were good at first, and then I came home early and my friend Nikki was…well, let’s just say she wasn’t sucking on a popsicle,” she says with a grimace.

I reach over and cup her cheek, kissing her for a moment. “I’m sorry that happened. You deserved better.”

“Thank you. At least I have my other friend, Tay. She and my family really helped me move on afterward,” she whispers. She’s quiet for a beat before turning to me. “What about you?”

“What about me?”

She gives me a pointed look. “Your dating life.”

“Oh.” Now it’s my turn to be quiet. Fuck it. She’s bound to find out eventually. “Like I said before, I had a girlfriend in high school. We broke up when we went to college. And then I dated a few women, one of them for about six months. After college, I was sort of sowing my wild oats and then I met a woman through my dad’s friend. We dated pretty seriously for four years. Three years into our relationship, I decided I didn’t want to work for my parents’ business. I had studied music in college. My parents thought it was a phase.” I make quotation marks. “But I never stopped. My girlfriend acted all supportive, but a year after I moved in here, she told me I needed to get back to reality if we were going to be together. We had a big fight about it, and we broke up.”

“You broke up because you wanted to pursue a music career?” she asks, her eyes looking sad.

“Yep,” I reply as I search her eyes. She looks genuinely mad.

“What a bitch!” she snarls, and I laugh.

“Lydia was just…she’s rich, she wants a rich husband. And music isn’t exactly lucrative,” I say, motioning around us. Not that one-eleven Hearts Lane is a bad building, it’s just not the insanely posh condo I previously had complete with a doorman, secured elevators, and amenities like an indoor pool and full gym. It’s also not right in the city center. I remember Lydia scoffing at the building as if she’d catch a disease entering it.

“So, you dated a snob,” Roxy states.

---