Page 49 of Our Moon
Thankfully I only have to wait about a minute before they exit. I roll down my window and do the usual, offer Joey a ridehome. He never drives, always walks, since he lives just around the corner. And as usual, he declines. I wave and drive off, circling the block to give Joey time to get home before parking around the corner.
The anticipation gets the best of me, and I practically run back to the house. When I get around back, Ally is waiting for me.
“Hey there, good looking,” she smiles.
“Hey, baby girl.” I step up to give her a quick kiss, but she grabs hold of my shoulders and pulls me in closer. I groan and pull back. “I gotta talk to you.”
Her brows pinch, and she frowns. “Is something wrong?”
“No, baby girl. Nothing is wrong at all,” I assure her, pulling her back into my chest for a hug. “I have a plan.”
“A plan for what?” I pull back and brush her hair back behind her ears, which results in a glare. She hates it when her hair is behind her ears. She shakes her head out like a dog and I laugh.
“A plan to tell everyone about us,” I say on a big exhale.
She sighs. “Yeah? And what’s that?” I can tell she’s a little bit frustrated, I know she doesn’t like talking about this. But that’s too bad. I’m not going to continue to sneakaround like I’m ashamed of our relationship. I love her and I want the world to know it.
“Let’s tell them on Sunday.”
“This Sunday?”
“Yes.”
“That’s your grand plan?” She looks at me in disbelief. “To tell them on my birthday? What, do you think they’ll be less upset with me on my birthday?”
Now it’s my turn to sigh. “No, you silly girl. Well, it’s part of it. But it’s not to cushion the blow.”
She raises an eyebrow at me. “Then, why then?”
“Well, you’ll be eighteen on Sunday.”
“I know, we’ve talked about the benefits of me turning eighteen,” she grins and wriggles her eyebrows. We decided to wait to do anything more than kissing until after she turns eighteen. And I meananythingother than kissing. We haven’t touched, groped, or fondled, and we’ve barely even caressed. And she just loves reminding me about it.
I roll my eyes. “You have a one-track mind, baby girl.”
“You love my mind,” she smarts.
“I love everything about you,” I return, and she melts into me.
“How did I get so lucky?” she asks.
I know it’s rhetorical, but I answer anyway. “The same way I did.”
“So what else does this plan of yours entail?” she asks, getting back on point.
“Well, we tell them on Sunday because you’re eighteen. So not only does it look better that you’re eighteen and I’m still twenty-one, but you’ll also legally be an adult.”
“And? They’ll still kick our butts if they want to.”
“True,” I agree. Here goes nothing. “But if things go south, you’ll be old enough to come live with me.”
She lets out a short gasp and looks up at me, caution in her eyes. “Live with you?”
“Yeah. I have enough money saved to get my own place. And if things don’t go well with us telling your family, you can always come stay with me until things cool down. We could get a place near your school.”
“You want me to live with you?” she asks. That’s obviously the only thing she heard.
“Yeah,” I nod. “If you want to.”
