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“Those two are so full of shit,” Eli says from behind me, speaking aloud my unspoken thoughts.
I grab my empty plate and head to the kitchen to clean it. As I’m scrubbing it down in the sink, Eli walks up behind me and wraps his arms around my waist, leaning his chin on my shoulder.
“Court-side tickets, huh? I can’t wait to see what you buy me for my birthday,” he teases before bending down and kissing my tattoo.
“I don’t need to buy what you want.”
“That’s true. Sex with you is free.”
“Really, though.” He turns me around to face him. “Court-side tickets? Can you afford that?” His brows are furrowed with confusion as he leans his body into mine, resting his palms on the edge of the sink behind my back.
“Yes, I can,” I tell him without elaborating.
“Okay. How, though?”
“I don’t know,” I shrug. “Financially...I’m pretty set.”
The lines on Eli’s forehead deepen with perplexity. I guess I would be confused too if I knew of a grad student who didn’t work and could afford those tickets, plus be financially stable.
“Look,” I whisper, not wanting the rest of the family to hear us in the dining room. “When my dad died, he had a life insurance policy. And when my mom died, I sold our family home that was owned outright. Plus, I got a payout for my dad’s shares of his wine company. So, financially, I’m fine. I’m more than fine, to be honest.”
Eli’s eyes widen in surprise. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because it doesn’t change anything. I’m still going to get a job after I graduate as I would’ve anyway. I’m not going to live off of someone else’s money for the rest of my life. I use it here and there, but I just kind of pretend like I don’t have it for the most part. I’ve been meaning to talk to your dad about investing some of it, actually.”
His confused expression softens as he takes in my words.
“Logan Jo Leo, are you my sugar mama?” Eli teases, steering the conversation away from its serious nature after sensing that I don’t love talking about this subject.
I let out a little chuckle. “I think you’ll be just fine once you sign that NHL contract, baby.”
“So.” Mary strolls into the kitchen with a few more dirty plates as I pour myself a new coffee. “What’s up with Marc and this Ali girl?”
Eli and I exchange knowing glances, wondering which one of us is going to answer. “Um...they’re friends,” he says.
“Oh, so they’re fucking,” Mary states, causing me to spit my fresh coffee back into my cup. “Logan, do you like her? For Marc, I mean.”
“I do. Ali is great. She doesn’t take anyone’s shit, and she has a good sense of humor. I think Ali would be good for Marc. And she would never take advantage of him, which is something I worry about.”
“Wow, she does sound great,” Mary says. “Only because she sounds like me.”
“What are you reading?” Jack asks me as he walks into the living room.
“It’s called ‘Managerial Economics.’” I hold up my textbook to show him, stirring a sleepy Max as I do.
“That sounds terrible.” He eyes the book as he takes a seat on the couch opposite me.
“Tell me about it,” I say with a chuckle.
Now that the boys are at their tattoo appointment and the rest of the Jones family has gotten on the road, the house is finally quiet enough that I can get some studying in. I have finals in just a couple of weeks, so I need to start putting my nose in these books.
“What field do you want to go into when you finish your MBA?”
“I like the idea of money management. Similar to what you do, actually.”
“Oh, yeah? Marc wants to do the same,” he states. “Well, if you need a job when you graduate, you have one at my firm.”
“Really?” I ask, taken aback.
