Just Pucking Money [COMPLETED]

Chapter 52 - Playful laughter

Lily

I didn't get my movies and takeout. Maybe I should have known that it was too good to be true. As soon as we started making plans for the future, I probably should have known it would all turn to dust.

But I think I had the best Thanksgiving I could. As soon as she found out I had nowhere to go, Ginny insisted I spend it with her and Tony and her friend Damon. The alternative would have been to hide in my room, so I gratefully accepted.

Ginny may not want to admit it, but it's clear to me that Damon wants to be more than friends. She must have realized it by now. But perhaps she's been burned in the past.

Whenever she needs something fixed, she calls, and he rushes over. If she makes too much food for the three of us, something that seems to happen at least twice a week, she asks if he wants to have dinner here.

He's eager to be close to her, and from what I can see, she really likes his company.

I've casually hinted at it before, but she waves it off and says they're just good friends, and she has Tony to think of.

Tony likes Damon. And Damon likes Tony. But for some reason, Ginny seems terrified that they won't get along. She's a single mom, and her focus is on Tony, as it should be. But he's eleven and old enough to understand.

After a nice Thanksgiving dinner, I'm in the kitchen, helping with the dishes and being grateful that I got to be part of this little family this year.

"That's the last of it," Ginny says and puts two serving plates down. "Thank you so much for helping. You really didn't have to."

She grabs containers for the leftovers and starts putting everything away.

"I'm happy to help. It's been a while since I had a proper family Thanksgiving. I didn't know it could be so... nice."

She halts her movements and glances at me, surprised. But Ginny doesn't pry. "I'm so glad you had a good time. Especially considering... you know."

I do know. Ginny and Tony found me crying after Ethan left, so I felt I had to come clean about the breakup. They were both understanding. But not once has she pressured me to talk about it.

That night, she made dinner for us and said we could have ice cream for dessert. Tony was slightly less interested in the romantic drama, but he did notice I was sad and said we could watch Wall-E together.

"Hey, Ginny?" Damon peeks into the kitchen.

"Yeah?"

"You don't mind if I take Tony and the dogs to the backyard, do you? He said he wants to play soccer."

"That sounds like fun. But Opal will probably eat the ball."

Damon gives her a smirk. "I guess he can be goalie."

Ginny's smile as Damon leaves has me convinced she has feelings for him.

"You should join them. I can manage the dishes."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, go play soccer." I roll my eyes at the sport they've chosen, but Tony has his own ideas and Ginny always encourages him to be original.

"You could join us too," Ginny says.

"Not for me."

"Ok. Well, if you change your mind."

I finish the dishes and tidy up the kitchen and the dining room. Ginny has been so kind it's the least I can do.

When I'm done, I look out the window at the playful group. They're chasing Opal who got a hold of the ball, but they're laughing and joking and look like they're having the time of their lives.

Ginny gets Opal to give up the ball and Tony points at her and yells something. Damon sets off towards Ginny and catches her. His arms grab her waist and she turns toward him a little, looking up at him. I watch as undeniable sparks shoot between them.

Tony uses this to his advantage and steals the ball. He dodges the dogs and throws up his arms in celebration.

Ginny turns in Damon's arms and yells out that it was no fair.

Tony keeps celebrating his goal and Damon lets go of Ginny, seemingly reluctantly. I shake my head. Should I say something outright to her? She must know. Right?

I take a deep breath. There's only so much joy I can take today, and I'm at my limit. It's been a great distraction, but now I need something else to keep me from falling apart.

I go to my room and lie on my bed, scrolling through some social media. Plenty of my classmates are off on expensive vacations or back with their parents in their mansions. A few of the girls I know vaguely are in Vegas, partying.

A picture pops up and I can no longer breathe. It's Ethan and Antonia. They're standing next to each other. Not touching. The caption reads: Thanksgiving dinner with family friends.

My heart explodes as I take in every line of him. He's got a polite smile on, but is he happy? Did he already forget about me? What if I was just a casual fling to him? Something to keep him occupied?

I know that's not true. I've felt it in his touch and seen it in his eyes. But what if I imagined all of that? Maybe it meant nothing to him, and I'm just delusional?

I scrutinize the image again. Was he waiting for her?

It's all innocent enough. There is nothing to indicate they even know each other. And that's when I see it for what it is. Prelude to the engagement. Someone is trying to make it seem like their engagement is real. Not arranged.

Maybe rich people have a personal PR staff that thinks of these things. They probably have to always keep their appearance in mind.

And Ethan needs to establish a relationship with his future wife.

The pain tears through me, and I know I need to block him. The mere idea of him posting more pictures with her, maybe even touching her, is more than I can handle.

Seeing him kiss her would destroy me.

I close my eyes and take a few deep breaths. It's over. I need to act like it's over. Every click is a struggle as I find the block button and press it. I almost regret it as soon as it's done, but it's for the best.

It's only going to get worse if I don't take countermeasures.

Grabbing my laptop, I set it up so I can lie in bed and watch. Ginny insisted on sharing her streaming accounts with me, so I now have access to more than just Youtube. And one movie I have access to is Elf. I grab the big bag of candy that Ethan got for us and settle in.

Liam came by with my things a couple of days ago. He seemed very apologetic and told me how much he thought it sucked that me and Ethan broke up. He's a good guy and I'm glad Ethan has him as a friend.

When I went through my things, I noticed that Ethan had included everything that could remotely be mine. The only thing missing was a t-shirt, but I suppose that could have ended up in the laundry or something. He had also included more cereal bars and the big bag of candy. I wanted Liam to take that back, but he insisted Ethan would beat him up if he came back with anything.

So I dig through the bag and try not to think of how much we laughed when he picked up almost every single thing in the store and asked me if I liked it. Whenever I said yes, he put it in the basket.

If this had happened a couple of weeks ago, I would have assumed he still felt guilty about getting me kicked out. But not anymore. He repaid the money, and we talked it out. In the end, I ended up much better off.

I love living with Ginny, and I don't miss the former roommates at all. It's a bit further from campus, and Lucky's, but sometimes when I get back from a long day, Tony will ambush me and insist on telling me some space news that he found out about. And Ginny will be in the kitchen making dinner and no matter how tired I am, I always feel better.

***The entire story is available on reamstories.com/sofiamkay. Thank you for reading!***