Page 79 of Dr. Single Dad

“I’ve decided to only refer to him as Cuncle from now on,” she says. “Because he’s a cunty uncle.”

“Good for you,” I reply, rubbing my stomach.

“Honestly, if I could sleep with someone for money and get the best part of twenty grand, I’d probably do it.”

“Eddie,” I say, “didyou do it?”

“Who’s going to pay anyone twenty grand for a roll in the hay? I don’t know what the going rate is for sex workers in Exeter, but I’d stake my life on it not reaching five figures, and maybe not even three.” She pulls out her phone as if she’s going to start researching sex worker salaries.

“A sugar daddy then. A rich older man paying for everything in return for regular…stuff.”

“What stuff?” she asks. “Hand jobs or hoovering?”

“What the hell is hoovering?”

Eddie laughs. “As in vacuuming. It’s not a sex position. Don’t worry—you and Dax aren’t missing out.”

I can feel my cheeks catch fire. I’ve never discussed my boyfriends with Eddie, mainly because I haven’t had a lot of them. Certainly none I’ve felt the physical need and mental pull I do with Dax.

“There’s no rich man,” she says, her smile fading. “Let me get the letter for you. I can tell you’re not going to be convinced until you see the university logo.”

She comes back with a piece of paper and thrusts it at me. “But what’s even more exciting is the waitressing job. I think I’m going to be able to cope without your help. The restaurant is really nice, and I even get a meal when I’m on shift. I’ll saveeven more money.” Her eyes are shiny and bright. She looks genuinely excited at the prospect of serving people dinner.

“You need to focus on your studies. There’s no point in being at university if you don’t come out with a degree at the end.”

She scoffs. “I won’t be the first ever student to work a restaurant shift once a week. My degree is hardly in jeopardy. Working once a week isn’t going to hurt my studies. I’d only be out with mates or in here eating pizza on Saturday nights anyway, so that’s the shift I’ve taken.”

“Maybe you need that time to decompress.”

She laughs. “I’m twenty. I don’t need to decompress. I’m fine.”

“You don’t need a job. I’m serious. What happens when they ask you to do another shift, and then another? Before you know it, you’ll be a full-time waitress.”

“If I promise you I won’t ever take more than one shift a week, and I’ll ditch the job if I feel it’s impacting my studies, will that stop you worrying?”

“No.” I shift awkwardly, closing the lid of the pizza box. The smell is really pungent. “It might help me stop worryingso much. But you’ve got to promise to be honest with me.”

“When have I ever not been honest?” She rolls her eyes just as she finishes the sentence, because she knows what my reply will be. “I was eight years old,” she says as if pleading for leniency. “You can’t holdthatagainst me for the rest of my life.” Eddie snuck into my makeup bag when I was sixteen and tried out my brand-new liquid eyeliner. She dropped it all over my cream carpet, then proceeded to tell me and the housekeeper she’d seen the cat coming out of my room “looking guilty”.

“What does a guilty cat look like again?” I ask, grinning at her.

“I only wish I’d tried the eyeliner out on him.”

“Your lie might have been more convincing if you had.”

“Pet makeup,” Eddie says, narrowing her eyes and staring ahead. “You think that will ever be a thing?”

I groan. “I hope you don’t think about this kind of thing in lectures.”

She shrugs. “You say that now, but one of these days, I might hit on an idea with legs. That’s what Dad did, right?”

Before they died, I didn’t really know what my parents did. I knew it was something in finance. It was only afterwards that I discovered he’d managed funds for high-net-worth individuals, but in a way that gave them an element of control. Apparently it was revolutionary in its day.

“I guess,” I reply.

“A degree’s just a starting point. I’ve gotta keep thinking about what’s next.”

She’s right. A degree isn’t the end goal. I want Eddie happy, successful both personally and professionally. Getting to graduation is only a small step in a longer journey. My job as her big sister will never truly be done. That’s why I have to maintain a stable career. The money provides me with the tools to help Eddie and Dylan, no matter where life takes them.

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