Page 2 of The Perfect Love

“Love you too, sweetheart.” She lets me go. “Have fun. Try to knock the patriarchy down a peg or two whenever you can.”

I laugh at that. “I’ll do my best.”

My grandmother has always been my maternal, fuck-the-patriarchy guiding light. My biological mother was never involved in my life, and I don’t blame her.

She and my dad weren’t serious when she got pregnant, but he offered to support her. Her parents pushed her not to have an abortion, so she gave things a shot with my dad, but within a fewmonths of having me, she knew motherhood wasn’t for her. She signed away her rights and left me with my dad. She wasn’t a bad person, but she felt trapped into a life she didn’t want, and I fully respect her choosing herself. She never popped back up in my life or made things confusing for me, and I grew up surrounded by love, so I have no complaints. I hope wherever she is, she’s living the life she wanted for herself, because we all deserve that freedom. That choice. I’m grateful I’m here, but I wouldn’t want any woman to be forced into any situation or decision they didn’t want.

I’ve always felt that way, but it’s stronger now. The desire to help, protect, and empower other women has always been woven into my DNA, but my personal experiences have heightened that. Which is why I have an internship focused on helping, empowering, and advocating for women lined up.

This is me taking my life back, and I’m ready for it.

“I’ll call you tonight, and then I’ll call again on Wednesday after my first day at my internship. And I’ll text like crazy. Promise.”

“I guess I can live with that,” my dad says.

I kiss his cheek and throw my arms around him again. “Love you, Daddy.”

“Love you too, kiddo. Drive safe.”

“I will.”

I grab my giant water bottle from the roof of my car and get settled in the driver’s seat.

A ripple of emotion burns in my chest as I look back at my house and then at my dad’s smiling face, but I take a deep breath and close my eyes, centering myself.

I may not be as carefree, wild, or upbeat as I once was, but I’m slowly finding those things again.

And I’m strong. I can do hard things.

At least that’s what Glennon Doyle says.

This is therightthing, and I’m going to put my positivity pants on and believe it will lead to great things. It has to because I have karma on my side, and the universe is her best friend, which means the universe is totally on my team too.

It’s about time.

“How much money did you spend at Target?” my uncle Robbie asks the second I’m through the front door of his apartment.

He’s ten years younger than my dad, and since my dad had me young, that means he’s young enough to be my older brother.

“Almost as much as I spent at the bookstore.”

“Textbooks are ridiculously expensive.”

I laugh. “Uh, yeah. I meant that cute little indie bookstore downtown. Their romantasy section was huge. Textbooks. Please. I’ll get the cheapest used ones I can find online or find someone in my classes to share an account with for the ebooks.”

“Ah, right. How could I forget? You need bat boys and shadow daddies more than anything educational.”

I stare at him from across the bright kitchen. It’s all white cabinets and light wood tones. Mine is almost the same as his, but the woods in mine are darker and it’s one bedroom instead of two.

“You can get away with it because you love the bat boys and shadow daddies almost as much as I do, but I beg of you,neversay ‘shadow daddies’ in front of my father or I might spontaneously combust in embarrassment.”

“Now you’re just giving me ways to harass you.” I stick my tongue out at him, but he nods to the table behind me. “Let’s eat. I’m starving.”

We sit down together at the small table and Robbie sets a large bowl of pasta and a container of meatballs in front of us.

“Eat.”

“Where’s the garlic bread? If I’m going to carb load, I need to do it properly. Thirty percent pasta, seventy percent garlic bread.”

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