Page 22 of Gloves Off

“Next weekend? Let’s set a date.” My mom pulls out her phone, bringing up her calendar. “Or we can come to your place.” Her eyes light up with realization. “Are you already living together?”

“We’re in the middle of moving my things.” Sort of. I spent most of this afternoon packing while my two pet bunnies, Stefan and Damon, became increasingly nervous.

I doubt Volkov would let me bring them when I move in, so I’m going to have to sneak them into his house.

My mom makes a sad face between me and Jordan. “Aw. End of an era.”

I sink a little, because I’ll miss living with Jordan. She knows every version of me and still loves me, and I still love her.

It’s only temporary, though. One year maximum. Maybe we can live together after.

“Thanksgiving?” My mom’s still scrolling through her calendar. Canadian Thanksgiving is in a few weeks.

Ugh. The idea of Volkov meeting my parents is bad enough, but at an intimate family gathering? God, no.

“He’s away for a road trip.” I think I remember seeing that on the calendar.

“Don’t tell us you’re embarrassed of us.” My dad pretends to look offended. “We’re the cool parents. I won’t even ask him for an autograph.”

I start to smile. Growing up, my parents were at least a decade younger than all the other parents. All my friends had crushes on at least one of them, sometimes both.

They aren’t going to let this go. An idea hits me.

“I’ll bring him to the Halloween party.”

My parents’ Halloween party is a yearly event. My mom is a costume designer on film sets, so she goes all out on costumes. As a kid, my costumes blew everyone’s out of the water. I still rememberher staying up until the early hours of the morning, sewing sequins onto my princess dresses. With help from her set design colleagues, my dad wires up elaborate, spooky lighting in the front yard, making the house look haunted. All my mom’s film friends show up, and everyone’s costumes are intense.

My mom sinks in disappointment. “That’s ages away.”

And there will be a ton of people packed into this house. They’ll be busy hosting, with no time to focus on how much I definitely amnotin love with Volkov.

I glance around at my parents’ modest home that they bought a few years ago, once my dad’s electrician business took off. Am I ready for Volkov to learn I didn’t have the upbringing he thought I did?

It doesn’t matter. He’s going to find out eventually.

“He’s really busy,” I repeat. “And with my work at the hospital, schedules can be tricky.”

“Okay.” My mom shrugs. “We’ll wait until Halloween. I can help you source a costume if you’d like.”

I try not to look too gleeful at the prospect of forcing Volkov into a costume. I already have ideas. “I’d love that.”

When I glance at my dad, though, he’s giving me a scrutinizing look. “Are you sure about this, Georgia? It seems fast.”

We’re close enough that I could probably tell them everything, and they’d probably understand why I’m doing this. They could be interviewed about Volkov and his parents’ citizenship, though, and I’d never want to get them in trouble.

“I know it’s fast.” I need to think of something convincing. “He’sunlike anyone I’ve ever met.”

Not a lie. I look to Jordan.Help me,I say with my eyes.

“They’re perfect for each other,” she tells my parents. Her mouth curves into a wry smile. “You’ll see.”

I give her a strange look, but my dad steeples his hands together with a deep breath. “Okay. Georgia, you’re a grown woman, youcan make your own decisions. We just want you to be happy and healthy.” He lets out a short laugh. “I guess you get that inheritance now.”

A weight clunks in my stomach. I’m not stupid enough to hope they forgot. They were furious when they found out about the clause in the will. And I’m definitely not stupid enough to pretendIforgot.

“Mhm.” I sip my water. My blood pressure rises.

“It’s okay if you feel weird about accepting the money.” My mom leans her chin on her palm, giving me a sympathetic look. “It’s not from a good place, but it doesn’t matter. It’s yours.”

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