Page 89 of On His Schedule
I blink. Well, shit. I consider what he might have said to her last night, but Gianna wants to hear it from me, so I’ll tell her. “Yes.”
She nods like she expected the answer. “He didn’t say anything last night, but I sort of put it together.”
“It just sort of happened, and then we talked about it yesterday morning. And we both agreed not to do anything more.”
“But last night?”
I shrug. “I’m just as confused as you are. Oh, I mean, nothing happened last night when he walked me home. He walked me to the door. He gave me his hoodie.” I swallow, thinking about him on one knee. “That’s what happened.”
“His hoodie is in your room right now?”
I nod, feeling flushed. “On the chair.”
Her hands are still wrapped around her mug. She hasn’t taken another sip, so I haven’t either. I hate to see her overthinking it, so I say, “I’m sorry.”
She shakes her head gently. “Stop.”
“I—”
“Lucy, I don’t want the apology. I want to talk to you about what we’re going to do.”
I take a sip and wait.
“I told my brother last night that he needs to switch tutors.”
My stomach tightens.
“And that he needs to give you space. And that he needs to stop pursuing this until you have time to figure out what you actually want, without him in your face.”
I stare at my hands. “Okay.”
“He agreed to that.”
I nod. “Okay.”What else am I to say?
“He’s going to call the tutoring center on Monday. And your schedule won’t be so hectic. I’m sorry. I know that is a lot to lose for you, but it is the only version of this that works for everyone.”
“Yeah,” I say, but I don’t even know what I’m thinking. Sure, the money’s great, but tutoring Benson was easy and enjoyable.
“I told him a lot of things last night, Lucy. About me. You know, about being his sister and his shadow.” She’s told me this over the years. She continues, “About — about you. About your life. About what you have been carrying.”
I look up. She can’t be serious. “Wait, what did you tell him?”
“I told him about Bear,” she says. “I told him about your mom. I told him you have been the parent in that house since you were young. I told him you paid for Bear’s field trip out of your tutoring money.”
I stare at her. “Are you serious?”
She stares at her coffee mug.
I can’t find the words, but what comes out is, “That wasn’t yours to tell, Gianna.”
“I know,” she replies quietly.
“That was mine.”
Her eyes flick to mine. “I know, Lucy. But he needed to understand who he was messing with. He needed to know that you are not — you are not a girl with the time or the bandwidth for a captain who is going to Vancouver in six months. He needed to know what your actual life looked like.”
“Gianna, that wasn’t your call.”
