Living with the Player

Chapter 38

I'm on a date with my dad right now.

That sounded weirdly incestual. FBI, if you're seeing this, it's not like that.

"So you're an art major?" Alison asks with a small smile. To her credit, she's making this as not-awkward as possible. You have to have some kind of social skills to date my dad.

"Yeah," I say.

Silence.

Maybe I shouldn't shit on my dad so much. I'm just as awkward as he is.

"That's great. What kind of art do you do?" she asks.

"Mostly painting," I answer.

"She likes abstract art," Nico says. "The last competition she won was this, like, self-portrait theme but you use a bunch of different shapes and colors and stuff. It was really cool. I think I have a picture." He pulls out his phone and shows her.

"That's great!" Alison says. "You're really talented."

"Thank you," I say. It gets quiet again. "So, how did you meet?" Is that a weird question?

"Oh, we met on a dating app," she answers kind of shyly.

I nearly spit out my soup. My dad on a dating app? He doesn't even take pictures?

Does he????

I imagine my dad as those guys who take pictures with the fish they caught. Oh my goodness, he's totally one of them.

"What kind of pictures did he have?" I ask, trying not to relay my shock. Is this a weird question too? Oh, fuck it, I wanna know.

"They were pictures with his bike. Pretty standard stuff," she says.

I nearly spit out my soup again. PICTURES WITH HIS BIKE. Of course.

"Well, he's lucky you guys matched," I say.

She's naturally pretty and smart. Plus, they have the same kind of humor. What kind of luck is that?

"Well, he's very sweet," she says and looks at my dad. They smile at each other and I feel Nico grab my hand under the table.

I like her. She's easy-going and she makes my dad happy so that's it. Alison likes romance movies so I have one more person to vote to watch Titanic over the Hangover. Plus, she wasn't some weird middle-aged woman trying to hit on my boyfriend so that's always cool.

After Titanic, Nico and I layout in the front yard in the dark. It's cold so he gives me his hoodie and I pretend like I didn't purposefully wear a short-sleeve so I could have it. The air smells clear and clean.

"What are you thinking about?" he asks me as he brushes my hair.

I close my eyes to his touch. "I'm just happy," I say. It's been so long since I've felt this at peace. Since I haven't felt alone.

"Me too," he murmurs and wraps his arms around me.

It's so fucking scary because I know it's dangerous to trust someone this much. But I still hold him because I know I deserve it.

Also, I think he kinda likes me too.

A/N: Last chapter besides the epilogue! If u read this far, thank u SO SO much :)