Peach Silhouette

30, Part 3 | of investments and intimacy

I watched George and Claire disappear into the second floor. I turned to my mom. 

"So. Clay. Have you decided whether you're going to extend the lease?" She asked coolly. I sighed. 

"No mom, I haven't." I said, my tone underlined with malice.

"I just don't think it's a good investment, is all." She said harshly, slicing vegetables on the island. 

"It's not an investment, it's my home." I snapped back.

"I thought this was your home." 

"There's only so far I can get in Florida. I'm helping out with what I can, I'm funding everyone's educations so you don't have to go into debt. Isn't that enough?" I said through gritted teeth, clenching my fists in intervals. 

"I'm thankful for that, Clay, but I would've preferred it if you had put your coding abilities toward a decent job." 

"Look, I get it mom, you don't support my career. You don't have to say it for the hundredth time. But I'm making enough to live off of, support the family, and help people." She hummed disapprovingly. 

"Set the table, please." I rolled my eyes and grabbed plates out of the cabinets. I laid them carefully on the table, setting utensils to the side of each. I pulled out my phone and scrolled through Twitter, not wanting to return to the kitchen. I heard her call the others and exhaled in relief. 

George and Claire appeared at the bottom of the stairs first, smiling and laughing. Cade emerged right after them, and Callie came down last. George lit up when he saw me, and my heart warmed. I gestured to the seat next to mine. Claire sat directly across from George, and Cade sat at their normal place next to Claire. Callie sat in her chair at the end of the table, while my mom sat at the head of the table. 

"So, George, what do you do for a living?" Heat rushed through me but I took a deep breath. 

"I code java plug-ins and make videos with Clay." He answered confidently, as if he had rehearsed. Actually, he probably had. 

"That's...interesting." She mused, suddenly a lot less nice with her steak knife. 

"Thank you, Mrs.-"

"You can call me Carrie." She smiled brightly, but I glimpsed annoyance in her eyes. 

"Mom, you wanna know what George's net worth is as of January 2022?" Claire said pointedly, with a vicious undertone.

"I-" George opened his mouth and then closed it. 

"What is it, Claire?" She glanced up from her steak, raising her eyebrows at the sassy 16 year old. 

"6 million dollars." The surprised look on her face was all I could ever ask for, and I reminded myself to thank Claire later. 

"That is very nice." She said genuinely. George looked embarrassed but also relieved. 

"Mom, can we play monopoly after dinner?" Claire asked enthusiastically, her mood shifting completely. Everyone groaned besides George.

"Sure, why not." After we cleaned up the table, George stood on his tiptoes to whisper something in my ear.

"Why does no one want to play monopoly?" He asked.

"You'll see." I whispered back, laughing at his confused expression and kissing him on the forehead. He flushed and I melted. We all sat down in the living room as Claire set up the monopoly board.

"I'll be the banker," Callie said, picking up the monopoly money and organizing it, passing us each equal piles. 

"I'll distribute properties." Cade grabbed the stack of property cards. 

"George, you pick your token first." Callie set out the tokens. 

"I'll be the Scottie dog."

"I'll be the battleship." I said, placing it at go.

"I will be the car." Claire moved her piece as well. Callie picked up the cat, Cade chose the top hat, and finally my mom chose the spinning wheel.

5 minutes later, Claire had a monopoly and multiple houses, while George and Callie were bickering over trading properties. 

Cade moved their piece, landing directly on Claire's most valuable property.

"That'll be 500 in rent, please." Claire grinned. 

"And I'm out." They sighed, giving all they had left to Claire. The next to go was my mom, then me, and then only George, Callie and Claire were left.

George rolled the dice.

"Please not a six, please not a six, NOOOOO-" Callie laughed.

"That's gonna be about 400, please." George sighed defeatedly and passed over the last of his money, settling his head on my lap. 

Callie and Claire raced to buy his properties, but I could tell Callie's hope was dying. 20 minutes later, she finally went bankrupt and sighed, rolling her eyes. 

"No amount of degrees any of us get could ever stop Claire from brutally crushing us all in monopoly." Claire smiled.

"But, to be fair, this time you came closer than ever." She smirked, and Cade shook their head. 

"It's getting pretty late, and everyone should get a good night's sleep tonight, ok?" My mom said, sending everyone to get ready for bed. 

I got ready for bed and changed into my sleeping clothes, and then I walked into my bedroom, getting hit with a wave of nostalgia. George was standing in the room, studying the walls. I smiled and crept behind him, burying my face into his neck. He shivered slightly. 

"Harry Styles, hm?" He giggled and I rolled my eyes.

"You can't deny the fact that the man is fucking hot." 

"Mmm," he agreed, and turned around. "He's not as hot as you though." I stuttered, flustered. George wrapped his arms around my neck and kissed me softly. 

"Time for bed!" Claire said loud and cheery from the door.

Ah yes, she and Tommy were certainly made to be friends. 

I walked to the door.

"Thank you Claire, goodnight." She laughed and I shut the door. "Back to our previous affairs." I grinned, pulling him in by his hips. We fell onto the bed and rolled away from each other. 

"Your bed is small." George said.

"It's a good thing we're not pretending to be friends anymore, then." I replied. We slipped under the covers and I wrapped my arms around him.

"This has been nothing like I had expected." 

"Is that good?" I asked.

"Yes. I love it here."

"And I love you." Silence followed, and eventually, we both fell asleep. 

~

inspiring song(s)

heaven - audien

king and lionheart - of monsters and men

july - noah cyrus

dance around it - parachute

~

an: i refuse to believe the cat is a real monopoly piece. 

afri out <3