Ambivalently Yours

Sugar Daddy

A few days later, you head to Rafe and Kelce's apartment with a thick envelope in hand that you'd just received in the mail from your parents.

"What is this?" Rafe asks, taking the envelope you're holding out to him.

"Money," you answer.

He gives you a strange look. "For...?"

"Our trip," you explain. "It may not be exactly half, because I had to take a guess as to which AirBnB you booked, and then I didn't know which airline you got our tickets from, so I figured out the average price of a first class flight by looking at all the major airline's ticket prices."

He looks down at the envelope in his hand for a moment, then looks back up at you. "I told you I had it covered. Like at least three different times," he says.

You shake your head. "You don't have to sugar daddy me. I want to split this evenly."

"I'm not sugar daddy-ing you, y/n," he says. "I'm not taking this." He holds the envelope out to you.

You push it back into his chest. "Well, I'm not taking it back, so..."

He sighs, looking thoughtful for a moment. "How about we use this money to pay for our food and our tours, and whatever else you want to do while we're in Salem?"

You narrow your eyes at him. "It's not going to cost the same amount as the rental and the flight."

"Then you can take what's left over and spend it on whatever," he says.

You cross your arms. "I can't do that! That's my parents' money that they sent me to pay for my half."

"So you told them your new boyfriend is whisking you away to New England for the weekend?" he asks curiously.

You pause. "Not exactly."

He frowns. "What does that mean?"

"They don't know about you, they think Liz and I are planning a trip."

His frown deepens. "Are you... embarrassed of me?" he asks, the the slightest bit of hurt evident in his eyes.

"No! Of course not," you say. "But I thought it would be weird if I said my new boyfriend of two weeks is taking me on a weekend trip. They'd ask a lot of questions."

"And you don't want to answer them because...?"

You shrug. "I just don't talk to my parents about stuff like that. I don't share a lot of personal information. I mean, I'll tell them eventually, but..." you trail off and shrug again. "It sounds bad, I get it, but I swear it has nothing to do with you. It's just how I am with them."

It stung a little that you weren't telling your family about him, but Rafe could understand about being selective with the information you gave your family. When it came to his dad, if they weren't talking business, they didn't talk. Ward feigned interest in his schooling since it was tied to his eventual takeover of everything branded with the Cameron name, but as for other aspects of his life, he never even pretended to care.

"I think I get it," he says after a pause. "I guess I haven't exactly mentioned you either."

"I am shocked and offended," you say dramatically. "And hurt," you add when he starts to smile.

"Good thing I'm taking you to Hocus Pocus Land to make it up to you," he says.

"Yeah, and good thing I'm paying for half," you muse.

He gives you a look, pulling you into a hug to stealthily slide the envelope into your back jeans pocket. "Let me pay for this trip. Keep this money for something else. Emergencies or something. Cash savings. I dunno. Just let me take care of this one."