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He holds up his phone. It’s a short drive, but I need a man-hating, lying cheater song to get lost in. I pull up “White Liar” by Miranda Lambert and hit play.
The groan that leaves Joey’s mouth could be heard from the car behind us. “Country? Really?”
I playfully shove his shoulder. “Hey, at least you can make out the words to what I listen to!”
“Touché. I guess I can tolerate it for a two-minute drive.” I know he’s doing so to make me feel better, which I appreciate more than he’ll ever realize.
I get lost in the song, singing along with the words. I’m imagining all kinds of situations where Grant said he was held up preparing for a case, but really could have been out with another woman. Before I know it, Joey pulls in my driveway.
He turns to face me after he parks the truck. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay?”
“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” I sigh. “Eventually.”
“Are you coming to the homecoming game tomorrow?” Hope fills his voice as he asks the question.
I bite my lip. I hadn’t planned on it, but now I’m considering it. “Maybe. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.”
“I hope you do.” He smiles as he leans in and hugs me.
I inhale his manly scent and a shudder runs through me. It would be really wrong to kiss him just to spite Grant. Would that be the only reason, though? It’s something I’ve wanted to do for as long as I can remember.
“Thank you for the ride.” I pull away from him and exit the car. I stare at the duplex I’ve lived in for the past year and a half before walking inside. I don’t even want to think about the shit storm headed my way.
Chapter 6
“Who the fuck brought you home? That wasn’t Savannah’s car.” I hear Grant’s voice boom from the kitchen.
“Joey Brooks. He was at the pub when I was leaving and offered me a ride home,” I spit back with more attitude than I should be showing right now. “I don’t have the energy to deal with this right now. I’m going to bed.”
“Deal with what, Kelsey?” he sneers.
“Whatever you’re so pissed about. Have another glass of whiskey and get over it.” I wave my hand toward the bottle on the counter that he’s clearly already dipped into. “Goodnight, Grant.”
I think I’m half asleep before my head hits the pillow, but deep slumber hits once I snuggle myself under the covers. I have no idea how long I’ve been out for by the time I feel Grant’s side of the bed sink down next to me.
Grant’s fingers trace from my shoulder down to my hand as he kisses the back of my neck — one of his telltale signs that he wants to play. This asshole has a lot of fucking nerve, I’ll give him that.
”I know you’re not trying to wake me up to have sex right now,” I groan without rolling over.
“You used to love when I did that,” he purrs before nipping at my ear. “Come on, Kelsey Bear, I missed you all day.” He continues to stroke his fingers up and down my neck and shoulder, and it takes everything in me not to physically cringe from his touch.
I let out an annoyed sigh and throw my shoulder up to shove him off of me. “Grant, I’m fucking exhausted. Please just let me sleep.”
Grant lets out a frustrated sigh of his own before he rolls over so he’s turned away from me.
When I wake up the next morning, Grant’s side of the bed is empty. I must have been out cold last night because I didn’t even feel him get up. I grab my phone off the nightstand to check the time, but instead of looking at the clock display, my eyes avert to a notification from Tinder.
“It’s a match! You and Grant have liked each other!”
My heart sinks once again for two reasons. First, that he went to Tinder within thirty minutes of me shooting him down for sex last night. Second, that he’s actually interacting with other profiles. I screenshot the notification and send it to my sister.
Me: Attachment: 1 image
Me: Well…it worked. What do we do now?
Savannah: Wow…that didn’t take long at all.
Savannah: Request a meet up from Summer. If and when he agrees to a time, approach him about doing something at said time and see what he says.
