Page 73 of All In

I could tell they were getting suspicious, and that’s the only reason I agreed. Or maybe it’s not even that they’re suspicious so much as it is that I’m not a good liar, and even if I was, I’ve never liked lying to my parents.

It’s hard to break a habit. Not that it’s a habit I want to break, but it’s still necessary to lie for now.

I startle when Gray steps back into the bedroom. “Are you planning on getting up?”

Rolling my eyes, I toss the blanket off myself and climb out of bed. “Yeah, yeah, I’m getting up.”

“What about October 4th?”

I shake my head again. “No, it needs to be in the next month or so.”

My mom huffs, clearly fed up with my shit. “I don’t know why you’re trying to rush this.”

I’m not trying to rush anything. Okay, so I am, but only because I want to have this damn reception before our divorce is finalized, and October is too far out. Two months too far out, actually.

“I think what Harlow is trying to say,” Grayson says, coming to my rescue, “is that we’re just really excited, and we want to do this as soon as possible.”

Now it’s Ren’s turn to roll her eyes. “So excited that you both fought us on it for almost a month before you finally agreed.”

I shrug. “Well, now we’re not fighting, and we want to get it done.”

My mom grabs her phone, opening a search bar. “I don’t know what kind of venue we’re gonna be able to find in a month’s time.”

“We don’t need anything fancy.”

Mom huffs. “Your son only gets married once.”

Ouch. Well, no, actually, I guess that’s true enough. Didn’t get to the married part of it all with Josh. Speaking of, I should text him. I think he’ll get a kick out of all this. Not right now, though. I still haven’t told any of the parents that I’ve forgiven him and we’re friends.

“Are you okay with that, pretty boy?”

My stomach heats, and my face burns. Gray’s never used that name for me outside the bedroom and definitely never in front of our parents. He’s Pavloved me with it a little bit, though, because my dick starts to plump up.

Though, to be fair, it doesn’t take much where he’s concerned.

Okay, so wait, what? “Huh?”

“If we do it at Kincaid Park?”

I can’t help but smile. Gray and I used to hang out there as kids. It has a playground that we used to play at during summer break, but they also have a really nice building used for parties and shit. “Yeah, that’s cute. A little piece of our history.”

Gray’s eyes go soft, and butterflies take over my stomach. “That’s true,” he murmurs, leaning in like he’s about to kiss me before stopping himself.

Well, fuck that. I reach out, tangling my fingers in his shirt, and pull him the rest of the way to me.

I keep the kiss short, because hello, our moms are literally right there. But it doesn’t matter. I love every way we kiss.

My mom’s annoyed tsk drags me away from Grayson. “Still think you all deserve something nicer.”

I sigh. “I’ve had the big nice thing, Mom. Tons of guests. Tons of money.” Tons of bullshit I didn’t want to begin with. “Gray and I are simple. Our lives are simple. Our love is simple. Besides, Kincaid Park has a lot of really great memories for us.”

Grayson’s eyes are boring into the side of my head.

“It feels fitting in a way, I guess. We spent so much time there as kids, and to have it come full circle to celebrate our l-love,” I say, stumbling over the word love, “and our marriage just feels… right.”

“Couldn’t have said it better myself,” Gray says softly, and I turn to him, finding him gazing at me with what looks like real love in his eyes.

They’re all gooey and soft, the brown full to bursting with affection. My heart skips a beat, those butterflies finding their way back to me. Holy shit.