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“Damn right, she is,” Wally mutters.
“Then, why don’t you want her?” Sid asks and it takes all my self-restraint to stop myself from reaching across the table and slapping him. Doesn’t he know the last thing I need in this world is to hear Grayson explain in detail why he doesn’t want me?
“Leave it alone, Sid. We’re friends. Nothing more.”
Sid waves away my protest. “I know why you have hang-ups about relationships, I want to hear what his hang-ups are.”
“Maybe it’s none of your business.” The uncles think it’s their right to not only pry into Hailey’s life but also the personal lives of all of her friends. It’s not.
“Let the soldier speak for himself,” Wally orders.
Alarm! Alarm! When the super-secret spy starts using words like soldier, interrogation mode isn’t far off. Not good. I stand.
“Come on, Grayson. Let’s eat at the bar.”
Grayson doesn’t move. To my surprise, he opens his mouth and confesses, “I’m not ready for a relationship.” The flash of pain in his eyes is strong enough to make me flinch. The soldier is holding out on me. Now I’m curious and hoping Wally does switch into interrogation mode. And – in case you’re wondering – there’s nothing wrong with being curious.
Wally’s eyes narrow on him. “Why not? Are you married?”
“If I were married, I’d be in a relationship, wouldn’t I?”
“If a tag chaser hurt you when she abandoned you while you were overseas, there’s no need to worry. Suzie is the most loyal person in the world.”
“Oh great. You make me sound like a golden retriever,” I whine.
Grayson ignores my comment to respond to Wally. “I didn’t hook up with a tag chaser. Do I look stupid?”
“What’s a tag chaser?”
No one pays a lick of attention to me.
“Then, what’s the problem?” Sid asks. “We know you’re attracted to our Suzie.”
My eyes widen. They do? Grayson isn’t attracted to me. In fact, he hasn’t shown a hint of interest in me in a romantic way. No flirting, no accidental brushing of body parts against mine, nada nothing. Despite what Hailey and Phoebe think, I know how to flirt. I simply choose not to.
Grayson glances in my direction. His eyes narrow when he notices my face is the color of a fire engine, which is not a good look for a redhead in case you’re wondering. He glowers at the uncles. “Stop. You’re embarrassing Suzie.”
There’s a whole lot of grumbling before Lenny chimes in, “What did the toaster say to the slice of bread?” He wiggles his eyebrows. “I want you inside me!”
A total lame joke but I high-five him as a reward for cutting the tension. Grayson ushers me back into my seat and Pops arrives with our food. He studies the uncles for a moment before setting the plates on the table.
“They’re not giving you a hard time are they, Shorty?” he asks with a hand on my shoulder making it clear whose side he’s on.
I grin up at him. “I’m fine.” I sniff the food. “And this smells delicious.”
He winks before glaring at the uncles again for good measure and leaving.
We dive into our food and the conversation switches to the playoffs. I don’t pay much attention to football, but I’m happy to concentrate on sports instead of my supposed chemistry with Grayson. As if.
