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Taking my list back, I lean against the counter and fan myself with the skinny sheet of paper with the header “From the desk of Grace Grady.”
“I’m killing it.”
“Yeah, you are.” His smile is wide and warm as he props a hip on the counter beside me. “What’s it going to take to lock down repeat performances for say… the next twenty years? I’m getting the sense my parents won’t let me in the front door next time if I don’t have you by my side.”
It’s tempting. Not just because I’m riding the high of tonight’s success—though I absolutely am. Or because Wade is the kind of easy fun I never expected to be having. But because my family, what there is of it, isnothinglike this.
I’ve seen my father laugh before, but only in the context of a competitor’s misstep. Jokes are beneath him. And the landmines of the past are too vast and varied to tread near.
There’s an appeal to feeling like you’re a part of a whole instead of knowing you’re just another satellite orbiting an entity bigger than yourself.
But what I’m a part of here isn’t real. And no matter how nice having Grace Grady fuss over me feels or how welcoming his family is… none of it is mine.
“Sorry, Sport. You’re a good guy, but I’ve penciled in a fake breakup for about a week before your next trip home.”
“Doomed from the start.” His smile grows wider. “But we’ll always have Enderson?”
This guy is too much. “Yes, we’ll always have Enderson.”
His eyes linger on mine before finally shifting away… and freezing. “Oh, hey, Kels.”
She’s standing in the doorway I walked through only the moment before. I quickly replay our exchange, inwardly cringing. Even if she heard, it might sound like nonsense. A couple teasing each other, nothing more.
“Sorry to interrupt.” Her hands flutter to her chest. “I was just thinking it’s getting awfully late. Why don’t you let me make up the couch for Harlow so you don’t have to drive?”
Wade catches my hand in the firm grasp of his, pulling me in front of him and doing that thing where our fingers are still threaded together when he wraps his arms around me from behind. “Thanks for the offer, but we’re good. I haven’t been drinking and it’s less than ten minutes to the hotel.”
“But the roads are dark, and you haven’t been home in a while and—”
“I’m fine, Kelsey,” he says, his tone hard.
She gives him a short nod but somehow manages to avoid meeting my eyes even once. It’s not exactly a snub, but real or not, it feels weird to be on the receiving end of a stranger’s animosity.
After finding Wade’s parents to say good night, we make our way out front. Wade holds my hand the whole way.
“Almost done.” When we get to the truck, he doesn’t open the door. “Remember how I said it would look like I was kissing you when we first got here?”
“I remember.”
Wade draws me in front of him, positioning me so I’m resting against the cool metal.
Pushing to my toes, I try to peek past his shoulder. He’s too tall. Too broad. “Do you think she’s watching?”
“I know she is.” With a short laugh, he angles his body, giving me a quick glimpse of the house before moving back into my space. It was just long enough to see the silhouette of a woman at the window.
“I feel bad for her but, Wade, that’s kind of creepy.”
“Try waking up to her slipping into your bed. Naked. And I’m not talking about back in high school.”
“What?Here?” I try to peek past him again, only this time it’s outrage more than curiosity.
He shakes his head, nudging me back against the truck. “You see why I needed the date?”
“I guess I do. But, Wade, that’s not okay. Did you tell your mom?”
The smacked expression on his face is… I don’t even know what to make of it.
“Seriously, the fact that you think I’m tattling to my mother—” He rubs a big hand over his jaw. “Where did I go wrong with you? Was it something I said? Something I did? My shirt, my hair?”
