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“I’m off for the next three days. I’m with Grandpa. “ Logan disappears into the house.
“Might as well join them. Your mom will be here soon.” Carl follows the rest of the Monroe men, leaving me alone with Grace.
“They like you,” she says with a glimmer in her eyes.
“You could have warned me your Grandpa resembles a lumberjack. I was thinking more along the lines of a feeble old man.”
“Don’t let him hear you say that, or he won’t like you anymore.”
“Is it totally inappropriate for me to kiss you right now?” I lean into her, nuzzling along her neckline.
“Probably. How about I take you on a tour of the property later, and you can kiss me all you want?”
I inhale, smelling the mixture of her shampoo and body wash. Memories of bathing her last night come to mind, and I smile against her skin.
“You’ve got a deal, but I may not stop at kissing.”
She starts to giggle, slipping her hand in mine once again, leading me inside.
“It was awful! I almost swallowed my tongue when it happened. Thank God I had Bizzy with me,” Grace explains the way she felt when I went down last night.
“Jesus, Grace, he’s a quarterback. They get sacked!” Roy shakes his head in disappointment. “Did you think they’d tap him on the shoulder and say, ‘give me the ball’?”
She huffs and opens her mouth to argue, but her mom interrupts and agrees with her. They go back and forth, discussing the game, while I enjoy my beer.
The last few hours have been like this, every subject turning into a discussion with Grace and Sharon on one side and the guys on the other. I’ve sat back and taken it all in until they started in on football.
One thing’s for sure; the Monroe men may be farmers, politicians, business owners, and legacies, but they are complete football fanatics. These guys follow the game and have as much knowledge as me. Maybe even more. I knew Logan was a fan, but Grace didn’t mention her dad and grandpa were as well.
Grace is sandwiched between her mom and me on the sofa and goes still when her dad mentions the touchdown in the fourth quarter. Logan moves his eyes to me before taking a swig of his beer to hide his smile.
“I must have been in the restroom. I missed it,” Graces lies uncomfortably.
“How could you miss it? Six shredded them. He started the play with such power the defense didn’t know what hit them. They couldn’t cover for shit. Even watching on TV, I could see the intensity in his eyes. The play has been on every sports broadcast all day, and you were in the bathroom???” Carl glares at Grace with disbelief. “The bathroom?”
We never got around to discussing the game last night. It was the absolute last thing on my mind when I retrieved her from the sober cell. The entire drive home, all I could think about was stripping her naked and fucking her until she understood how careless she was. Punishment was my plan.
But when she looked at me in the elevator and mentioned me canceling this trip, my resolve took a different direction. She needed to hear and know exactly why I was so upset. Punishment sex can wait for another time.
Her hand grips my knee, pulling my attention to her face. “I am really sorry I missed the play.”
The apology goes a lot deeper. I already know she’s sorry for the debacle, but her face is filled with remorse. If we didn’t have an audience, I’d find a way to erase that guilt.
“It’s fine. I already told you that. If you’re interested, we can watch the highlight reels.”
“Sharon, did you bring that present I asked for?” Roy gets out of his recliner as Sharon points to the bag on the floor.
He grabs it and hands it to Grace. “Thought you might like this,” he tells her and sits again.
She rummages through the tissue paper and brings out a burnt orange sundress. Her eyes gaze around the room, full of suspicion. The mood in the room changes, the air growing thick as everyone watches her. Her mom glances at the ceiling, a dimple popping out on her cheek. Her dad rubs his hands together with the smile of a man who’s about to tell a punch line.
“Okay, I’ll bite. What’s this for?” Grace asks no one in particular.
“I figured it may look nice on you since orange is the new black. You’ll be the best dressed woman in the clink,” Roy answers with a straight face.
The room howls in laughter, Logan being the loudest. Grace’s face turns red, her eyes bulging out. “Logan! You told them?”
“Hell yes, I told them.”
