Chapter 23 Grace #2
“He just had a hotel problem.” I rubbed my forehead. “Please don’t tell anyone. I can’t have people knowing yet.”
“You know I won’t. And if anyone else mentions it, I’ll make up a reason he’s there.”
“What would I do without you?”
She shrugged. “Develop a stress disorder?”
I laughed and scanned back over the crowd. Kerry was by the bar, which meant I needed to be on my best behavior.
And that was when Brooke walked in.
She looked for the karaoke machine, which was the only reason she was here. When she didn’t find it, I saw her smile turn into a frown and then a sharp glare.
“Shit, sorry. I need to go.”
“Oh God.” Jade gagged. “Good luck.”
I made my way over to Brooke, who was already seething. “No karaoke?” she asked when I got over to her. “Seriously?”
“Mark wanted to do something else,” I soothed. “You can still have fun.”
“I want to sing.”
“It’s Mark’s birthday. He can do what he wants.”
She rolled her eyes. “I should just leave.”
I didn’t want to say it out loud, but that was a great idea.
“But I’m sure Mark wants that,” she continued. “I’m getting a drink and hoping someone hot climbs on the bull. I need eye candy.”
Brooke was gone before I could say anything else. I groaned. Leave it to her to do the worst thing possible.
I made my way back to Jade as Brooke ordered a drink.
“Everything good?”
“No, but what else is new?”
“She wanted to show off, didn’t she?”
“Yep,” I replied. “How did you know?”
“Brooke hates it when anyone else has fun.” Jade rolled her eyes. “Oh, shit. Tammy’s getting on the bull. Time to get in line!”
I turned. Just like Jade said, Tammy was climbing on. She was lucky that neither Wren nor Kelsey were here to talk her down.
Or maybe they’d join her. I had no idea.
“Feast your eyes!” she called. “I’m gonna win this thing!”
“There’s nothing to win!” Mark called back.
“I’ll win my pride!” she snapped. “Hit it, old man.”
“We’re the same age!”
“Do you listen or do you complain?”
Mark sighed, but turned on the bull. Tammy jerked once. Then twice. Then she was ejected.
“I hope Henry doesn’t have any plans,” I said to myself as I shook my head.
A few more people tried, all lasting about the same time as Tammy. The bull was brutal, and I had no idea how people were laughing as they got off. Jade was even cackling as she hit the ground, claiming it was the best ride of her life.
After she was helped up, she limped over to me. “That was awesome. It threw me around like I want a man to.”
“You’re something else.”
“At least I’m fun. But I think you’ll like who’s going after me.”
That was when I saw Dean climbing on.
I gasped. “No. You should have convinced him out of it!”
“Do you see those muscles? Watching him hang onto anything is a view for us all.”
“He could get hurt.”
“And then you get to kiss it better. This is for you.”
I shook my head, tempted to go demand that he get off, but that was when the bull started.
Dean was more controlled than most of the people. He watched the mechanical bull’s movements carefully, even as he put his hat on his head.
He looked every part the cowboy as he rode the thing, even down to his muscles. I could have sworn I saw abs underneath his tight shirt.
And suddenly, the room felt ten degrees warmer.
I’d tried to put Dean in a box ever since I’d been with him. It would never be able to happen again.
But God, did I want it. Especially after seeing his forearms flex.
“Go, Dean!” Mark called.
Dean was in a risky mood because he only held onto the mechanical bull with one arm and waved his hat with the other.
“Fuck, he should be on a magazine,” I said.
“Are you drooling?” Jade asked with a laugh. I shook my head at her. I was watching Dean too closely to care about anything else.
Then his round ended without him getting thrown off. The entire bar cheered as if he’d won something. Just like that, he’d charmed the crowd. It was probably the abs.
No, it was definitely the abs.
Jade cheered too, and I joined in. I was physically attracted to him, yes, but as I watched him laugh, I could see how bright he could be. He was smiling wide, high-fiving people as he walked by. I wondered if this was the kind of dad he would be. Fun. Energetic.
Everything a kid needed.
I hadn’t thought much about what parenting would be like with him, mostly because I was terrified it would be difficult to do with a near stranger.
But this eased some of my worries. Maybe it would be fine.
Maybe it would all work out.
“Uh, Grace?” Jade grabbed my arm. “You might wanna go watch that.”
She pointed to Brooke, who had a half-empty drink in her hand. She was heading right for Dean.
“Yep. Bye.” I made my way across the room and intercepted her. “Hey, what are you doing?”
“Going after the eye candy,” she said. “He turned me down once, but I’m willing to try again. Even if he’s grumpy sometimes.”
Her words pierced me. “Brooke, come on. You know what he is to me.”
“You’re not together, though. And unlike you, I know how to use a condom and won’t get pregnant.”
“Shh!” I hissed. We were in the middle of town at the biggest party of the year. Why the hell would she say that?
“What?”
There was a pit in my stomach, and I turned around to see if anyone heard. That was when I came face-to-face with Kerry.
And she was smiling. She had the smile. The one she always got when she’d heard some good gossip.
“What did I just hear?” Kerry asked.
“Nothing. You heard nothing.”
“No, I heard something.”
“Kerry, please.” I wasn’t above begging. In fact, I was very, very below it.
“Oh, come on.” Brooke climbed onto a table. “Everyone! Grace is knocked up! By Dean, by the way!”
The entire bar went silent.
I could only stare at Brooke. She’d done a lot of stupid things while drunk, but this took the cake.
“Are you kidding me right now?” Jade snapped. “You selfish little bitch.”
I turned to Jade. I needed to diffuse that. I needed to get Brooke off the table. I also needed to figure out some sort of lie to get myself out of this. Or figure out some way to minimize the damage of Brooke’s actions.
I needed to do it all.
And I was only one person.
I hadn’t noticed it, but my breaths came out faster. This was my worst nightmare, brought on by my own sister.
Everyone’s eyes were on me and the whispers had started.
“Grace is pregnant?” Atticus asked. The of all people was heavily implied.
“By the playboy?” Mark asked.
Oh God. I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t face them.
All I could do was break into a run. As much as I wanted to go outside, there were more eyes trained on me in that direction, and I couldn’t face that.
Mark’s closet was the better option. I stumbled inside, and as I pulled it shut, an arm blocked my way.
“Leave me alone,” I begged. My voice was thick with emotion, and I knew I was seconds away from crying.
That was when Dean opened the door. “Grace, are you—”
“Oh my God,” I said as I dragged him into the closet. “I can’t believe she—why would she—”
“I know, I know.” His hands landed on my shoulders. “I need you to breathe, though.”
“I can’t breathe right now. The whole town knows, I need to fix this!”
“No,” he insisted. “Right now, their opinions don’t fucking matter, okay? All that matters is that you take care of yourself. If you can’t do it for you, then do it for the baby.”
That got me out of it. It always did. I didn’t want them to know a ton of stress before they were even in the world.
I sucked in oxygen, hating that tears pricked my eyes as I tried to calm down. I wondered what they were saying about me. If they were thinking I was as bad as Brooke, or if they were disappointed.
“Grace, stop thinking about them. I know you’re doing it.”
Dean had me there.
“How do you do it? How do you just . . . not care?”
“I do care,” he replied. “But I also know that I’m a human being. And they’re not gonna like me sometimes.”
“I want them to like me.”
“And how much of yourself have you given up to achieve that?”
A lot. And I knew it. I was exhausted every day from it.
I’d put my all into being perfect. And I still couldn’t. I’d done so much for my sister. I’d put myself second to help her. I’d made her dinner when I was too tired to. I’d listened to her rants about how no one else wanted her around.
And look at what she’d done.
I was so angry with her. I didn’t think I’d ever been this angry at her in my life. She’d betrayed me. And I’d let her.
Dean’s hands migrated from my shoulders up to my neck and cheeks. “Right now, it’s you and me. Don’t think about anyone else.”
It was impossible not to.
But I needed to try.
My hands met his and we breathed together. Every time my mind wandered, I emptied it again.
And eventually, I calmed down.
“Good,” he said. “That’s my girl.”
“I still need to—”
“Take a minute to yourself. I’ll be right back.”
I didn’t want him to go, but I nodded anyway. When he was gone, my skin felt cold.