Page 129 of Someone You Deserve

Laughing, I reply, “There’s been a few bumps here and there, a little tiff or two. But the make-up sex is worth it.”

Willow grins. “Can’t argue with you there. When Dallas and I fight, it actually makes me horny now.”

“Uh, did I walk in on a conversation that I shouldn’t be a part of?”

When I look to my left, my brother is standing there, his hair standing up on all ends like he’s been yanking on it all morning. “Dear lord, did you poke your finger in a light socket?” I ask him.

“What?” He tries to glance up, but quickly realizes that you can’t see the top of your own head. He moves to pat down his hair and then lets out a breath so strong he might blow over Elsa’s ice castle. “No. It’s just been a long weekend.”

“What happened?” I ask, moving to serve slices of cake onto the plates.

“The garage got broken into Friday night.”

“Oh my God, Grady! Is it bad?”

Penn comes rushing over, concerned by my outburst. “What? Is everything okay?”

“Yes. No.” I turn back to my brother. “The garage was broken into? Iseverything okay?”

Dallas steps up next to Willow. “Dude, I fucking heard someone talking about that at the post office this morning. Did you catch them?”

Grady rubs the back of his neck. “Uh, yeah. I caught one of them. It was some kids. Three teenagers. Two of them escaped, but we got their names from the kid I caught.”

I shake my head. “Damn. I swear, if Bentley ever did something like that, I’d make sure he didn’t see daylight for a very long time.”

“Yeah, well I think his mom had the same idea.”

“You met his mom?” Penn asks.

“The alarm triggered a call to the cops, I kept the kid contained until they got there, but because he was a minor, they called his mom to come pick him up since I hadn’t decided if I’m going to press charges or not.”

“Why wouldn’t you? He smashed in the hood of the Nova,” Dallas says. “At least that’s what I heard.”

Penn winces. “Shit. The Nova?”

“I don’t give a fuck about the car right now,” Grady grumbles, his head hanging low.

I put my arm on his back, rubbing in circles. “Grady, what’s going on? I feel like you’re not just upset because of the car.”

When his head lifts, I see the uncertainty in his eyes, the anguish on his face, and then he says something I never saw coming.

“The kid’s mom is a woman I slept with a few months ago, right around Christmas. And when she came to talk to me yesterday about how to make this right, she also dropped a bomb on me that I wasn’t expecting.” He looks around at me, Penn, Dallas, and Willow. “It looks like I’m about to be a dad.”

THE END

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