Page 67 of The Playbook

“Dad?” I knocked on his office door Sunday night after a short text conversation with Logan.

He’d been unnaturally quiet the past two days. After convincing me to meet him at the park after practice yesterday, he’d canceled without explanation. His texts had been short and sporadic ever since, making me feel all kinds of strange things I didn’t want to feel.

“Grace, come in.” Dad shoved his clipboard back and gave me a smile.

I went in and sat in front of his desk.

“What’s up?” he asked.

“It’s about Logan.”

“Walker?” He raised his eyebrows.

I nodded. “Yeah. We’re lab partners, you know. I, uh, need to talk to him about an assignment that’s due tomorrow, but he’s not answering his phone. I was wondering if I could stop by his house and see if he’s there or something.”

Dad nodded thoughtfully. “You know, Grace, you don’t need to ask for permission. You’re eighteen.”

I blinked at him.

He let out a laugh. “I know I’m hard on you, and I probably seem like an insufferable pain in the ass to you sometimes with my rules. But I want you to have all the things I fought for. I don’t want you to struggle like I did. Maybe because of that, you’ve missed out on a lot. But it’s your senior year. I want you to make memories.” He sighed. “Your mom and I have talked, and we think it’s best if we let go a little. You’re not a little girl anymore. Soon, you’ll be leaving us to be on your own. I,we, think it would be best if you got used to a little bit of freedom.”

I sat stunned, staring at him.Was this man my father? Had he been taken by aliens and replaced by someone else entirely?

“So, you don’t need to ask for permission to go somewhere. Just make sure we know where you’re going and remember whose daughter you are.” He leveled his gaze on me, a muscle thrumming along his jaw. “I trust you won’t do anything stupid.”

“D-Does that mean I can date?”

He lips thinned into a line, and his eye twitched. “In moderation. I don’t want guys hanging out here all hours of the night. I don’t want to hear about you at parties, getting crunk or whatever you kids call it.”

“Right. No getting crunk,” I said, trying to suppress my giddiness and laughter.

I rose to my feet, and so did he. A moment later, I was hugging him.

“You still have a curfew. And I hope you deem all the guys at school unworthy because God knows I do. And keep up your grades. If we see them slipping, we’ll revoke everything we just talked about. OK?”

“OK,” I said, squeezing him tighter.

It felt like a ton of bricks had been lifted off my heart. At least I wouldn’t have to be sneaky about spending time with Logan. I still wanted to keep our relationship quiet, but the fear of being caught by my dad wasn’t drowning me anymore.

“Thank you, Dad,” I said, pulling away.

He ruffled my hair. “You’re welcome, pumpkin,” he answered gruffly, a peculiar look on his face.

* * *

A little later, I let out a breath as I stared at Logan’s door. I’d rung the bell twice and nothing. His Jeep was in the driveway though. Frowning, I backed away and walked back to my car, deciding maybe I’d just see him tomorrow. My hand was on the handle as I heard his voice.

“Gracie.”

I spun and saw him jogging toward me from the street, sweat pouring off him, his glorious abs on display. Heat flooded my cheeks as I tried to focus on his face.

A smirk quirked his lips up as he stopped in front of me.

“You’re blushing.”

“It’s hot out,” I mumbled, swallowing and gazing over his shoulder.

“You meanI’m hot,and it’s making you hot,” he teased, taking me by the chin and directing my attention to him.

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