Page 80 of The Playbook

“Man, I just had the best night ever.”

I let out a soft laugh. “Me too.”

“You close the deal?”

I swallowed. “She’s not a deal, man. She’s it. She’s the one.”

“Theone?” He scoffed. “You drunk?”

“No. I’m in love, man.”

“Aww, look at my best friend the player falling in love,” he teased. “Well, you’re not alone. I think I am too. Lana is fucking amazing. I asked her to make it official, and she was all about it.”

“I’m so damn happy for you,” I said, genuinely feeling it.

Ryan deserved a good girl, and I knew Lana was.

“When are you and Grace going to go public?”

“Soon, I hope. I want to. I know she’s not ready though, so I’ll do it when she is.”

“Ah, you softie,” he laughed. His good mood was contagious. “Just so you know though, Nikki was running her fucking mouth last night about you. I’d watch yourself. She’s not taking things lightly. You know how she is.”

“What’d she say?” I ground my teeth, pre-irritated with her bullshit.

“She’s going to out you, man. She knows the ins and outs of everything with the playbook. Even Andy is at risk. He was with Marissa last night. That shit is going good too. People were shocked. I think it pissed Nikki off even more because the hierarchy of high school bullshit was completely off-balance and people were actually nice to Marissa, welcoming her without being dicks. Watch yourself and Grace. Nikki is gunning for you.”

“Thanks,” I muttered, my good mood dissipating.

“Maybe you should come clean with Grace. Let her know everything. The bet. The playbook. Your real feelings. If Nikki decides to do it, you know how that’ll go.”

“Nikki won’t do shit,” I said, really wanting to believe it, but I knew Nikki. I had to smooth things over with her so she’d leave Grace alone and just let me be.

“I hope not. I gotta jet. I’m taking Lana to lunch today, and then we’re going to the beach. You and Grace want to hit the beach with us?”

I looked down at my girl. “I don’t know. I’ll ask Grace. I don’t want to intrude on you guys.”

“You won’t be. Lana was going to ask her anyway.”

“OK,” I said. “I’ll let you know.”

“All right. Cool. Later.”

“Later, man.” I ended the call and placed my phone back on my nightstand, worry creeping through me.

It would figure I finally found someone I could be happy with, and some bitch wants to ruin it. Not that I could blame anyone else exactly. I had a hand in my own potential demise too, but the thought of telling Grace about the playbook made me sick to my stomach.

What if she left me? What if she hated me for it and thought my feelings weren’t genuine because of how we started?

I buried my ugly thoughts, telling myself I’d deal with this shit later. For now I should just enjoy what I had. And that was a beautiful girl, sleeping in my arms.

* * *

“Sunscreen?” I asked as Grace settled onto her beach blanket.

We were at a secluded spot on the beach Ryan’s parents owned. Because it was private, it meant we didn’t have a shit ton of people around us, which was good considering Grace was skittish.

“Will you put it on me?”

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