Page 76 of Sometimes You Fall

“Subtle, Mom,” Scottie mutters.

“I was just headed to the bathroom!” my mother exclaims before scurrying down the hall.

Scottie turns to Gigi, placing her hands on her hips. “And you? What’s your excuse?”

Gigi smirks at me, wiggling her eyebrows. “I was just telling Grady that if you don’t want to go on that road trip with him, I will.” She takes a chip from the bowl on the counter, pops it in her mouth, and heads back outside.

“Jesus,” Scottie says under her breath, pinching her nose as she moves further into the kitchen.

“You told your grandma about the road trip?”

Her head lifts and her eyes connect with mine. “Yeah. I wanted to make sure her or my mom would be home so Chase had supervision if I decided to go.”

Moving closer to her, I pull her into me, loving the fact that our child rests between us when I do. “And what did you decide?”

She worries her bottom lip between her teeth. “I guess it would be kind of fun.”

I want to fist pump the air, but refrain. “Kind of fun?Whatkind of fun?”

Rolling her eyes, she pushes against my chest, creating space between us. “Don’t get any ideas, Grady.”

Before she gets too far from me, I pull her back into my chest. “I promise to make it fun, Scottie. For both of us.”

Her throat bobs as she swallows. “And how do you propose to do that?”

Lick your pussy until you scream. Suck on your nipples until you can’t take it anymore. Bury myself inside of you and stay there for as long as you’ll let me.Lay next to you and laugh until we can’t keep our eyes open anymore.

“By asking you questions about parenthood.”

Her lip quirks up. “That’s your idea of fun?”

“I need the truth about what to expect, Scottie,” I say, not wanting to scare her with my honest thoughts. “I feel like these books are fucking sugarcoating things and I don’t like to be unprepared, remember?”

“Yeah, I guess there are things about babies that you just have to learn through experience.”

“That’s how I feel, but you have that experience, and I don’t.”

Sighing, she steps away from me. “Fine, I’ll answer your questions as long as you let me pick the playlist.”

“You can’t play NSYNC the entire time, though,” I plead, making her laugh.

She rubs her stomach and then grins at me. “Oh, Grady. You have no idea what you just agreed to.”

Yeah, I do—because I just got this woman to agree to stay with me for forty-eight hours straight—so I’m pretty sure she’s the one who has no idea what’s about to happen when we’re alone, and I can’t fucking wait to show her.

Chapter fourteen

Scottie

“Holy crap. I forgot how incredible the coast is here.” As my eyes scan the expanse of ocean stretching out in front of me, I try to think back to the last time I actually stepped foot on the sand in Carrington Cove. It was so cold when I came back here in December that the idea of going near the water didn’t even enter my mind. And since I moved back, well, I’ve been a little preoccupied.

Grady’s hand rests gently on the small of my back as he leads me toward the front of the house. “It is. Willow inherited this house last year. That’s what initially brought her here from D.C.”

“What an amazing gift.”

He chuckles softly. “Dallas didn’t think so. He’s always wanted this house, so he and Willow had it out a bit at first. But as they sorted things out, they fell for each other, and now it’s their home together.”

I glance up at him. “Sounds like it all worked out for them.”

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