Page 16 of Playing for Keeps

“I don’t, though.”

“Get it from your uncle. Tell us when you want us over there. We’ll do this thing your way. But don’t show up unannounced again.”

“I make no promises.”

Duke gives me a dirty look, much like the one my pa used back at the homestead. Just like with Emmett, I smile in response to Duke’s attempt to intimidate me.

I’ve never needed to put on a grumpy vibe to scare people. I intimidate men by punching them in the head if they get out of line.

Not that I’m looking to throw down with my future father-in-law. But I’ll never let him push me around, either.

After Lola and her family disappear inside the bar, I decide to ride around Basin Rock to prove I’m unconcerned by Duke’s threats. I check out Lola’s garden apartment near her family’s homes. I roll past a group of Blood-Red Suns members sitting at a burger joint. They watch me with wary curiosity. I consider stopping and chatting with the dumbasses to see who is who now that their names matter.

However, I sense I ought to let Duke take the lead on introductions. Besides, I need to return home to tell Ma-Poppy and the rest of the homestead how my second thoughts are gone. I’m most definitely marrying Lola McGraw and taking on the responsibilities that come with my dream girl.

LOLA, AKA FACING A CURSED REALITY

Clover and I stare at the three outfits I’ve chosen as possibilities for the engagement party. I have my sloppy T-shirt and jeans to imply I’m not taking the wedding seriously. There’s the sexy black dress to imply I’m already halfway out the door and won’t take Val’s cheating personally. Then, there’s the floral dress I wore to my mom’s church wedding years ago. I’m not sure what that one implies.

Dropping my ass onto the mattress, I hide under my hair and wish I could skip to the part where Val is naked under me in this bed.

“I don’t know,” I mutter as Clover walks to my stuffed closet and tries to pry out clothes.

“You need a bigger closet.”

“What if Val wants me to live in his hellhole town?”

“You’ll be less than thirty minutes away. I think I’ll survive your absence.”

Frowning at Clover, I wonder about her lack of romantic options. She’s like a less boob-forward version of me. If she let her hair grow out and wore makeup, she’d be sexy. Guys already want to roll around with her, but she has zero interest.

Years ago, while we were bar-hopping, I asked if she was asexual.

“I don’t know what that means,” she replied and downed her tequila shot. “If it’s about sloppy genitals crap, I’m not interested.”

My sister’s disinterest in love is probably a godsend. I wish I cared less about loving Val. If I could simply enjoy his fine body,like Kerrie did with Duke, I wouldn’t be flipping out over what to wear.

My mom claimed she signed on to a loveless marriage without a moment of hesitation. She wanted to make her family stronger and found Duke handsome.

“Romantic love is overrated,” she told me when I was little. “I like having a man who doesn’t gross me out when he drops his drawers. He’s good with you girls, and he lets me have my hobbies. It’s the perfect marriage.”

Of course, as soon as my grandfather died and she could bail on Duke, Kerrie got herself a lawyer. Turned out, she had met a man who inspired more than her vagina to rev. With Marv from Minnesota, her heart raced, and butterflies took up residence in her belly. Suddenly, romantic love had its value.

“Val seems to like you,” Clover says and shows me a white, lacy boho blouse. “How about this with pale blue jeans and sandals? It’s both casual but not lazily so.”

I smile at my sister’s choice. For a tomboy, she always knows what looks good on a woman.

“You’re so smart,” I say and hug her. “I wish we could skip the party.”

“You’re looking at this wrong,” Clover says, breaking free of my bear hug. “You keep acting weird about Val like he’s a burden and love is awful or whatever. But I was at the bar when you met him. You guys had chemistry. He made you laugh. You made him laugh, too. You guys had fun that night. So, why are you making everything so ugly when you should be having fun?”

“He’s never going to love me.”

“You don’t know. Mom and Dad didn’t even know each other before they married and they had fun together. But you have this connection with Val already. He likes you. When you were flipping out on the street, he kept smiling and chuckling like your obnoxious behavior was funny.”

Smiling wistfully, I mumble, “He laughed when I screamed at him at the store, too.”

“Most men would think you were nuts and walk away. But Val doesn’t care if you’re a cuckoo capable of losing her marbles at the store.”

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