Page 39 of Playing for Keeps

“Knock it off,” Duke growls and takes a dish towel to smack my ass. “Stop slobbering over him in front of me.”

“I’m sorry,” I mumble as Val eases me onto my feet. “He makes me crazy.”

“Uh-huh.”

I focus on my dad until he peels his annoyed gaze from Val and looks me in the eyes.

“It’s okay,” I tell him. “This is a good thing. You don’t need to be stressed.”

Duke’s frown darkens. I don’t know why he’s upset over Val proposing to me. The more his future VP wants to be in Basin Rock, the less drama there’ll be over leaving Tumbling Rock.

Also, I assumed my dad would be happy for me.Is Duke so focused on his club that he forgot how my heart is on the line here, too?

“Val, can you go test out my mattress to determine which side you want to sleep on?”

“Sure, babe, but you’ll probably need to get a king-sized mattress if you want space for yourself.”

Val struts out of the room, leaving me alone with Duke.

“You’re being an asshole,” I mutter.

“I know.”

“Then why do it?”

Duke rubs the back of his neck and sighs. “I don’t know.”

“I want Val to care about me. He’s so certain about his feelings that maybe the curse won’t matter.”

My dad gives me a pained look. “I want you to have everything.”

“But you don’t like him.”

“It’s not that. I mean, yeah, he gets on my nerves, but a lot of my irritation came from how he reacted during the meeting between clubs. He made it seem like you were trashy.”

“Val likes to poke at people to see how they react.”

Duke reaches out and taps the butterfly pendant. “This is more than I expected from him. So maybe I’m not seeing him clearly.”

“I’m falling for Val,” I whisper.

“I can see that.”

“And I know I might get hurt, but I have to try. The curse might swoop in and ruin things. Until then, I plan to have fun with Val.”

“Good.”

“If that’s how you feel, why do you still look upset?”

Duke can’t break loose from his frown. I feel him having a conversation with me in his head that he refuses to share out loud. Finally, my dad steps back and exhales.

“So, what’s the plan? Is he moving in already?”

“Val’s staying for dinner. If he doesn’t irritate me too much, I’m riding him tonight,” I admit and then smirk. “There’s no way he’ll irritate me enough to stop this rodeo.”

“Why not slow down and wait until you’re married?”

Studying my dad, I try to find the words to make him understand. “Imagine you were going to marry a woman in lessthan a month. She’s the hottest damn thing you’ve ever seen, and she wants you bad. Would you wait if she was begging for it? Because what would be the point? You’re suffering blue balls for nothing.”

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