Page 49 of Playing for Keeps

As I prep breakfast for the family, I imagine a child with Val. He’s so certain about what he wants. His decisiveness is addictive. Now, I’m just as certain about what our future will hold.

Grandma Erin moves her coffee to the kitchen island, where she settles on a stool. Not long afterward, Duke appears from his bedroom, looking startled to find me.

“I didn’t figure you’d come around today,” he explains as I pour him a cup of coffee. “Not after what happened yesterday.”

“I don’t know what you mean. Yesterday was a good day.”

“Sure,” Duke mutters and settles onto a stool near his mother.

I return to prepping breakfast while waiting for Clover to reappear in a more awake state.

Grandma Erin chuckles and says, “Glad to see you worked out your frustrations.”

Figuring she’s teasing me, I turn around to notice how she’s grinning at Duke.

“What?” he mutters.

“You’ve needed to decompress after all your recent stress. I hope you were as giving as you were receiving with the woman.”

A sleepy Duke hides none of his irritation when he asks, “Have I stepped into an alternative reality? Why do I not understand anything you’re saying?”

Spotting what Grandma Erin noticed, I tap his throat and ask, “Did the woman suck your brain out through your dick?”

Duke frowns at me and lifts his phone. Using the camera, he gets a look at the hickey on his throat.

“Oh.”

“Yeah, is the sexual encounter coming back to you now?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Did you hit up the trailer park?” Grandma Erin asks, snickering at the thought of her son paying a woman for sex. “No shame in needing an outlet.”

“It’s just a fling,” he says, sounding overly irritated. “Let’s focus on Lola’s hickeys.”

“We all know who attacked her throat,” Grandma Erin says as I begin frying the bacon. “I’m curious about your situation.”

“It was a quickie. No reason to give details.”

“Where did you meet the gutter slut?” I ask, moving closer to him to observe his hickey. “Was it in a gutter?”

Duke flashes his irritated gaze in my direction before realizing he’s now surrounded by questioning women. Even a half-asleep Clover joins in after she pours herself a cup of coffee.

My father’s shoulders sag. I feel him wishing he had avoided us by sleeping late. He runs his hands through his dark hair and seems worn out. I don’t know why he’s acting so shy. His sexual exploits aren’t secrets.

“She’s a stripper,” Duke fesses up. “I was riding around and stopped at a place to get a drink.”

“You didn’t eat from the buffet, did you?” Clover asks, really hitting him with the important questions.

“No, baby,” he replies, chuckling at her fearful face. “Anyway, one of the dancers and I hooked up. It’s not love. We aren’t a couple. I didn’t realize she marked me. Let’s drop it, okay?”

“Because of your shame?” I taunt, snickering with my grandmother at Duke’s sheepish expression. “You do seem to feel mighty guilty.”

“Strippers aren’t hookups anyone should brag about.”

Patting his back, I return to breakfast. “There’s no harm in having fun.”

Grandma Erin nods and focuses on reading. “What’s the point of looking like you do, Duke, if you can’t woo young women?”

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