Page 60 of Playing for Keeps

“What, with her dope-ass stripper moves?” I tease and elbow him when he looks too pouty.

“It’ll just create drama,” Duke explains and pushes the swing a little faster. “Then, people won’t be focused on you and Val. Is that really what you want for your big day?”

“This marriage is good for you, too, right? I feel like with me going silly over Val, the club stuff has gotten dropped.”

Duke shrugs. “This alliance with Rawkfist might help the club long term despite Court acting disinterested in patching over the Blood-Red Suns. He clearly hates the idea of dealing with the Florida chapter. So maybe I can keep my club for now. When I’m old or dead, Val can decide whether to merge the Blood-Red Suns with his family’s club.”

“Don’t talk about dying. Just stick with the idea of you retiring to fish more.”

My dad gives me a tender smile. “I remember you and Clover out on the boat with me. We’d grill those big sausage links, and you two would struggle to open up wide enough to fit them in your mouths. Clover would nibble around the edges until she made it smaller. Meanwhile, you’d shove the whole damn thing in your mouth.”

I worry he’ll link that sausage memory to my slutty reputation. Val certainly would. He loves how I like sex as much as he does. My father is considerably less thrilled with my reputation.

“I used to watch you jam that thing in your mouth and wait for the moment when I needed to perform the Heimlich maneuver,” Duke says and chuckles. “There were a few times when your eyes would get huge like you thought you were about to die. Then, you’d adjust and keep chewing.”

“I feel like there’s an analogy in there somewhere.”

“Nothing so deep. I’ve just always known you were tough like me rather than silly like your mom. Maybe that’s why Val clicks with you. He lets you be a goofball in a way you never felt like doing on your own.”

My father’s words make me smile wide enough for my face to hurt. I worry so often how he won’t see Val’s worth. My dad loves his club guys. He pals around with them. They go fishing and bowling. He finds their dumb-shit hilarious, but he can’t rely on them. They’re like Uncle Dallas.

Val is complicated. He acts silly and arrogant, but he’s fiercely loyal to his family and way of life. If Duke understood how great Val was, the pressure could lessen on my dad’s shoulders.

“Well, if you and this stripper are still together by the holidays, you should bring her over for dinner.”

Remaining silent, Duke gets a faraway look. He actually seems smitten with this chick, which grosses me out a little. Dating a stripper is way different than falling for one.

“How old is she? Like she’s at least my age, right?”

“A few years older.”

“Oh, I thought maybe you’d say she was only stripping to put herself through college.”

Duke grins at my bullshit. “No, she’s finished with school.”

“Yet, she’s still dancing, huh?”

“She loves what she does.”

“And she’s good at it?”

“Good enough to get into my pants,” he taunts, making me laugh.

Studying my dad, I admit, “I’m curious about her.”

“Sure, but I suspect your questions come from a different place.”

“And what’s that?”

“All your life, you’ve heard about the family curse. Your grandma never found real love. I didn’t, either. Now, you’re all goofy gaga over Val and feel guilty, so you want me to be goofy gaga over the stripper. I’m sure you’ll try to set up your grandma soon, too.”

“Well, if the curse is broken, why shouldn’t you all find love?”

“What if the curse isn’t broken for us? What if it’s simply the sheer power of Val’s refusal to be denied that’s broken it for you?”

“No,” I mumble, immediately panicked over such an outcome. “Why can’t you choose to believe in my hopeful ideas?”

“Because it’s not fair to push us to want more than we might get.”

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