Page 64 of Impending Consent

After that awkward ass dinner, Gray caught us before we left the dining room. "Want to check out the bourbon collection? Torrance has some impressive bottles."

Rival glanced at me and I nodded. He deserved a break from my family’s scrutiny. He dropped a kiss to my temple and followed Gray to the study while Skylar caught my arm. "Help me with coffee?"

I followed her to the kitchen, leaving Teej and Indi with my parents in the dining room. As soon as we were alone, Skylar turned to me.

"What the hell, Sail? I knew you were impulsive but I didn’t think you would actually tell the truth."

"I know. I fucked up big time."

"That mean he’s really holding you to this for a year?"

I nodded. "The prenup is ironclad. I made sure of that, thinking it would protect me."

"The one time it sucks to be good at your job.“ She smiled, rolling her eyes. "But are you okay? Like really?"

The concern in her voice caught me off guard. "I’m fine, Sky. It's not terrible. Rival's a good guy."

"I can see that." She studied me for a moment. “…and you defended him against Dad. That was new."

"He was being an ass."

"True, but usually you let people fend for themselves. You were protective of Rival."

"Was I?"

"You know you were." She moved closer and lowered her voice. "Is there something real developing between you two, Sail? Because the way you look at him sometimes..."

"It's an arrangement, that's all."

"If you say so, but for what it's worth, I think he genuinely cares about you. The way he stood up to Dad? That takes guts."

I grinned. "Yeah, he kinda went in on Senior, didn’t he?”

She nodded. "And Gray seems to like him."

"Gray likes everyone," I pointed out.

"Not true. He literally hates everybody.”

That made me laugh. "He only hates people who change his menu items.”

She narrowed her eyes on me and I flashed a smile.

"Just be careful, okay? Not about Rival, but about yourself. Don't close yourself off to the possibility that this could be something real, even if it started as a mistake."

"So now you’re the family voice of reason? When did that happen?"

"Somewhere between falling in love with Gray and growing a human inside me." She grinned, patting her baby bump. "It changes your perspective."

“Yeah I don’t want that kind of new perspective.” I frowned and Sky shrugged.

“Your husband is fine, Sail. You might not want it but it might be your reality. You did marry the man just to get some dick.”

I groaned because I hadn’t had the dick recently, which sort of defeated the purpose, but I wouldn’t tell her that or she’d really give me shit. “Condoms are my friend.”

“Mmhmm. Let’s go.”

We gathered the coffee cups and I found myself thinking about Rival again. Was there truly something real developing with us and did I want there to be?

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