Page 8 of Calling the Shots

“Ohmygod, you are not going to believe this!” I breathe into the speaker, stepping out of the tight stilettos and ambling over to the sofa.

“What happened? Are you okay?” Sloane’s voice tips up in concern and I feel a teensy bit guilty bothering her so late on a Saturday night. She probably was mid-coitus with her hottie football star fiancé, Cam.

“You’re not busy, um, with Cam right now, are you?” I loop a curl around my index finger, twirling it round and round.

“No. You’re okay, right?”

“Yes. Better than. Well, I did go on an epically bad first date with a guy fromBlaze.He’s the most boring guy on the planet and the jerk had the audacity to bail – via text – while I was in the restroom.”

“Oh no. We talked about this, Gracelyn. I told you to stay off the dating apps. It literally never works out.”

“Not true, Sloane. Like one in three long-term relationships start on the internet these days. But anyway—I’m at the sink in the bathroom of Mustang’s and Jamie walks in.”

“No! Shoot.”

“I know! And she’s sticking to me tighter than a burr on a sock, I swear. I cannot shake the bitch. She follows me out of the restroom, begging to meet my date. Who already left the building, by the way.”

“No! So what did you do?” Sloane’s voice fills with concern. She understands just what an awful predicament I was in.

“The only thing I could think of. I homed in on the one person in the room I recognized.”

“Grace. Who was it? Not your ex, Troy?”

“Nope. You’ll never guess. So, in the interest of time, we’ll skip ahead to the good part.”

“There’s a good part here?”

I laugh, kicking my feet up on the sofa cushion and wiggling my toes to get the blood flowing back into my dogs.

“Definitely. I kissed Mack.”

She sucks in a sharp breath and there’s a long pause. So long I wonder if we’ve been disconnected.

“Sloane? You still there?” I tap on the screen. It appears I still have service.

“Mack? Mack-Mack? As in, my dad’s best friend Mack? The coach at the high school who watches every sport known to man on ESPN? That Mack?”

“Yeah. That Mack.”

“Oh. My. God.”

“I know. Crazy, right?”

“You always surprise me, Gracelyn. Do I want to know the rest of the details?” She drops her voice low, all the way down to a whisper. “Is he there with you now? Did you sleep with him?” There’s a mixture of horror and awe in her voice.

“No, he’s not here. And no, I did not sleep with him. We kissed at the bar. Strictly out of necessity, to get Jamie off my back.”

“Why do I feel like there’s more to the story?”

“He pretended to be my boyfriend and really sold the whole dating thing. I never paid too much attention to him before—I mean, he’s always seemed so much older than us, and he’s my mom’s neighbor and all.”

“Right…” Sloane draws the word out.

“But he’s low-key hot, Sloane. Like, built. I had no idea until tonight. The man’s kinda gorgeous. Scruffy and laidback, really manly. And he smells good. Did you know that?”

“No. I don’t go around sniffing my dad’s best friend. And do not start calling him Daddy. You do that and I’m hanging up right now.”

I giggle, warmth flooding through me thinking about Mack and the kiss.

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