Page 54 of QB Keeper
“I…I…,” he stutters, unable to come up with a way to talk himself out of the mess he’s in.
“Don’t say another fucking word,” Bill booms as he walks toward them. Grace steps away from Cash as her father lays into him. “How dare you disrespect my family like this? You were nothing but a cocky, immature boy until my daughter brought you in and begged us to give you a shot. You should be thanking her for your very short career, because I can promise you that you’ll never work in this industry again. Now, get out of my sight, you piece of shit.”
The whole crowd erupts into cheers as Cash backs away, disappearing backstage. I look at Grace, whose expression is completely blank, like she’s in utter disbelief of how that all played out. She’s my only concern as I run up the stairs and yank her into my arms, not giving a single fuck who sees as I hold her trembling body against me.
“You’re okay, baby,” I whisper into her hair. “You did such a good job. I’m so fucking proud of you.”
She looks up at me, smiling weakly. God, she’s so beautiful.My little badass.
“I can’t believe I did that,” she says on a shaky exhale.
“Me either,” I laugh. “But it was fucking awesome. Made me a tiny bit hard,” I say quietly, holding my thumb and pointer finger a millimeter apart in demonstration.
She looks up, scowling before she playfully slaps at my chest. “You’re gross.”
I give her a cocky grin. “You love it.”
“We called this, you know,” Libby says as both sets of our parents walk toward us. “We knew you’d find your way back to one another.” My mom leans into her best friend, knocking their shoulders together. My dad just smiles as he shakes his head at them.
“You knew?” Grace chokes out.
My mom gives her a soft smile. “The hardest thing we’ve ever done is watch both of you go through the pain of heartbreak. But we knew it wouldn’t be right of us to meddle in your lives, so we did our best to be there if you needed us, while letting you realize on your own that you were meant for each other.”
“Took a little longer than expected, but we made it,” Libby says in relief, rolling her eyes playfully as Bill wraps an arm around her waist and kisses the top of her head.
“Wow,” I say, my eyes wide with shock. “That’s…a lot of information. And you guys are okay with us being together?”
My dad scoffs. “Your mothers have been planning your wedding since Grace was born.”
“I just can’t wait to see what happens when you tell Riggs,” Bill says with a laugh, rubbing his hands together with glee.
I have to admit the thought makes me a little bit sick to my stomach. He’s my best friend. Even though we aren’t as close as we used to be because of our careers, he’s still one of the most important people in my life, and I don’t want him to think that I betrayed him in any way. But the truth is, our moms are right. Grace and I were meant to be together, and nothing in this universe could’ve kept us apart. We may havetaken the long road, but in the end, we found our way back to each other.
We all go our separate ways, with Grace and me deciding that we’ve had enough fun for the night and gathering our things to go back home.
“Oh!” she says as we make our way to the door. “I left my clutch backstage before I hooked up to the video system. I have to go grab it.”
I follow, because there’s no way I’m leaving her alone. She runs over to an empty chair, plucking her bag from the seat and turning back to me. But before we can make our way out, Cash steps out from where he was hiding in the corner.
“You fucking bitch,” he seethes, not giving a fuck that I’m right here. He thinks I won’t lay his ass out because we’re at a charity event, but if he doesn’t watch his mouth, he’s going to find out just how wrong he is. “You just couldn’t follow instructions, could you? You’ve never worked for anything a day in your perfect, privileged life, and now you’ve ruined everything for me. I should’ve known better than to trust a lying slut like y?—”
He's cut off when I grab him by the collar of his dress shirt, squeezing hard enough to make his eyes bug out. “Listen carefully, motherfucker. Because I’m only going to say this once,” I grit out. “If you ever speak to my future wife again, you’re going to find out just how hard it is to pick your teeth up off the floor with ten broken fingers. Do you understand?”
I tighten my grip, making him wince before leaning in. “Thanks for keeping my side of the bed warm, just like you used to do with the bench in high school. I just have a quick question though.”
“What?” he rasps.
I grin. “How’s it feel knowing that every time you fucked her, it was my cock she was thinking about?”
His jaw drops and I let him go, slowly stepping away withmy eyes locked on his. I feel Grace grab my hand, her presence calming my raging emotions as I turn to see her smiling up at me.
“Take me home and show me what a good girl I’ve been, sir,” she says, loud enough for him to hear. Not that I give a fuck. As far as I’m concerned, he doesn’t exist.
“My pleasure, Bunny.”
THIRTY-NINE
TANNER
