Page 110 of Dream Girl
“I was looking at a property that Evan wants me to buy.” I didn’t need this either.
“Is the little girl there? Dependent Services is worried. She’s atheta?When did that happen?” my mother demanded.
I checked the tracking app we used. Yes. Riley was here. Who added Grace? I deleted her.
“She’s here. This is about the time that happens.” Actually, Riley being a theta made sense. I knew a couple of them. They often ended up in real estate or running casinos or managing properties–careers where they could be independent and make a lot of money.
“I’ve been told you’re refusing required services from the Center. That’s unacceptable because this could still go sideways,” she told me.
“When can Grace leave, becauseI don’t want her here.” I wasn’t making my pack do weird counseling to make Grace’s life easier.
“Not cooperating draws everything out; you’re bringing this on yourself.” Her tone rankled.
“I’m a grown-ass person, I have my own pack, you’re not the boss of me,” I fired back.
“I don’t negotiate with toddlers. She’ll be here until I say so.” My mother ended the call.
Fuck.
I texted the number of the investigator.
“Honey, are you okay?” Jett slipped into the garage.
“Yes, Dear. Just the queen mum giving me shit. No one will miss us if we leave.” I pulled him into my arms to ease my frustration.
“Mmmm, tempting. But wewillbe missed. Do you want Katie hunting your ass down? There’s beer and steak. Also, a delicious-looking cake,” he replied.
“How the fuck is Wes explaining Grace? He took herout on a date,” I grumbled. The audacity!
“I think he’s mostly like,hey, this is Grace.Yeah, I know they went out. He recreated one of their first dates, then took her to his dad’s house, to help her remember more things,” he replied.
Oh, that made sense. I wanted her to remember everything. Fast. But a warning would be nice.
Riley came into the garage and opened the refrigerator. “Where do you keep the good bourbon?”
“Nowhere you can get to.” I locked up the good booze this morning. “Who’s asking?”
“No one. I wanted these.” She held up an energy drink and a lime soda.
My eyebrows rose. “Did you bring your boyfriend?”
She flipped me off. “Oh, my fuck. He’snotmy boyfriend. And yes, because Grace was helping us study for the math test. Kilroy’s here too.”
“Of course she’s good at math,” I grumbled. More friends? Though Kilroy was her friend, they’d met in detention the first week of school.
“Um, she’s amathematician.” Riley grabbed my hand. “Fuck, you’re grumpy. Let’s get you some food before you shit a cactus.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Grace
“He did?” I laughed and took another sip of beer as Wes’ dad told me stories about Wes as a kid. He hadn’t been at the house last night, so this was my first time meeting him–and unlike Lexi, he didn’t know about all the years Wes had dreamed of me.
They had heat lamps going, and the fire pit. It wasn’t nearly as cold as it could be, and I wore a flannel of Evan’s.
“Oh, the stories I could tell you.” His eyes crinkled around the corners as he laughed. “I’m going to get another one of those delightful steaks. Who knew Spencer was such a grilling expert?”
Wes put an arm around me as his dad walked away. “Do you like him?”
