Page 187 of Dream Girl
“You’re right, this is good pizza.” Grace took another bite.
“You have cheese on your face.” Wes leaned in and licked it off.
“No licking at the table.” Riley dipped her pizza in sauce.
Jett shook his head. “Not a rule.” Leaning over, he licked Evan.
Brennan licked Jett’s cheek.
Jett waggled his eyebrows. “You mean that, Honey?”
“Oh, I do, Dear.” Brennan kissed him.
Riley covered her eyes. “I’m trying to eat here.”
I chuckled. “You’re the one who said that they could join us.”
We finished our pizza, and Riley dragged Evan and Grace off toward the arcade games. Jett and Brennan went to play darts.
“This is fun,” Wes said, eyes on Grace as Evan taught her to play a racing game.
“Indeed.”
Wes went to play games with them, and I paid the bill. Then I checked my email and did a few things, content that everyone was having a good time.
Now Grace was playing pool with Brennan, Jett, and Wes, while Evan and Riley were fighting aliens.
“You are a cheater.” Brennan scowled at Grace.
“I… I must play by different rules. I’m sorry.” Her head hung. Grace’s scent soured, and my fists clenched.
Wes pulled Grace to him. “Hey, easy, Bren. We didn’t tell her what rules we played by. They’re probably different where she’s from. Just tell her what she did that broke a rule, and we’ll redo it. Easy peasy.”
“I wasn’t trying to cheat.” She sniffed.
Oh. No, I’m sure she wasn’t.
“Okay, you’re right. That’s how I got my ass kicked on a business trip.” Brennan’s look went wry. “Sorry, Grace.”
“I mean, if you want to play dirty, I can teach you the game I used to play in grad school when I needed food money.” Grace grinned.
The look on their faces said it all. Brennan might still have his reservations, but she was one of us. The idea of her hustling pool so she had enough to eat broke us.
Brennan also shot a look at Wes that clearly saidShe’s your mate, where the fuck were you while she struggled to have enough to eat? You should have been taking care of her.
At some point, we were going to need to explain Grace to him.
“We’ll play dirty another night,” Jett soothed, getting between Wes and Brennan. “Let’s finish our game so you can go buy an overpriced toy for Evan with all your game points.”
They finished their game, and she, and Riley went off to pick something out.
“Did you have fun at the movies?” Evan asked me.
“She fell asleep on me.” I grinned.
Evan bumped me with his side. “Lucky fucker.”
“This is okay, me and her?” I said softly. “I don’t want to encroach.”
