Page 76 of The Grump I Loathe
“What happened during rehearsal?” I asked.
“What do you mean?”
I gestured across the room to Grace. “She’s in here for an hour, and now I can barely get a word out of her.”
Ali bristled. “So Grace is upset, and it’s automatically my fault?”
“You have to try with her,” I said. “You have to take the time to explain things to her. To give her the attention she needs.” I lowered my voice. “If you can drag yourself away from Sawyer long enough.”
“Jealousy is not a good look on you,” she snapped.
“This isn’t jealousy. This is me telling you that you’re going to lose your daughter if you don’t figure something out.”
“Connor, there are forty people in here, all asking me different questions, all demanding my attention. And that’sjustfor the rehearsal. That’s not even the wedding day. I’m already running around like a chicken with its head cut off. Can you just give me one weekend where you’re not berating me for?—”
“It isn’t just one weekend though,” I hissed. “It’s every missed weekend lately. Every phone call you forget about. Every time you cancel on her. I know you’re off living your big new life, but when the hell is Grace going to be a priority?”
“I think that’s more than enough,” Sawyer said, stepping between us to park himself in front of Ali. He was tall, with the kind of judgy smile that made me want to punch his teeth in. “This isn’t the time or the place, Connor.”
“I don’t think you get any say in how or when I speak about my daughter with her mother,” I said. Grace was the victim here, not Ali. “And if either of you could take a second to actually notice and care about how much Grace is hurting, we wouldn’t need to keep having this fight.”
“It’s funny how your idea of protecting Grace always seems to involve other people getting caught in the crossfire,” Ali muttered.
I opened my mouth to fire back, but a strange, forced smile appeared on her face as a man walked up to the bar. “Mr. Singh!” Ali said loudly. “So glad you could make it.”
The fight in me immediately deflated as Ali greeted the CEO of Pavilion Games—the same distribution company I was meeting with on Monday. I glowered at her wondering why he was attending the rehearsal dinner. Ali had likely heard through the gaming circles who LockMill was signing with, and the fact that she was using this as a way to avoid talking about Grace made the blood boil in my veins. She knew there was no way I’d make a scene in front of Singh and risk the deal.
What a fucking joke this was.
I gritted my teeth and made nice with everyone until I could make my excuses, slipping back to Grace who was jabbing the pudding she’d been given for dessert with her spoon.
“Hey, you want to get out of here?” I asked. “We can rent a scary movie and get a bunch of junk ordered to the room.”
She sighed. “Okay, fine.”
This isn’t working, I thought, watching her shuffle out of the ballroom, looking absolutely dejected. I’d given up hoping that Ali would get her head out of her ass on her own. And with Sawyer around all the time—with no apparent interest in engaging with Grace at all—Grace was right to be worried about seeing Ali less. And there was nothing I could do about it unless I was prepared to make this a fight again.
Guess it was a damn good thing I had my lawyer on speed dial.
23
EDDIE
“Am I moving or is it the building?” I asked, feeling like I was on one of those airport travelators as Leigh and I stumbled through the hotel to our shared room.
“Still feel like you’re on the dance floor?” she asked, her smile falling away as she tried and failed to open the door.
“That’s your credit card, not your key card,” I said, batting her hand away.
Leigh turned to me, wide-eyed. “What the hell was I paying for my drinks with then?”
I laughed, tapping my hotel key, and the two of us fell through the door. Leigh nose-dived onto her bed, sighing contentedly while I made my way to the bathroom to change and wash the makeup from my face before I lost the will to move.
“More of the office came than I expected,” Leigh said. “It was fun.”
I walked out of the bathroom, toothbrush in my mouth. “Probably thanks to Max. He’s good at rounding people up.”
Leigh snorted. “He’s good at peer pressure.”
