Page 101 of The Illicit Play
Trouble.
You’re trouble.
And Grady deserves better than that.
Closing my eyes, I rest my head in my hands with a groan and just stay like that for I don’t know how long. Iwonder if I can just curl up and hide away from him for the rest of the night.
But my stomach is starting to grumble. I have no idea what time it is, but surely I deserve a snack after that water fight and sexy workout, right?
Cautiously crawling out of the tent, I spot Grady knee-deep in the lake. He’s got some kind of fishing line thing dangling from his hand, and I watch in fascination as he waits, statue still in the water before doing a quick flick and pulling up a wriggling fish.
Holy shit, Wily’s right—he’s Bear freaking Grylls!
Carrying the fish back to the shoreline, he gathers up another one he’s caught and glances up, going still when he spots me.
I swallow, rising to my feet and trying to play it cool. “So, I guess we’re having fish for dinner?”
“Yeah.” He eyes me up for a second before tipping his head. “Come on, I’ll show you how to gut it.”
Sounds gross, and my nose wrinkles in protest. But curiosity gets the better of me and I head to his side, watching as he talks me through how to gut the fish. He does the first one, then makes me do the second. I’m right, it’s totally gross. Fish are slimy, and they smell.
But there’s also this cool sense of achievement that comes from prepping my own dinner, and forty minutes later, when I’m picking bits of cooked white fish off the bone, I can’t help smiling.
Grady taught me how to do all this, and I guess it was kind of like a peace offering. We won’t talk about the sex again. I can sense it. We’ve just put it behind us and moved on. I’m guessing, in his mind, that he never wants it to happen again.
That hurts, because it was so good.
It felt pretty damn right to me, and I hate that it didn’t to him.
Part of me wonders what I did wrong… other than not getting his full consent.
Yeah, that really was an assy move. I should have been more respectful, and I want to apologize. But if I raise it now, things will get all awkward between us again and… Ugh!
“Wanna play chess after dinner?” Grady asks.
I glance away from the flickering flames and stare across the fire at him. I still can’t believe he packed a travel-sized chess set, but apparently, he takes it every time he goes camping.
“You know how to play?”
I nod. “Dad wanted me to join the chess club in middle school.”
“Chess club?”
With a half-hearted shrug, I sigh. “What Daddy wanted, Blakey did.”
He stares at me for a long beat, like he’s taking the time to sense everything I’m not saying. His lips pull into a thoughtful pout as he swipes his fingers through the air. “We don’t have to play if you don’t like the game.”
“Nah, it’ll be my pleasure to kick your ass.” My lips twitch as I suck another piece of fish out of my fingers.
His laughter is a joyous, surprising sound, booming in our quiet space and making me grin. “Oh, you’re going down, girl.”
“Bring it on, Newman.” My voice is dry as I smirk across the flames at him.
His white teeth flash at me, his smile all things gorgeous.
Dipping my gaze, I focus back on my fish and how it’s the most delicious seafood I’ve ever tasted.
Not that it’s seafood.
