Page 5 of Raine Out (Grand Slam 2)

Raine

“So is Sophie still trying to set you up?” Millie looks at me as she puts a few pillows on her lap and lays Mo on top of them. “Is that why you’re resisting this trip so much?”

Mo starts nursing urgently—like he hasn’t been fed in days. “Do you feed that child?”

“We feed him constantly. He’s always hungry.” Millie sighs as she kisses his cheek. “And stop avoiding the question.”

I ignore her again. “He’s definitely your kid. I’m not sure how you eat as much as you do and never gain weight.”

“Please. I gained so much weight with him. You remember how big I was,” she says, patting her almost-flat stomach. “Poor Mason lived at the grocery store for my last trimester. I was sure he was going to strike at some point.”

“When has Mason ever refused to do anything for you? He lives to serve you. You’re the most adorable couple I’ve ever been around and I hate every second of your cuteness.”

She shrugs. “You could have this, too, if you put in any effort. Now answer me. Is Sophie trying to set you up? And who’s the target this time?”

“I don’t know.” I grab a pillow and hug it to my chest. “I swear my mom still calls her to strategize.”

“I thought you told Sophie to stop taking her calls—”

“I did!” I hug the pillow tighter. “But you know my mom. She always finds a way to get to her victims.”

“Well, it probably doesn’t help that Sophie was the one who set you up with Dak. Your mom thought he was the one.”

“Everyone thought he was the one,” I say, looking up at the ceiling. “Except me.”

“You dated him for like seven years, right?”

“Yeah, all of high school and most of college.”

She shakes her head—her ponytail flipping back and forth. “How? How did you date him that long if you knew he wasn’t the one?”

I sink further down into the bed. “Because that’s what everyone wanted. Again, everyone except me.”

“So, did you break up with him because your parents wanted you to marry him? Like a rebellion thing?”

“Please. I didn’t rebel against my parents for one second of one day growing up. I was always the good girl.”

“So what happened?” she says. “Breaking up with him was a huge rebellion.”

“It wasn’t a rebellion. It was more of an awakening.” I let out a deep breath. “When the agency started sniffing around during college—asking me to interview for the training program—that was the first time I realized I could do something different with my life. Something completely separate from my parents’ expectations.”

“That sounds like rebellion.”

“Maybe,” I say, sighing, “but it was more like I was starting to see who I really was, you know? Seeing the possibilities to be the person who I knew existed deep in my soul somewhere.”

“And Dak didn’t fit with that new person?”

“Not at all. He didn’t even fit with the old person.” I pause for a second. “Don’t get me wrong. He’s a nice guy, but I was never attracted to him like that.”

“Well, it doesn’t have to be Dak, but someone—”

“What’s the point? I never want to get married.”

“I didn’t think I wanted to marry Mason at first either.” She leans back against the headboard and closes her eyes. “Even after I fell in love with him, I didn’t want to get married, but the right guy might change your mind.”

“Shut up,” I say, reaching for her hand. “Didn’t we agree back in training that we’d never get married?”

“We swore on it,” she says, squeezing my hand. “But I didn’t know there was a Mason-kind-of-person out there. He appeared out of nowhere and relentlessly pursued me. You saw how hard he came after me. I tried to resist, but he wasn’t having it. And I’m so lucky he pushed because he’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Maybe if you let a guy in—”

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