Page 26 of Tempt

“My ass now has its own zip code,” she adds, with a pout.

“Babe, I love your ass,” Colton announces loud and clear, making most everyone laugh. “Fits perfectly,” he holds up his hands and motions with them like he is squeezing something.

“Are you done?” Gretchen asks and I can tell she is fighting a smile.

“Never,” he declares.

The two of them are hilarious. I’ve witnessed them bickering on several occasions and then him taking charge while she still fights him on it. It’s entertaining but being this up close and personal, with a front row seat is the greatest.

“Are you thirsty?” I jerk in surprise to the sound of Garrett’s voice near my ear. The corner of his mouth tips upward and then he places his hand on my shoulder giving it a squeeze.

“Sure,” we’d been at Grace and Terrance’s for close to an hour and I know I’ve been enthralled by them all. The last time I was gathered with them all, guys and girls, there was a fight and Garrett got arrested. Though this time it is all family and friends I still feel like a complete outsider.

A few minutes later Garrett sits down next to me and offers me a beer. Lifting it to my lips I nervously take a swig and of course because I’m me, I start to choke. Beer comes out of my nose, and I start to cough.

Someone starts smacking on my back and then suddenly my left arm is lifted in the air.

“Why in the hell are you lifting her arm?” Garrett asks and I gasp, looking between Mike and Garrett.

“Because it eases the stimulation of the cough receptors. I’d lift both arms, but she is still holding a beer.” Mike’s tone is direct.

“Okay Dr. Dick,” Garrett says back to his brother and the two of them share an unreadable stare down.

“Here,” Grace holds out a napkin and I take it. My nostrils are still burning from the beer. My cheeks heat when it hits me that once again I’d made myself the center of attention.

“Are you good?”

“No,” I whisper, looking down toward the floor. “Once again I do something to embarrass myself.”

“Don’t be embarrassed Ky,” Rhett hollers out from across the room. “Blake once laughed so hard he shot a Cheerio out of his nose.”

A smacking noise echoes over the living room, “Ow, what?” Rhett asks, and I look up just in time to see AJ giving him a stern look.

“Blake is a toddler,” Colton says, “that’s what.”

Oh my God, I wish I could hide somewhere.

“No need to be embarrassed,” Julian assures me. “I’ve witnessed every single person that’s here tonight do at least one stupid thing.”

“So far I’m three for three,” I say finally sitting tall and trying my best to move past the humiliation. “Start a fight and get Garrett arrested, check. Smack myself in the face with the door, check. Choke on a beer and shoot it out of my nose while everyone is sitting around to witness it,” I hold up my figure and make a check motion. “I’m a walking disaster.”

“Wait,” Colton interrupts, sliding forward on the chair he is sitting on. “Tell me about the door and your face, I feel like there’s a story there."

“One I’m not telling,” I say without a pause and Gretchen’s smile widens.

“Garrett?”

“Don’t look at me,” he holds his hands up in surrender. “I’m on her side.”

“Pussy,” Mike mumbles and Garrett looks over at Maddison and then back at his brother.

“You are the biggest pussy in this room, next to Terrance that is.”

“Hey,” Terrance tries to sound offended but then he reaches out and hooks Grace by the waist pulling her onto his lap. “I’m okay with that baby.”

Some of the guys groan and the girls awww, and I glance over at Garrett to find him watching me. When he leans in and whispers so only I can hear the tension in me fades away. “This is the least judgmental group. This isn’t about who’s been here longer than the next, everyone belongs, and everyone is accepted.”

Then he stretches out a little more and presses a soft kiss to my lips. It takes me a second to realize what he’s done and by that time he has already backed away and relaxed back into the cushion at my side.

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