Page 38 of Tempt

“I don’t needto add bailing you out of jail on top of everything else.” Gran tries to play it off like she is disappointed in me, but she forgot not to smile. Plus she’s a spitfire so I already know she is proud.

"I swear to it, if Miles wasn’t wearing a uniform I would have kicked him in the balls. All that nonsense about not knowing and collecting evidence.” My heart is still racing, and I forget that Gran and I are not alone.

A deep chuckle rings out behind me, and I glance back to see both Garrett and his father laughing I assume because of my rant.

“You should probably never piss her off,” Gavin, Garrett’s father, hits his son's arm and points at me. “Your momma’s dreams of one day meeting your children will be ruined with one swift kick.”

Embarrassment heats my cheeks.

“What do we do next?” I ask, trying to detour the attention away from my crazy. When I remember the way I just acted and the things I said and I’m hyper aware of the fact that both Garrett’s parents saw the entire thing.

“We clean up.” Gran squares her shoulders, and walks toward the closet in the front corner where we keep all our cleaning supplies.

“That’s it?” I throw my hands up and then again rein in my irritation.

“Garrett,” Gran looks past me. “I thought you took her home with you last night.”

Oh my God, no she isn’t.

“I expected her mood to be a whole lot better after rolling around in the sheets with you.”

She did! Oh God, she did!

Garrett chuckles and I can’t bring myself to look at him or his parents. I’m going to have my gran committed. I’ve made up my mind, we are driving to Statesboro, and I am going to have a psych evaluation done on her. She’s done lost her damn mind.

“Maybe you should take off and go back to your place for another round. She is wound tighter than my girdle.”

‘Will you stop, please?” I am fully aware that I’m begging her.

She sees nothing wrong with her choice of conversation and only shrugs before she starts to sweep up the glass shards on the floor. She looks over at Garrett, and just winks.

“You're so embarrassing.” I am fully away that everyone can hear me. We are all so close and it's hard to reprimand my gran without her making a scene.

“Girl, please,” she rolls her eyes. “I may be old, but I was young once.” Why did I say anything? It’s like fuel to the fire. “I know what satisfaction looks like; I also know what having a young man with stamina is like too. You need to drop that dustpan and go home with that man right there. Let him knock some of this stress and frustration right out of you. I have no doubt he’ll have you singing show tunes and skipping through town by noon.”

“Kill me now!” I mumble. “Does anyone have any tape?”

Suddenly I am lifted up off the ground and carried toward the front door. Pushing up onto Garrett’s back I see that Maria, his mother is laughing while she joins Gran in the cleanup.

“Garrett,” I wiggle in his hold.

“Darlin’ I am only listening to Gran. That woman seems to know what she is talking about, and she is saying all the things I want to hear. You and me, we got a date. I want to prove her wrong and have you singing by ten.”

I let go, allowing my body to fall forward when I hear his dad break out in a deep knowing chuckle.

... I’m in the twilight zone, I have stepped into a world of crazy surrounded by adults that are more like horny teens. What is happening?

* * *

“Wait,” Maddison slides forward on the couch, picking Sarah up off the floor where she tries to eat the television controller. “Phil’s dad is running some kind of brothel in his garage on poker night and Miles is participating?”

“Apparently,” I tell her. “That’s what Garrett said. I guess Gavin found out and that’s how he got Garrett out of jail that night he fought with Phil. It’s also how the charges magically disappeared too.”

“Wow,” Maddi says with wide eyes. “Miles' wife is so sweet too. She is huge in the church scene and public service. Hell, she volunteers to take the elderly that can’t drive to their doctors’ appointments and takes them to the store.”

That’s so sad.

“What an asshole,” Maddison adds, and I nod in agreement, just as Mike and Garrett walk back into the living room. Without pause Garrett snatches his niece from his sister-in-law and sits down next to me.

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