Page 31 of In It to Win It

“Sorry about the wedding.”

Grandpa shrugs. He’s pruning a shrub with bright orange and yellow flowers in his backyard. He and Chelsea live in a big Spanish-style two-story house on a huge lot, not far from the arena in Santa Monica. Grandpa has developed a fondness for gardening and the backyard is spectacular, the shimmering turquoise pool surrounded by paving stones and a perfect green lawn, palm trees, shrubs, and flowers lining the perimeter. It’s a bit of a trek from my place to his, but I made the drive this sunny Sunday, a day off for me and for him as well, I assumed.

“Notmywedding,” he says. “Is that why you’re here?”

“Yeah.” I hate it that Grandpa thinks less of me. He was pissed about me dating Théo’s ex-girlfriend, and I don’t want him to be pissed about this too. “What is that plant?”

“Lantana.”

“I like it.”

He gives me a look laced with skepticism. “Really?”

I don’t have a clue about plants. “Sure.”

“Why’d Martinez start that fight?”

I sigh. “I didn’t realize he and Taylor were going out.”

Grandpa drops his shears and fixes me with a hard stare. “Jesus Christ, JP. You have to stop hitting on other men’s girlfriends.”

“I wasn’t!” I hold up my hands, then drop them and bow my head. “I didn’t know, I swear.”

“She didn’t tell you?”

“No.” My words are bitter.“Women.”

He lets out a gusty breath. “True. What really happened with Emma?”

I’m kind of surprised he remembers her name. “She told me she and Théo had broken up.”

“You never mentioned that before.”

“It didn’t exactly come up in the conversation.” We’re both thinking of the family party Mom and Dad held to welcome Théo to California after he took the job managing Grandpa’s team. Grandpa had given me shit for dating Théo’s ex. “And it didn’t matter. I shouldn’t have gone out with her, even if they did break up. But I didn’t steal her from him.”

He scrunches up his face. “Are you sure?”

“What the fuck?” I gape at him. “Yeah, I’m sure.”

“You and Théo were always close, but there’s also a rivalry between you.”

I stare at him. I don’t like the thought that he knew that; that he knew I always felt like I couldn’t live up to Théo. “Okay,” I acknowledge quietly. “Maybe I did like the fact that Emma was interested in me.” Ugh. I hate myself. “But I didn’t go after her.”

“And you didn’t know that bridesmaid was dating Martinez?”

I frown. “No. I swear. She wasn’t there with him the night before the wedding.”She came up to my hotel room and we banged all night.“She wasn’t wearing a ring. I’m not a complete moron.”

Grandpa barks out a laugh and trims another branch. “No, you’re not. You just don’t always think through the consequences of what you do.”

“I already got this lecture from Théo.”

“Good.”

“I just wanted you to know that . . . aw fuck, I hate even saying the words.”

“What words?”

“It wasn’t my fault.”

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