Page 45 of The Biggest Secret
“I’d say it’s more than working.” The boys nudge each other.
“Billy, stop being a pervert for a minute.” I knock his arm from behind his head as he brings his chair back to four legs. “She’s got my son. I want to give him what we had growing up; he deserves that. He didn’t choose to stay away.” Quietly I add, “But Chelsea has always had a piece of me. Dom deserves that I try.”
“Well, I think it’s great. I always thought you’d end up with her,” he shrugs. “Doesn’t matter how you get there. Just get there, right?”
“Okay, Dr. Phil. Can we just have a night to drink and talk bullshit about normal guy things?”
“Sex talk is a normal guy thing!” Billy exclaims. “I tell you everything.”
“Whether we want to hear it or not,” I mumble and take another sip of my beer.
We’re all hanging at Moose’s tonight, even Tom, who has a rare night off. I’ve been working my ass off all week still trying to catch up from the fiasco on Gum Drop. Any extra time has been spent with Chelsea and Dominic.
He’s the coolest kid and not just because he’s mine. That whole nature versus nurture? He spent the first year and a half of his life without me, and I still see myself and my actions reflected in what he does. It’s wild.
We’ve fallen into a nice routine. I’m really trying to make the effort. Honestly, at this point in my career, my business is firmly established, despite a few setbacks recently. But that happens with everyone. People are still calling, wanting estimates and scheduling jobs. I’ve earned the right to delegate the work. Now I just need to get my head on the same page. It’s hard to let go. I understand now why my dad is still very much involved.
“Oh, shit. Don’t look now, but Adam, you may want to sneak out the back door,” Jackson says.
I look at him in question, and he nods his head toward the front door where I see Grace standing, surveying the room as if she’s looking for someone. Then her eyes land on me and a dirty grin appears on her face. She saunters over to me, and I already don’t like the way she is approaching our table.
“Hey, boys.” She looks at the guys, then steps closer to me, brushing her hand across my shoulders. “Adam, it’s good to see you.”
I haven’t brought myself to have the conversation with Grace because one, I’m a dick. We’ve established this a time or two. Two, I’ve been busy working and any extra time I have, has been spent with Chelsea and Dominic. And three, since Chelsea approached me at the football game, Grace has become obsessive? Possessive? I’m not sure of the right word. But the texts increased, and she began calling asking to go out. Or to come over.And the other night, I thought I saw her car drive down our block. She would have no other reason to be here, except to come to my house. And she definitely wasn’t invited. I don’t like it and instead of putting a stop to it, I avoided it.
And now I’m going to pay for it.
I slide my chair just a couple inches away from her, suddenly uncomfortable with her touching me.
I only want Chelsea to touch me.
“Hi, Grace. What’s up? You meeting someone here?”
“Nope. I came out hoping to see you.” She steps closer and runs her hand down my arm now. The guys are watching but not saying anything.“You haven’t returned my calls, I’m sure you’re busy working, and I totally understand that. But I miss you.” Her sugary sweet tone is laced with a salty undertone that makes me take notice.
“Oh, well, yeah, I’m here. We all have a night off so we’re catching up.”
She goes to perch on my lap and drapes her arm around my neck. “How about we catch up instead?”
What the fuck is going on? I was with Grace because she never did this stuff. She never pushed for my time, and she never caused a scene in public. I need the town and my customers to see me as a stand-up guy, not some guy who has women following him or fawning over him making me look like a womanizer. She is definitely crossing that line right now.
Especially because word around town is that Chelsea is back. With my son. Christmas is trying very hard to give me and my family privacy, but I hear the whispers. The town can’t help itself.It’s not like I’m hiding him but damn, give me a minute. Let me breathe, sink into this new role that I’ve found myself in, and then we’ll announce.
“Grace. No.” I remove her arm from around me and stand up, forcing her to stand as well. The guys all decide this is a good time to grab another round.
“We’ll give you two a minute and be back with more beers.”
I nod to them then ask her to take a seat. “Listen, Grace, we need to talk. I’m sorry I’m doing this here, and I’m also sorry I didn’t do it sooner. I’ve just had a lot going on with work and well, you know, Chelsea is back so?—”
She cuts me off. “I don’t care about that. We don’t have to tell her. We can have the same arrangement as last time.” She purrs and leans into my space again.
I back up and furrow my brows. “What arrangement?”
“Oh, don’t play coy, Adam. You know, when she would leave you every time she had a fit about something, I was the one you’d meet up with.”
“Grace, that wasn’t what that was,” I say slowly, trying to understand where she’s going with this. Yes, when Chelsea would leave for her sisters, I’d go to the bar, usually with Billy, and drink away my pain. Grace would always seemingly be there. She would listen to me mope and bitch, but I never crossed a line.She tried, but I quickly shut it down. It wasn’t until over a year later, after I was sure Chelsea wasn’t coming back that Grace and I ended up in bed.
And now I’m really regretting that decision.
