Page 79 of Fresh Tracks
He looks down at his bowl, but points across the room. “Then who’s that?”
I look up to see Grace striding out of the hallway from my bedroom, wearing nothing but my flannel shirt. With her long legs, it barely covers the curve of her ass. In a second, my flight or fuck reaction is triggered by the sight of her almost bare ass and because we’re quickly adding to the list of people who know about this.
She turns and spots the two of us and waves, flashing her bright smile. She walks over to us and I study her face. My body relaxes when I don’t see any signs of apprehension or misgivings about Sutton seeing her. She strides over to us before sitting in my lap. I wrap my arms around her, instantly relishing in her warmth when she brings her lips to my cheek for a quick kiss. “Morning, boys.”
I turn to Sutton who’s wearing a pleased smirk. “Morning, Grace. Nice to see you too.”
I arch a brow at him. “Really? No witty shit talking?”
“Nope,” he says, shaking his head, “but I’m glad you’ll finally stop moping around my restaurant now.”
He turns back to Grace. “Cereal?” he says with a mouthful, raising his bowl toward Grace.
“Do not say yes,” I say, pushing Sutton’s bowl back toward him. “I left a bowl of yogurt and fruit on the counter by the granola for you.”
He laughs. “I didn’t mean my actual bowl. I brought a whole box.”
I look over to the counter and, sure enough, I see the red box of sugary children’s cereal on the counter that I must have missed walking around half asleep.
I turn back to him, my hands still holding onto Grace’s hips in my lap. “For a world class chef, you really make me question your taste.”
“Whatever, you still love my food,” he scoffs.
Grace stands, taking a few steps toward the kitchen before stopping and looking back at us with a smug grin. “You’ve got good taste in friends and swings though.”
“Swings?” he raises a brow looking at her in confusion.
Grace smirks, “Yeah, you picked our favorite one.”
She turns and heads back toward the kitchen and I brazenly watch the way her hips sway with each long stride she takes. Sutton clears his throat, grabbing my attention and I shoot him a glare.
“What did she meanfavoriteswing?”
He gives me a confused look and I choke down a laugh. I look toward the wall of windows on the other side of the room and he follows my eyes to our pile of clothes from last night still on the floor. Then he looks up at the ropes holding the swing and back down to where he’s sitting. He shudders and drops his spoon in the empty bowl with a clang and huffs to himself. “Damnit. I guess I’ll go eat in the kitchen.”
“See, these are things you could avoid if you let me know you were coming over like a normal person.” I slap him on the back of his shoulder and get up, cocking my head toward the kitchen. “Come on, I’ll join you.”
I walk over to the kitchen island and stand next to Grace, grabbing her by the waist and pulling her to my side. Sutton sits at the island across from us, still watching with that same amused grin plastered on his face. He could crack whatever jokes he wanted to right now, but it dawns on me that I wouldn’t care at all. I’ve got the girl that’s haunted my dreams for half a year by my side and it feels good that my best friend knows. The only person I’m worried about is Grace, because she wanted herfamily to find out from her. I want to go at her pace and let her have whatever amount of control she wants.
“Now can we finally eat?” I say, sliding my bowl in front of me.
He huffs a laugh. “You’re the one that interrupted my breakfast.”
“Your breakfast?” I ask, raising my brows.
He points at the box of cereal on the counter behind me. “Yeah, it’s my food. I brought it.”
I look at the cereal and back at him. “Why are you even here? I thought you were staying with Slade.”
Grace laughs and Sutton and I both turn to look at her.
She smiles wide and rears her head back. “What? You guys are funny. You bicker like my brothers.”
Sutton shudders before mumbling. “Remind me never to get on their bad side.” Then his eyes widen and he points a finger between me and Grace. “Wait, do they know about this?”
“Sutton,” I say, prompting him to look right at me. “They don’t know and for now, this stays between the three of us and Jake. She gets to tell them when she wants. Got it?”
He nods and I see the look in his eyes that tells me I can trust him. As unserious as he can be, when it counts, he comes through.
