Page 1 of Who Wants Pie

Chapter One

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Tinsley

Thanksgiving…how is it going to go this year? Especially given the fact my mom has been throwing one of the family friends at me lately. I understand why she thinks me and Gray are going to look good together. I really do. He’s…great. Tall, dark, handsome; and a hero - he fights fires and saves lives for fuck’s sake. So, I understand why she would want us to be more than what we are.

Hell, there was a time when I would have been all over the idea as well, but that was when I was young and stupid. I would be down to be a notch on Grayson Hart’s fire pole but that was before I found out what a man whore he is. I don’t really want to be with someone who has been with every woman in town.

I’ve known Gray since I was fourteen years old, and my brother first brought him home for dinner. When I was seventeen, I would go to the firehouse and bring him snacks and cookies and all sorts of goodies. I wasn’t stupid, I didn’t say it was just for Gray or that I was there because I had a big stinking crush on the hottest fireman I have ever laid eyes on. I just told everyone I was there because of Rayne, my brother.

Then, around the time I turned eighteen and was about to leave for college - and would have probably made an ass out of myself because I thought I didn’t have anything to lose - some of the men that work with Gray and Rayne told me Gray spends a lot of time picking up waitresses at the local topless bar and bragging about all the girls he’s bagged in the town. My crush ended quickly and decisively that day.

It’s not like I was going to stop being nice to him or anything. He’s Rayne’s partner and a good guy despite his penchant for cheap floozies without clothes on. And Rayne and me are like…siblings to him. We’re all he has. Gray’s an orphan. He’s just not getting any more of my pie. At least not for free.

And then there’s mom. She flew off the deep end when Rayne and Cami, his sweet little fiancée, got together. Now she’s seeing hearts everywhere and looking for her children’s happy ever afters. Lately, mom’s just done things like volunteer me to be the person to pick Gray up for Sunday dinners or find out if Gray knows anything about such and such, so why don’t I just give him a call.

It's cool. I would probably do that stuff anyway. Like I said, just because Gray fell off the pedestal I put him on doesn’t mean I’m going to kick him to the curb and say to hell with the years of friendship we have together. So, even though I think Gray is hot as hell, it doesn’t mean I am going to give in to a damned thing.

Are her attempts going to ramp up because it’s a holiday and one so family-oriented as well? Or has she finally got the message that me and Gray are just destined to be nothing more than really good friends/ adopted siblings? With mom, it’s a toss-up really. She seems like she’s laid off, but who can tell?

I try to be mindful of it, but the woman is wily as hell. That’s why I don’t see her coming when she asks me to go down into the basement and find her a wine opener that she is sure is in a box at the very back of the room.

I hear someone come down after me and think for a moment that it’s mom.

“Mo…oh hey,” not mom, “Is, um, mom coming down to help look or…?”

He shrugs his shoulders, “I'm not sure, she just told me to come down and look for the wine opener.”

“She told me to look for the wine opener.” My stomach sinks. “Oh, mom!”

I bound up the stairs to find the door locked. Part of me isn’t surprised at all about this. “She’s meddling again.”

I slump down the stairs and find a place to sit so I can wait her out. Gray’s brows draw together, and he goes up the steps to try the door before banging on it to try to get my mom’s attention.

“What the hell? What is going on?” He continues to jiggle the handle. And then the lights go out!

“Oh shit!” I jump up from where I’m sitting, “Why did she turn the lights out?” It is super dark down here. Normally I would say I’m not afraid of the dark, but a dark basement really changes a person’s view of things.

“Don’t worry,” I can tell by his voice that he’s coming closer. “There’s an emergency candle with matches in the tin somewhere over here. We can…,”

I cry out when his hands cup my tits. He started walking around with his hands out so he could find the shelves, but instead of the shelves, he found me!

“Not the candle! Not the candle!”

Unbelievably, he doesn’t move his hands at first. Just leaves them cupped loosely around my breasts. Before he finally pulls away and mumbles an apology. “Sorry.”

“S’okay.”

In a matter of seconds, he finds the tin and lights the candle. It doesn’t offer much light, but it’s better than nothing. Once he gets done with the candle, he comes to sit next to me.

“So, um, why do you think it was your mom who locked us in the basement together and killed the electricity?”

Without thinking about what exactly I am saying, I start to answer him, “She thinks we should…we…,” Oh shit! “She…I don’t know.”

Good recovery, Dresden. Way to keep the fact your mother is trying to throw your sad ass at the family friend to yourself. And how do I tell him my mom is trying to set us up? Will he become distant and not want to spend as much time with us if he knows?

“Oh, now you have to tell me.”

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