The Perfect Stroke (Lucas Brothers #1)(30)

Once I get there, I drag air into my lungs. It shouldn’t come as such a huge shock that I have feelings for Gray—that I care for him. I mean, I am sleeping with him. Somehow, however, it is. I have a boyfriend. I have a rich, famous boyfriend. What the f*ck am I doing? I look out the window and try and get control of myself. That was probably the worst thing I could do, however, because Gray is standing there… but he’s alone. Alone with Cammie. Something inside of me twists in pain as I see her reach up to brush something off of his face. Gray’s back is to me so I can’t see what he’s doing, but seeing them like this is enough. I can’t handle it. I need to leave. I need to get back to my world. I’ve just been kidding myself.

My hand moves up to the wall to brace myself because suddenly I’m feeling dizzy. This is just too much. It’s all too much. Cold hits my hand and I look up to see the lid of a control panel. I open it to discover that it’s the controls for the outdoor sprinkler system. I look back at Cammie and Gray and, without taking time to second guess myself, I hit the switch to on. Then, I turn the flow all the way up to maximum output.

“Take that,” I whisper, then walk back outside, making sure not to be spotted. Maybe I’ll get lucky and it will drown Cammie.





“I was wondering, David, when the contracts would be ready. Seth would like my attorney to go over them before the first tour stop next month.”

“You see that, Adams? Our man here is always thinking business. He’s nothing like what the tabloids have painted him to be.”

“I wondered,” Adams said as they discuss me. It’s on my mind to walk away. No amount of money is worth this shit. I’ll just pay my own way and say to hell with the committee. I win enough of the damn grunt tours they somehow corral me into; they can’t keep me out of the big ones. “There were rumors…”

“Bullshit rumors. Grayson here has been all business and upfront with me since he got here,” Riverton says, and I’m taken aback. I even feel a little guilty for not liking the man. Maybe I had him pegged all wrong.

“Thank you, sir.” I really appreciate that.

“Just stating the facts, boy.” Boy? Really? It’s been a long f*cking time since I’ve been called a boy. I wouldn’t care if it is a long f*cking time before they say it again.

“Adams here knows that a man has to sow his oats once in a while,” he says, and while I really don’t wish to have my sex life reviewed by these idiots, I clamp my jaw tight and let them go on. Whatever. As long as I nail down the contracts and get the f*ck out of here, I’m happy. I just need to get back to Cooper. I’m just about to tell him that when he claps me hard on the back. “Hell, boy. In my day, I had my own wild days. A man needs that.”

“Daddy,” Cammie says, and it’s the first time I see true emotions on her face. Is it hurt? Anger? Maybe a mixture of the two.

“That’s all in the past, princess. All in the past. Anyway, Adams and I are going to leave you young kids alone to get better acquainted. They’re dating, Adams. You know I wouldn’t let someone harmful into my family, not after the shit we endured.”

Whoa! What the f*ck?

“David, I think you have the wrong impression…”

“Daddy, please do. There are things Gray and I need to discuss,” Cammie jumps in, screeching on top of me. She reaches up and kisses her dad’s cheek. Before I can even catch my breath, they’re gone. I’m left with Cammie.

“What the f*ck is going on here, Cammie? Why does your father think the two of us are dating?”

“Because we are.”

“The f*ck we are.”

“Really, Gray, hanging around with that mechanic is having a bad effect on you. We don’t use those words in…”

“Woman, seriously. What in the hell would make you think we are dating?”

“You kissed me. Are you going to deny it?”

My stomach churns. I do remember that kiss, and I remember hating every second I endured it, but how the f*ck we went from there to her even thinking in her damn mind that we are dating is what’s beyond me. What if she tells that shit to CC?

“You kissed me!” And f*ck, now she has me screeching like a banshee.

“You didn’t pull away. Listen, Gray, I know you’ve been messing around with Claude, but honestly, you can’t see her as anyone long-term. A woman like that…”

“A woman like what?”

“A woman with her history. Surely you can’t think…”

Before she can go any further, the sprinklers turn on. For a second, we’re both standing there stunned and it doesn’t hit us what’s going on. Actually, my first thought is that it had begun raining. Yet when I look up, the sky is a beautiful dusk—not quite dark yet, as it’s painted a variety of colors that remind me of home. As the water pressure picks up and I hear the little motorized propellers and feel more of it hit me, I finally realize what’s going on. My head jerks up when I hear Cammie screaming. I look at her and she’s drenched, her big fancy sequined dress looking just droopy now. Her makeup is rolling down her face, the mascara so dark and runny she looks something akin to a raccoon. I grab her hand, more so she’ll stop screaming than anything else, and we take off running towards the club. Running however, is a relative term; Cammie is wearing heels—the kind with points on them that could probably kill a man—so it’s definitely more like a steady walk-jog. I think we’re almost home free when her ankle turns on the grass and she nearly falls. My hold on her and her knee keep her from completely going down.