Worth the Risk(49)

But that didn’t mean I didn’t want to.

“Seems to me like someone isn’t bitching about being in the contest anymore . . . Now, why would that be?” I eye Grant across the table and know where he’s going with this and refuse to give him the ammunition to prove his point.

“And?” I draw the word out.

“And nothing, just glad to see you not worrying about . . . everything.”

“I’m not thrilled with the attention,” I say with a shrug.

“C’mon . . . you don’t like the life-size poster of you over in the Chamber of Commerce booth or the flyers all over the tables saying #TeamMalone?” Grady chuckles as he holds one up before tossing it over his shoulder.

“No. I don’t.”

“Hey, Grant? How many of these women do you think are going to take these pictures home and have some fun while staring at it later tonight?”

“Dude . . . I seriously think Mom dropped you on your head when you were little. There’s something wrong with you.” I push Grady’s shoulder, and he swipes my beer and downs the rest of it.

“You want another?” Grady asks as he stands, and Grant and I both nod. I shove some money into his hand since it’s my round to buy and then lean back in my chair.

“Luke told Mom that Sidney came over to your house the other day,” Grant says, getting to the topic he really wants to talk about.

Leave it to Luke to spill the beans. All Luke has done is talk nonstop about Sidney since she came over, which isn’t a good thing, so I knew it was only a matter of time before Mom started nosing around. I can see in Luke’s eyes how much he hopes she and I are dating. That this woman who paid particular attention to him is more than just a random friend.

That maybe I’ll like her vagina and we’ll get married.

I snort a laugh, and Grant looks at me like I’ve lost my mind. Maybe I have. The fact that any of this runs through my head is proof of it.

“So, was she?”

“Christ. Just what I need is Mom on my back about marriage when she knows that will never happen again.”

“Famous last words,” he says, and I crumple up a flyer with my face on it and throw it at him.

“Fine. She came over to apologize to Luke about the picture in the paper, which was the reason he got into his fight, which . . . who the fuck knows.” I scrub a hand through my hair and then close my eyes and lean back against the chair I’m sitting in.

“Which led to her coming over, playing nice with Luke, and then landing in your bed and you not sealing the deal?” Grant makes the comment with humor in his voice, but it’s his eyes that tell me he wants to know the truth. That he’s worried about me.

That it’s none of his damn business.

“She played with Luke’s Creepers.” I’m not sure why I say that, but it really was the last thing I expected her to do, so it’s stuck in my mind.

Well, that and her kiss.

“Wait a minute,” he says. “You mean Uptown Sidney came over and played Minecraft stuff with Luke?” The confusion on his face mirrors exactly how I felt when I saw her at the table with Luke.

“Yep.” I nod.

“Shit, that isn’t the Uptown Sidney I remember,” he says. “Doesn’t watching her do that with Luke make you want Uptown Sidney to go downtown on Grayson?”

“Very funny.”

Grady better come back soon because I need another beer STAT.

“You like her.” His simple statement is the first thing in this whole conversation that I don’t have a quick comeback to. Because I do. I don’t want to, because liking her scares the shit out of me, but fuck . . . I do. I just meet his eyes and don’t utter a single word. “So I take it you’re over the whole Sidney is like Claire thing?” he presses.

“No.” It’s the truth. But it’s a truth on shaky legs, considering that she’s up there instead of down here having a good time. Claire never would have given up her party time for the sake of everyone else. She never would have given up any part of herself, because her needs and wants came first. Always.

And Sidney is up there right now, proving that hers don’t.

“But I’m working on it.”

“Good.” He gives a measured nod as he finishes the last of his beer, and I glance again at the light on in the second story window. “She scares you because she’s different from your usual, but that also excites you. She showed up at your house, slid into a seat at your table, and entertained Luke. She reminded you of a reality you want but don’t want to admit to.”

“Fuck,” I mutter under my breath. He’s too damn right when all I want him to be is wrong.

“You gotta admire the woman for beating you at your own game.”

“How’s that?” I ask but already know.

“The hero bullshit in the newspaper. Getting the townspeople to back the contest so you can’t say no. Charming Luke when you thought she’d be petrified of him. From where I’m sitting, it looks like the ball’s in your court. You want her? You don’t want her? I don’t fucking care. You need to quit being a pussy and decide one way or another.” I look at Grant across from me, one arm resting across the back of the chair next to him, the other holding his beer while his eyes issue the challenge his words just gave. “If she owns your mind—and your moods—like she has, don’t you think she just might be worth the risk?”