“And do you think he’d ask you to do him this favor if he thought it was a lost cause?” Why did Grady have to be the smart one? I hated it when he had logical arguments for my petulant nature.
“No.”
“And do you think, just maybe, your dad’s hoping this could be a fresh start for both of you?” Grady tipped back his beer, giving me the perfect opportunity to ogle the long lines of his neck, that spot just beneath his Adam’s apple where I used to nibble when we were in bed together. The juncture between neck and jaw where I used to—
Stop it.Grady’s the past. If you’re that horny, you need to get your ass back to the city and get laid, because you know better than to think anything will ever happen with him again.
“Dude, were you checking me out?”
“No.”
“Liar.” Grady smirked and winked. Fuck, if only Grady and Jen hadn’t locked down their relationship when she moved in. No one knew how to press my buttons the way Grady did.
With my mind firmly on the I-want-Grady’s-dick train, I decided he might have a point. Maybe Dad wasn’t the only one who needed a second chance at life. Maybe I needed a change of scenery as well, because my mind was a jumbled mess and I was tired of constantly being at war with my own thoughts. I sat up straighter on the couch, twisting my head to one side and then the other, chuckling at Grady’s gagging noises. He’d always hated the way I cracked my neck as if it was punctuation at the end of a deep thought.
“Maybe you’re right. I’m going to do it.” In six short weeks, Dad would be released from prison, and he needed a place to land, a direction for his life before the depression could drag him under. He refused to entertain thoughts of what he’d do if his transfer was denied, and as much as I’d hate moving, I wouldn’t send him off to live with someone I didn’t know.
“That’s more like it.” Grady stood, motioning for me to follow him through the house. Dinner was ready.
A pit formed in my stomach as I realized that if I did follow Dad to North Carolina, there would be no more tortured weekends spent with the Walsh family. Even though our dynamic had changed over the years, they were my chosen family and I wasn’t ready to let them go.
