I nearly spit out my drink. “You call that low stakes? Jesus.”
He shrugs. “It was entertainment for most of us. I felt bad for the guy’s wife, though. Not to mention it was really unethical for him to sleep with a student.”
“He get fired?”
“Well, yeah.” He pushes food around on his plate. “Speaking of, I gave George some hell after he confronted me about us. I think he’ll be leaving it alone now.”
“Yeah?” I smile.
He nods. “Either way, we didn’t really do anything wrong. I wasn’t your boss. And we’ve known each other for a long time.”
My brows pull together. “There’s some power dynamics at play there, I guess.”
“Well, as a resident, I feel pretty low in the hierarchy.” He leans in toward me and lowers his voice. “I let you have power over me, anyway. If you recall.”
My face warms. “You been thinking about that?”
He holds my gaze. “Always.”
Wow. I sit back in my chair. The flush from my face has spread throughout my body. I inhale and catch a whiff of Grant’s cologne, something kind of peppery.
His expression is so full of lust I can almost feel it on my skin.
“It’s hard to have a conversation when you look at me like that.”
He chuckles, then blows out a breath and sits back. “I want to do this right. I want to knoweverything about you.” He plants his elbows on the table. The laminate is peeling on the top, and the condiment holder hasn’t been changed since the ’90s, but it’s one of the best damn chicken sandwiches in town. “Tell me something more real then. Honest.”
I’m going to let myself be vulnerable here. I owe him that. “I’m independent to the point of it being a character flaw,” I say. “Though you already know that. I think part of what scares me with you is the idea of relying on someone else, because I’ve had so few people in my life I can really lean on. But I’ve realized I should hang on to any support I can get.” I clutch a napkin in my fist, then let it go when I realize how tightly I’m gripping. “I mean, isn’t that what got my family into our situation in the first place? This every man for himself attitude? The system failed me. Our community failed me at times.”
Grant nods. “You learned not to count on others. I get that.”
“I hated accepting help, but I think I’m looking at it all wrong. I think it’s okay to need help. To need people.” I prop my chin on my fist. “To need you.”
Grant’s jaw slackens. “I meant what I said. I would do anything for you,” he says.
“I believe you.” I reach across the table to squeeze his hand. “What about you? Do you have something real to tell me too? I feel like I just poured my heart out.”
“You were talking about how people failed you,” he says. “I think my parents failed me in a lot of ways. I know now that our relationship might never be the same. Not to mention the rest of the town. They propped me up because I was good at football, and my parents are prominent members of the community, but no one held me accountable.”
“We’re pretty messed up, the two of us.” I sigh and push my plate away. “I wanted what you had in high school, but maybe I shouldn’t have.” I look out the window, where the cold wind has sent a sign swinging. “I always wanted to take you down a peg.”
“Well, mission accomplished there,” he says quietly.
“I’m sorry for how harsh I’ve been.” Somewhere along the way, I stopped trying to mess with him and started to just enjoy my time with him.
He waves a hand in the air. “Oh, I deserved it. I know that.”
“Not anymore you don’t. You’re a good person now, Grant.” His eyes shine a bit as I talk. “Plus, it’s hard to bring you down too much. You’re ridiculously hot. And good at everything. It’s fucking annoying.”
“I’m not good at everything.”
“Name one thing you’re bad at.” I aim a challenging stare in his direction.
“I’m not very creative. Anything involving arts, music, writing—I’m not good at that stuff.” He starts ticking off on his fingers. “Going with the flow. Change. Understanding why anyone wants to live in our hometown for the rest of their lives.”
I laugh.
“It’s you who is good at everything,” he says.
