“Urggh!”
Ingrid's eyes dart from my rock-hard dick to the wall.
“Urggh!” we both hear again.
“What the fuck is that?” I ask her.
“Urggh!”
“No.” Ingrid sits up, her face paling. “No, no, no!”
“What—”
“Harder, Harvey!” Isla's voice echoes on the other side of the wall.
“NO!” Ingrid yells as she jumps onto her feet and starts banging her hand on the bedroom wall. “Stop doing that! Stop making those noises!”
I run a hand over my face as my erection disappears.
Isla and Grandpa Harvey are having sex on the other side of the wall. And Ingrid? She's having a full-blown meltdown.
“Stop doing that to my sister!” she bellows as her palm slaps the wall again. “Stop!”
“Ingrid,” I call to her.
“He's... She's.... It's gross!”
“I know.” I reach out a hand.
Ingrid drops to her knees. “He's so old, Wilder.”
“Urggh!” we hear again.
“So. Old.” Her face falls. “What if he has a heart attack and dies while they're... while they're...”
“Having sex?” I finish for her.
“Wilder,” she says as she bursts into tears.
“Ingrid,” I say gently as I sit up. She falls into my open arms, the lightning bolt tattoo on her wrist pressing against the Blondie tattoo on my forearm.
“It's embarrassing, Wilder,” she mumbles into my chest. “First Frank the Fornicator. Now, Harvey the Hobbling Senior Citizen.”
I chuckle. “Have you ever thought that maybe Isla is in love?”
Ingrid lifts her head, her brown eyes glassy with tears. “With an old guy?”
“Yeah.” I nod my head. “He’s not ancient Ingrid. He’s just… older.”
“Isla isn't in love,” she says with disgust. “Isla's selfish. She's only engaged and pregnant because she's benefitting in some way. She's always been selfish and self-absorbed. This is no different.”
“Don't take this the wrong way,” I try, “but Harvey's in his late 50s. He's not on his deathbed.”
“What if he's dying?” Ingrid's mind begins whirring. “What if Isla is hoping to get his life insurance policy?”
I know I should bite my tongue, but I feel this weird sense of solidarity with Grandpa Harvey. We're both dating Winthrop women, and we're both outsiders. In this family, it’s good to have allies. Especially when Ingrid and Isla fight.
“People said things about you and Cash, too,” I remind her.
