wrinkling my nose.
“Yeah, no,” Crow concurs, shaking his head as he steps into the room. “A woman did call me that in the bedroom last week, though. It was hot.”
“Oversharing is a thing,” I say to him.
“Don’t you have Temper’s name saved in your phone as Daddy Temper?” Skylar reminds me, laughing out loud.
Crow winks. “See, hot.”
“Thanks for that, Skylar,” I say, trying to keep a straight face. “No, really, thank you.”
“What are friends for?” she replies, smirking. “But seriously, though, I don’t think Grayson’s someone you want on your bad side—he’s clearly a master liar and actor. I like to think I’m a good judge of character, and he had me fooled. That being said, just because he lied to me doesn’t mean I have anything against the guy. He never treated me badly and I don’t really see how him lying to me all these years really hurt me in the long run. I just think you should be careful.”
“Yeah,” I say, and I can tell Skylar sees the trepidation in my eyes.
“If it makes you feel better, I saw the way he looked at you, and I think he truly does care about you.”
I nod. “I don’t feel like he has ill intentions toward me. I don’t think he’ll intentionally harm me.”
“Then give him a real chance,” she suggests, tapping her index finger on her chin. “I think you’ll gain something from him. He’s not ideal father material, but hey, who are we to judge?”
I smile and duck my head, because she’s right.
At the end of the day, he’s still my father, and that means something to me.
Chapter Thirty-Two
“Why the hell is there a million packages here?” I ask, stepping around them as I get home from my first shift at the Grapevine.
“The girls’ online shopping orders arrived,” Chains says, studying the boxes. “What the hell did they buy? An entire store?”
“It sure looks that way,” I say, walking to the kitchen. “Where’s Temper?”
“He got a call and left,” Chains says, following me.
“How was work?” Crow asks when he spots me. “You finished early?”
“Yeah, we were overstaffed, so they said I could leave early,” I explain, jumping up on the countertop. “I saw your girlfriend there again tonight, too.”
“Who?” Chains asks, smirking at Crow. “You have a girlfriend?”
“She’s being sarcastic. It’s just some chick who thinks I have beer-flavored come or something. I don’t know, she’s been trying to sleep with me ever since I was dating Aisha, and it’s her friend.”
“She’s a Stage Five clinger,” I admit to Chains. “How about you? How’s your love life going these days?”
After spending more time with Chains, he’s started opening up a bit. He’s a very blunt, forward person, and he doesn’t really follow social cues like a normal person would. Once you get to know him, though, he’s actually a good guy. He just hides it well.
“Nonexistent. I like sex, but I don’t know if it’s worth the pillow talk and hugging they want from me afterward,” he says, shrugging.
“Savage,” I whisper, wrinkling my nose. “My sister Ivy is coming for a visit next week. Neither of you look at her, please and thank you.”
“Why would you do that?” Crow asks, shaking his head and groaning, tapping his hand to his forehead. “Did you just make her forbidden?”
“No.”
“Yes, you did. You told me to stay away from her, which made her forbidden, which made me interested,” the bastard says.
I pick up an apple from the fruit bowl and throw it at him, but he ducks. “I’ll kill you. Are you saying if I didn’t warn you off her then you wouldn’t have been interested? Because she’s a stunning girl, way prettier than me.”
“I don’t know, maybe, but the fact that you made her forbidden...” He makes a growling sound.
I throw a banana at him, and it hits him in the face.
“I won’t be the only one getting a banana in my face soon—”