“You’ve been spending too much time with Uncle Harry,” I say and do my best to tease her. With how crabby I was earlier, I need to make up for it before we get off to a really bad start being roommates again.
“No, you’re just super obvious,” she says with a snicker. I give the pair another glance. Grady has a mouthful of pizza and is saying something to Cheyenne. For the first time since we arrived, she sets her phone down and smiles up at him. And when she does, she turns her face just slightly in my direction. I divert my attention back to Mindy.
“How do you know who he is, anyway?” I ask, leaning in and lowering my voice.
“You better keep your big mouth shut, but I work with this girl who is with one of his club members. She hasn’t really said much about him, but he’s come in a few times, and it always makes her nervous. Heck, it makes me nervous.”
“He’s Forsaken?” I ask, acting like I don’t already know.
“Yep. He’s the guy who makes sure everyone follows the club rules,” Mindy says with a gleam in her eyes. She’s always loved gossip, but if you didn’t know her well, you’d have no clue. She’s really sneaky about her eavesdropping.
“You work with one of their wives?”
“She’s not the guy’s wife. She used to hate him, but then one day they ended up in this argument while I was at work and there was like, this emotional rollercoaster thing going on. It was crazy. Next thing I know she’s pregnant and begrudgingly admitting that she’s in love with him. Now she doesn’t really shut up. They’re all crazy, every one of them,” Mindy says in a whisper-shout.
“Says the person all up in their business,” I say.
“Whatever. Look, if you’re looking for a guy, I’m sure I can find you someone far more suitable than one of those guys.”
“I’m not looking looking, I was just…observing. Don’t worry—there’s no way in hell I’d get involved with the club.”
As soon as the words leave my mouth, Grady and Cheyenne stand from their seats and head for the door. They make it halfway before he stops. He places his hands on his hips and I can hear him chuckling quietly to himself. The only thing I can think is, “Crap, crap, crap!” He turns around and strides toward our table. Cheyenne follows behind, crosses her arms over her chest, and keeps her attention focused on the front door.
“Just observing,” he says. The way he emphasizes the word observe leaves little room for doubt that he overheard what I just said. I’d prefer to keep what happened at the high school limited to the people who already know about it, but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen.
He bends at the waist and brings his face so close to mine that I can feel his breath wafting over my skin. I raise an eyebrow in silent question. The smile spreads on his face and he says, “Come by later. I’ll give you something juicy to wrap your mouth around.”
My eyes widen and horror fills my heart. I’m barely processing what he’s said when I hear Mindy gasp. I can only imagine the look on her face. Above and beyond being inappropriate, he’s being a dick.
“You’re an asshole,” I snap. He’s already absorbed the words by the time I realize that maybe I shouldn’t have said them at all. But it’s too late, and I can only take so much taunting.
“Dad,” Cheyenne says quietly. She’s started to fidget and is hopping from foot to foot. At the very least, she’s uncomfortable as well. He puts his hand up in the air to silence her, but all it does it motivate her to dramatically huff and spin around and walk toward the front door.
“For whatever reason, you seem to be making it your personal mission to torment me, and I’m not going to put up with it,” I say, my voice rising with every word.
“I’m not into torture. Bondage, maybe, but not torture,” he says. A shiver slides down my back. Suddenly, I realize how warm it in in the restaurant.
“Well, I’m not into either,” I say. “Now, will you please leave?”
“I just thought I’d stop by and give you the opportunity to rethink the grievance you filed at the high school,” he says. Of course, now he decides to get involved. Let’s ignore the fact that the last few months he’d been completely unreachable regarding his daughter and her education, but this grievance would get his attention because it will be filed against him with the school board. As a district employee, I have the right to file a complaint against anyone treating me poorly. And I did. There’s not too much the school district can really do because he’s a parent, but it’s better than nothing.
“Mr. Grady, the only thing I’m rethinking right now is my choice of seating,” I say and narrow my eyes. He stands and raps his knuckles on the table top twice and brushes against my shoulder as he walks away. My eyes fall to the table and stay there until I hear the opening and shutting of the door.
“Holy cow,” Mindy breathes and slaps her hand at the edge of the table. “What the heck was that?”
“Nothing,” I say.