“I don’t know.” I shrug. “Maybe the way you get one every single morning.”
Grady takes a sip, his eyelids fluttering closed as he lets out a moan of appreciation. “Fuck, that’s good. Thank you.”
“Daddy!” Suzy comes barreling into the kitchen, wearing a pink puffer coat and a pair of fur-topped boots on. “You’re back. Can we go now?”
“Yes, let’s go.” I glance at Grady. “You sure you want to come? I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to stay home.”
He chuckles. “Nah, I want to come.”
“Daddy, he has to come,” Suzy grumbles.
“Alright, then. Let’s go.”
We pile into my truck and hit the road. There’s a new movie in theatres that Suzy has been begging to see, but the small theatre in town doesn’t have it, so we have to drive to Cheyenne. She’s been talking about it nonstop for weeks now, but I’ve been so busy with stuff at the arena that I haven’t had the time, so I promised her this weekend we’d go.
“So, Suzy Q,” Grady says, shifting in his seat to get a better look at her in the back. “What’s this movie about?”
My gaze finds her in the rearview mirror, and a smile splits her face before she dives into a very enthusiastic synopsis of this princess movie that sounds awful, but she’s clearly very excited. The entire time she’s talking, Grady is focused on her, hanging on to her every word. When she’s finished, he turns back around and looks my way, catching me already watching him.
“Excited?” I ask with a smirk.
“Hell yeah, I’m excited. How could I not be?”
Admittedly, I was iffy about Grady staying with us, particularly him helping with Suzy while Jade was gone, because he hasn’t spent a whole lot of time with her up until now. But the two of them get along really well, and I know she very much enjoys having him around. He’ll sit on the floor with her and play dolls for hours. Yesterday, he helped her make friendship bracelets because it’s apparently the new “thing.” He’s even wearing a couple of them now, which I can’t help but smile at.
Even though he's been working more and more at the arena, he’s a major help whenever he’s at the house and I have to run errands or train. Jade’s been gone about a month now, and it’s been smooth sailing so far. She and I decided to wait until she’s home before we file for divorce, since she had to leave so soon after I got home from the circuit, and there’s still so much we have to figure out.
Grady hooks the Bluetooth up to his phone, turning on some music and cranking the volume. It’s some pop song I’m not familiar with, but he and Suzy seem to know it well based on the way they’re both singing along. Loudly. Laughter bubbles up my throat at how off-key Grady sounds and how Suzy doesn’t know even half of the lyrics.
They sing song after song for the rest of the drive, and I can’t remember the last time I smiled this much. It takes about forty-five minutes to get to the theatre, and it’s not quite as busy as I expected for a Saturday afternoon. After getting our tickets, some popcorn, and a few drinks, we find some seats, getting situated. Suzy insists on sitting in the middle so she can be close to both of us, but I think it’s more so she can be the one to sit with the popcorn in her lap.
The theatre goes dark and the movie starts. There aren’t many things that can hold Suzy’s attention, but she seems super into this film because she doesn’t talk for the entire two hours. By the time the credits roll, and the lights come back on, she’s bouncing out of her seat, rambling about how cool it was. My gaze meets Grady’s, and he rolls his lips as we stand and stretch, getting ready to leave the theatre.
“You love it?” he teases me.
“Loved it,” I reply sarcastically. “Gonna be thinking about it all day.”
He laughs. “Me too.”
“Me three!” Suzy interjects, leading us out of the room with the nearly empty bucket of popcorn in her arms. After making her dump the rest on the way out, we climb into the truck and hit the road. Suzy passes out almost immediately.
“Any plans for the rest of the day?” I ask Grady as we get on the highway, realizing there’s traffic. There must be an accident up ahead.
“Actually, yeah,” he replies. “I’m going over to my buddy, Benji’s, house when we get home. We’re going out to dinner with his girlfriend and this guy they’re trying to set me up with.”
Arching a brow, I glance over at him. “A blind date?”
“Yeah. I don’t know how to feel about it.”
“Then why go?”
He shrugs. “I don’t know. Could be good for me, I guess.”
“Do you do that a lot?” I ask out of curiosity. “Date, I mean.”
Grady came out as gay when he was fifteen. It was Jade he told first out of the family. He was nervous to tell his parents, and understandably so. They’re not the easiest people to approach. They took it well enough, but I’ve never seen him with a boyfriend. Not saying he’s never had one; he was in college for a few years. He’s never talked to me about dating or guys, though.
“Sometimes.” He shifts a little in his seat, the movement catching in my peripheral.
