“Jesus Christ, what is your obsession with serial killers?” He grins. “Hey, that should be your specialty. Profiling killers.”

Damn. Not a bad idea.

I decide to put a pin in that, then loop my arms around his neck again. “Question.”

His eyes twinkle. “Hit me.”

“Can we kiss now, or are you still groveling?”

“Depends on whether my girlfriend requires more groveling.”

“Nope. I require this.” I cup the back of his head and yank his mouth down on mine.

The kiss is…magic. It’s always magic when we’re together. As our tongues meet in a reckless tangle, my mind spins and my body sings.

“Love you, Johnny,” I murmur into his lips.

His laughter warms my face. Then he brushes his mouth over mine and whispers, “Love you too, gorgeous.”

35

Logan

The next morning, I wake up with Grace snuggled up beside me, and it’s the best fucking feeling in the whole fucking world. She slept at my place last night, and we stayed up until four a.m., alternating between talking, cuddling, and having sex. And not the hollow, meaningless kind I’ve been indulging in since I started college. Sex with Grace means something. It doesn’t make me feel hollow, but full. Brimming with emotions I can’t even give labels to.

Grace stirs in my arms, and I absently toy with a strand of her hair, twirling it around my fingers.

“Morning,” she says, yawning as she lifts her head.

“Morning.”

“What time is it?”

“Ten-thirty.”

“Oh no. We slept in? Don’t you have practice?”

“Not for a few hours.”

“Oh, okay, good. We stayed up way too late last night.”

She hops out of bed and starts searching the room for her clothes. I grin, because I’m the one responsible for why her pants are flung on top of the dresser and why her lacy panties are scrunched up in a ball across the room. So sue me. Groveling makes me horny.

“Is it cool if I invite Morris and Daisy to the game tomorrow?” She eases her panties up her smooth, bare legs, and I’m so distracted by the sight that I forget what she asked a nanosecond after she asks it.

My cock hardens beneath the sheets, tenting up as if trying to get Grace’s attention. She sighs when she notices the campsite on the bed.

“I swear, you’ve got sex on the brain every second of the day.”

“Pretty much,” I agree, then waggle my eyebrows. “Why are you getting dressed? Wouldn’t you rather come here and sit on my dick?”

She rolls her eyes. “Sure, if you want me to pee all over you.” When I open my mouth, she raises a hand in warning. “And don’t you dare say you’re into that, because I am not incorporating pee into our sex life.”

I flop onto my side and laugh hysterically. “Relax,” I stutter between chuckles. “Golden showers don’t get me off.”

Grace snickers. “Thank God.”

After she ducks into the hall to use the bathroom, I reluctantly drag myself out of bed and track down a pair of sweatpants. I’m thinking of suggesting the diner for breakfast. After last night’s strenuous sexcapades, I could really go for a huge greasy platter of bacon and sausage and—and Coach will murder me if I show up to practice sluggish and crashing from a grease high. Frickin’ in-season nutrition regimen.

I pace around as I wait for Grace to come out of the bathroom, because now I’m the one who needs to piss like a racehorse. My buzzing phone serves as a distraction from my about-to-explode bladder, but when my brother’s number flashes on the screen, my good morning mood fades away.

“Hey,” Jeff says after I pick up. “Can you come by today?”

I stifle a groan. “I’ve got practice at one-thirty, man.”

“Come now, then. We’ll be done long before that.”

“Done what?” I ask warily.

“No idea. Dad says he has something important to tell us, but he won’t give me any more details than that. Marty’s covering for me in the shop right now, so get your ass over here. It won’t take long.”

I hang up feeling even warier than before. He has something important to tell us? What the hell could it be? We haven’t had a family meeting in…ever. My father has never sat us down for a talk, serious or otherwise.

I’m still frowning when Grace reappears, and concern instantly creases her features. “Everything okay?”

I slowly shake my head. “My dad wants to sit down with me and Jeff today.”

“Today? But you have practice.”

“He said it won’t take long. He just needs to tell us something.”

“Tell you what?”

“I don’t know.”

She goes quiet for a moment. “Do you want me to go with you?”

I’m touched by the offer, but I shake my head again. “I don’t think he’ll want anyone else there.”

“Obviously,” she says with a smile. “I figured I could wait in the car. That way if it’s something bad, you’ll have someone to talk to on the drive back.”

I hesitate. I’m not sure I want to take the risk of Grace running into my dad.

But I also don’t want to be alone.

“Okay,” I answer, releasing a breath. “But only if you stay in the car. I don’t know what kind of state he’ll be in when we get there.”