I sighed and leaned on the counter. “Let me guess, it’s what everyone’s talking about.”
“Definitely. Now, has she kicked you out of her house yet? I kinda thought this would happen. Corruption doesn’t last.”
That gave me pause. “What?”
“You and her. You corrupted her a little, but she saw the light of day and moved on.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. These peoplestillthought that? Even after I’d been here for weeks and shown them I didn’t want to corrupt anyone?”
Dale continued on, oblivious to my glare. “I have a record with bets, and I knew I’d win the long game, you know.”
“We’re not broken up,” I ground out.
“Wait, really? But you had some kind of fight.”
“And we talked it out.”
“What did you do that for? There goes my record.”
“We’re not just bets. We’re people.”
Dale paused as he scanned the items. “Touchy,” he muttered.
“I didn’t corrupt her,” I muttered right back.
“Well, you did something.” He laughed as if it were nothing and then told me my total. I gritted my teeth and paid as quickly as I could. I needed to get the hell out of here.
Once I was back in my truck, I hoped I would calm down, but my bad mood stuck around until I got back to the house.
Grace was in the shower, and I worked on putting food together while trying to push away my annoyance.
“Food?” I heard only moments later.
“Yes. And coffee.” I handed her both and she gave me a grateful smile before plucking a gummy bear to eat.
I thought she hadn’t noticed that I was still tense, but I was wrong.
“So, what happened in town?”
I sighed. “Do you wanna enjoy your breakfast before I tell you the drama?”
“Nope. I’m always here for it. Unless it’s about Hugh being naked in more places. I’ll have to pass on that.”
I wanted to laugh with her, but Dale’s words played back in my mind.
“What happened?” she repeated, her voice softer, and she grabbed my hand.
“I thought most of them had come around. I was wrong.”
“Who?”
“Dale. He said something rude and I forgot that I wasn’t in the clear. He said I corrupted you and was hoping you’d seen the light and left me.”
“Hewhat?” she nearly yelled. I jumped at her sharp tone. It was one of those ones that would send a chill up a kid’s spine.
She was going to make a terrifying mother.
“Hang on, finish breakfast first?—”