But Fiona’s going home, and I have to stop at the house in San Francisco before heading straight for spring training, and we’re not going to be together.
If she’s not with me, how am I supposed to convince her to sleep in the nude? Find out how loud she snores? Really enjoy the sensation of having her beside me all night?
How am I supposed to let her go?
But how can I keep her?
I know marrying Fiona was impulsive. Rash. If we’d thought it through longer than an hour, we both probably would have decided against it. I can see two big problems right off the bat: we live in different countries, and then there’s my family.
There’s bound to be so many more.
I don’t regret it, but I don’t want Fiona to, either. I want all of her, but I want her to want me, too.
Today is discussion day. Decision day. And tell-Bexley-and-Grayson day.
And I’m going to have to tell my family.
Doing my best not to wake Fiona, I slowly slide out of bed. At my place in Minneapolis, there’s a section of the floor in my bedroom that creaks alarmingly when it’s stepped on. I always forget about it until I have company and have headed to the bathroom to figure out a way to get rid of them.
Platinum Hotel and Casino has no such creaks in the floorboards. And I’m headed to the bathroom, but not to figure out how to get rid to Fiona. Instead, in an attempt to try to figure out things, I do what I always do when I screw up. I FaceTime my sisters.
The ensuite has a tiny thunder room, so I shut myself inside it and sit on the toilet in the hope I don’t wake Fiona up. Ignoring many of the notifications on my phone, I make it a point to check the time and decide at nine-thirty, Riese will be awake.
Almost right away, she picks up. “Mase!” My youngest sister thinks I can do no wrong, which is a nice boost when the rest of the family considers me a hot mess.
“Hey, li’l sis.”
From the background, I can tell Riese is in the upstairs hallway, probably returning to her room with her tea. The way she doesn’t lower her voice or duck into her room suggests my parents are out.
Grandfather has his own wing in the house, and no one would dare take a call in the hallway outside his rooms.
“Isn’t it a little early to call?” Riese asks with a big smile on her face. “Isn’t this pre-training party weekend?”
I had gone over all of the plans for the weekend with her. Including what to suggest for the ladies. Technically, Fiona getting pulled on stage by Tower of Power isn’t my fault, it’s my sister’s. “Last night wasn’t too bad. Friday night was crazy—”
My other sister Carter appears on screen without warning. “Is that Mase?” She pushes Riese out of the camera view. “Where are you?”
“Vegas. I’m here with Gray—”
“Why are you in Las Vegas?” Carter interrupts before I finish.
“I’d tell you if you let me finish. We’re here for Grayson’s engagement party. It’s been on my schedule for weeks, and you could have easily checked if you missed me so much.”
“There are things we have to discuss before you start training,” Carter snaps. And then she morphs into my little sister, complete with pouty face. “I do miss you, though.”
“Aww, there she is.” Riese is easy-going to a fault, while Carter gets more intense the further she ingratiates herself with Grandfather. There’ll always be an unbreakable bond between us, no matter how Carter likes to push my buttons.
“What’s Bexley like?” Riese has a weird love for any type of reality show, from Real Housewives to “Flip This House” and she kept me up-to-date on Grayson’s season of The Suitor so I didn’t have to watch it.
I’ve never told Grayson that. “She’s great,” I tell Riese. “She’s perfect for him.”
She claps her hands. “I’m so glad for Grayson.”
“Really? Then why were you all weepy when they announced Grayson was going on the show?” Carter points out as Riese’s cheeks flush. I’m well aware of her longtime crush on Grayson, and it’s not the first time Carter felt the need to poke her nose in it.
“Look, I got something to tell you—” I begin in an attempt to defuse another round of Carter-commenced bickering.
I’ll tell myself later that I didn’t intend to tell them, but that will be a lie.