Page 126 of Playing Mr. Perfect

“Bragging is more like it,” Grace says teasingly, moving her thick brown hair over her shoulder before hugging me. “It’s good to see you.” She lowers her voice, whispering, “He adores you.”

“I adore him, too,” I whisper, and boy does it feel good not to hold it in. I step back, taking in her rosy cheeks and bright eyes. “You look beautiful, Grace. How are you feeling?”

“Amazing, and the doctor says everything looks good.” She holds up crossed fingers.

“I’m so glad.” I hug her again.

“But she’s still going to take it easy,” her strappingly handsome, renovations expert husband, Reed, says, and opens his arms. “Get in here, Pep.”

I hug him. “Thank you for taking such good care of her.”

Reed drapes an arm over Grace’s shoulder. “Gracie’s my world.”

“These Montgomery girls have some kind of magic, don’t they?” Clay takes my hand, pulling me to his side, and kisses my temple.

“You can say that again,” Dash calls over from behind Clay.

“Ready for my help yet?” Clay asks.

“No, I’m good. We just needed you for that photo op,” Dash says. “Hey, Pep. Want to take a shot?”

“I think I’ll save myself the embarrassment and skip it. Thanks, Dash.”

Clay arches a brow. “You don’t even want to try, babe?”

“No, and there’s a pack of kids heading his way.” I nod to a group of teens hurrying toward Dash.

“Trust me, she’s doing the right thing,” Grace says.

“He knows I’m not great at sports,” I say. “But I did kick his butt in bowling.”

“You are an excellent bowler,” my mother says. “Cade, remember when we signed Pepper and Sable up for soccer?”

I groan. “Do we really have to relive this?”

“Now we definitely do,” Clay says.

“You two were adorable,” my father says with Emma Lou in his arms. “When Pepper got the ball, Sable would tear down the field, knocking kids out of her way so her sister could make the goal.”

“Now, that’s loyalty,” Clay says.

“Sable is loyal, but our sweet, smart Pepper would get all the way down the field and stop,” my mother explains. “Then she’d stand there trying to figure out the best angle to kick the ball into the goal.”

Clay hugs me against his side. “My girl just wanted to do it the best way possible.”

“Yes, but then kids would try to steal the ball from me, and Sable would push them out of the way. She got kicked off the team because of me.” I look up at Clay. “She was my own personal defender.”

“She still is,” Grace says. “Needless to say, unless it’s bowling, Pepper’s not great with anything that requires a ball.”

The guys stifle laughs.

“What’s this about my sister handling balls?” Sable asks as she struts over with Kane, causing more laughter. “Hey, sis, is Braden giving you a hard time about something? Because I’ll set him straight.”

“No, he’s not.”

Sable points at Clay. “You and I need to get better acquainted.”

“Here we go.” My father shakes his head.