Page 73 of Grace of Spades

"Cover your ears Ruby, it's about to get unladylike!" She warns before letting out a surprising string of curses and insults. We all stand there in shock as she takes a deep breath and puts her phone back together and turns off the water.

"He fucking bugged my phone." She seethes.

"Who?" I ask.

"Ray." Her voice cracks and I'm hugging her with the others before I know it. "Guys, I'll be fine. I just need to find out what'sgoing on." She assures us. I watch as she looks up at Keir. "Sorry about our date."

"It's fine. We can always go out again another day." He smiles. "Actually, we can still make it to the last part if you feel up to it." He poses.

"There are parts to this date?" She asks incredulously making us all chuckle.

"Yeah, I wanted it to be special for you." He mutters and we all know that feeling. I walk over to where I was before to give them some privacy.

"You guys can come too. We're going to the drive-in...if it's okay with you, Mr. Van Doren." He stumbles. Oh, shit. Yeah, good call. Check with the boss.

"It's fine. But only if you feel up to it, Grace." He chuckles.

"I feel fine. But thank you for worrying about me." She beams making my heart stutter again. God, she's beautiful.

We all pile into Keir's Hummer and Ruby and Richard stock us up with blankets and pillows.

"Christian, you may want to think about bringing your truck. So you can all sit in the back." Richard winks and gives him a knowing look.

"Thank you. I will." He smiles and hops into his truck. "Liam, come with me. We'll grab snacks." I slide in and we pull out of the driveway.

"What was that about?" I ask.

"Oh, Richard told me he was in a similar relationship when he was younger. He was just helping us out." He grins. I whip my head back to look at the butler. Mind. Blown.

"Are you serious?"

"Yep. It was weird for me to find that out too. Especially because it came out after they covered for me coming out of Grace's room in the middle of the night." He reveals.

"Shit, that must have been awkward," I comment.

"Oh yeah." He nods as we pull into a grocery store.

“Why don't we just buy snacks at the drive-in?” I ask turning down the snack aisle.

"Keir wants to do this on a budget. He says she'll appreciate it. We have forty dollars to spend." He shrugs at my questioning look.

"Okay, his funeral." I chuckle.

27

Grace

Jai, Kier, and I pull into the Drive-in. Eight dollars to get in. How cool is that?! Keir planned this on carload Sunday! Eight dollars per vehicle! Keir laughs at me as I bounce excitedly in my seat.

"What are we going to see?" I ask making Jai chuckle.

"Tonight is retro night. We have American Graffiti and Casablanca." Keir grins.

"No fucking way!" I beam. "Get ready. Casablanca is my favourite. I have a serious hate-on for Ilsa, warning you now!" I admit.

"Why?" Jai asks.

"Have you seen it?" I refuse to give spoilers.