LXII. GRACE—CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO

"Old fart."

"Oh, wow. It's nice to talk to you, too. How has your day been, Gracie? It's been great, thanks for asking! Oh, no problem."

There was a pause on the other end of the screen before Grace heard a long sigh. "How has your day been, babe?"

"Great! Thanks for asking!"

Grace released a low giggle after she had said that, a perfect image of her boyfriend pinching the bridge of his nose as he shook his head appearing in her mind. She didn't have to actually look at the phone screen to see that he was, in fact, doing exactly what she had guessed.

"I'm glad." And he was. He couldn't remember the last time Grace had had a great day. There had been good days since the incident, but nothing she would qualify as great.

"Yeah," she mumbled, her bottom lip finding its way between her teeth. "Anyway, what is it you wanted to show me?"

"Oh, right. You'll have to actually get up and leave the apartment for this, though." Sebastian visibly cringed when he saw the look on her face. "Sorry, babe."

Grace threw her head back, groaning as she stood up to grab her keys from the key rack by the door. She didn't want to leave. "Um, no," she then heard him say. "I see sweatpants on those beautiful little legs of yours. No sweatpants. Go change."

Grace wanted to shoot back that she did not have 'beautiful legs', but instead, she flipped her middle finger up at him before leaving the room altogether. She returned a few minutes later, a loose-fitting blouse and ripped jeans clinging to her body.

Sebastian smiled. "Much better. Now you have three minutes to get your butt out the door."

Grace raised a brow. "Or what?"

"Just do it."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh my god. Fine."

She grabbed her phone from the table, Sebastian's smiling face watching her from the other end, as she made her way out the door and to her car. After she was in the vehicle and buckled in, Sebastian continued to tell her where to go (getting her lost quite a few times, might she add) until she finally pulled up to her final destination — the hockey rink.

"Why am I here? It's like nine o'clock."

"Yes, it is nine o'clock, which means it's still your birthday, now get going," he said, but she didn't move. "Go on. Go inside."

"Not until you tell me why I'm here." To further prove her point of not moving, Grace pursed her lips and folded her arms over her chest, her eyes staring straight ahead.

"Gracie, get your ass in that building."

She didn't move.

"Gracie, for God's sake, get out of the car and go inside before I have to go there and drag you in myself."

"Someone's a little grumpy," she mumbled, unbuckling her seat belt. "And for your information, I'm not doing this because of that obvious threat you just gave me, I'm doing it because you asked oh so nicely."

Sebastian rolled his eyes at his girlfriend, Grace opening the car door and getting out before closing it altogether. She made sure he could still see her face through the camera as she hit the lock button on the key, smiling when it released a loud honk.

And then she grinned, hitting the lock button a few more times just to hear the noise that followed.

"What are you, seven?" Sebastian asked, and to make matters worse, Grace hit the lock button one more time, that being the only reply she would give him before entering the rink.

          She maneuvered her way through the lobby, Sebastian telling her it was the rink she was supposed to be at, not the lobby — and just for more fun, she continued to question him on where exactly that was even though she knew every nook and cranny in the place. It was dark as she stepped inside, the only light coming from the small light behind her in the lobby. Not a sound came from inside the rink, only the occasional squeak of old metal or the crack of the ice.

           Good thing Grace wasn't afraid of the dark.

          "Okay, now what?"

           She watched as Sebastian grinned happily through the screen, his head resting in the palm of his hand. "Happy birthday, baby girl." Grace furrowed her eyebrows when the screen went black and she was suddenly left alone.

           But only seconds later an overhead light came on and all she could hear were various shouts of, "Surprise!"

           Grace looked around the rink, smiling when she was who was there: her friends, the team, her father, her step-mother, her God-daughter. Everyone she could've hoped to be there — other than her boyfriend.

            After the greetings and happy birthdays settled down, everyone made their way to the cake to serve themselves as Danny and Wren approached her.

          "Baby girl?" Danny questioned, his voice holding slight disgust as he raised a brow, Grace blushing immediately at the words. She hadn't realized everyone heard that. "I feel violated just hearing it."

          "Oh, shush," Wren replied, give her husband a light smack on the arm. Grace giggled. "I thought it was cute."

          "Okay, okay. Whatever," he replied. "Happy birthday."

           "Happy birthday, Gracie."

           And Grace grinned. She was happy, and spent the rest of her birthday laughing and having fun with everyone she considered family.

_____

wrendy     I guess you could say she was a little surprised🤗

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