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Give Me One Good Reason

Chapter 10

"What the hell was that?" Cody mumbled to himself as he pulled his car out of Grace's driveway. He couldn't understand what had gotten into him. He hadn't allowed himself to feel any sort of attraction to her since he ended things six years ago and then all of a sudden today he couldn't control himself! And the way she'd moaned as she let Cody take control of the kiss…it was hot. Cody rubbed a confused hand over his face as he pulled up in front of the park Tuck was at and parked the car. God, what was wrong with him? Really, though, all these years he'd been around Grace and now he decides it's best to make a move? And then to make matters worse, she's got a boyfriend and-. His trail of thought stopped and an evil smile came on his face. Oh, he could only imagine Liam's face if he ever found out about this. The satisfaction of getting one over on Liam was almost enough to make him want to do it again but he chided himself, knowing he couldn't do that again…ever. He blamed it on the heat, his not getting laid the night before and her lack of clothing. That was the only explanation.

All thoughts of Grace and that kiss faded almost immediately upon spotting Tuck. His son was on the grass with about six other kids his age playing what looked to be Simon Says, while all the parents and some other children were sitting at a nearby picnic table.

"Any chance I can get in on this game?" Cody asked as he got closer to the kids, his son's back to him. All the kids turned, some were surprised but excited to see one of their favorite superstars standing before them. Tucker turned his head and a wide grin spread over his features.

"Dad!" He exclaimed before running and jumping into his dads awaiting arms. Whispers of 'he wasn't lying' and 'Cody Rhodes really is his dad' erupted between the other kids. "What are you doing here?"

Cody smiled. "Well, I felt bad that I couldn't come see you yesterday so I thought I'd stop by and say hi," He looked over at the other kids staring at the father and son. "Hey guys, nice to meet you," It felt odd that his child was six years old and Cody had never met one of his friends. Another strike against him.

Grace kept herself busy the rest of the day doing chores and bills, anything but allow herself to sit idly and think about what had happened earlier. Not that keeping busy did much; she couldn't get her mind off that damn kiss! What was his problem? Who the hell did Cody think he was, doing that while he knew full well she didn't much like the guy AND she had a freaking boyfriend! God, she didn't even want to think of how much Liam would flip if he ever found out, not that he ever would; there was no way she was telling him.

He was already going to be suspicious that Cody had fixed Grace's air conditioning. She didn't know how she was going to tell him about that. She contemplated not telling him and have him still come over and fix it only to find that nothing was wrong with it. But she knew it was wrong. She also thought about telling him that she had a professional come but he would immediately wonder why she would do that when he was perfectly capable of doing it himself. She sighed loudly, knowing she would have to bite the bullet and tell him….but later, he was staying over for dinner anyway, she'd tell him when he got there.

A few hours later Grace opened the front door upon hearing a car pull up to drop off her son. "Mom!" Tucker shouted as he ran towards her. "You will never guess who came to the park!" Oh, she would bet she could. She politely smiled and waved to the mom of Tuck's friend who dropped him off before closing the door.

"Oh yeah, who?" She asked as Tuck pulled off his shoes and socks, leaving them in the foyer before walking to the living room. She followed.

"Dad!" He exclaimed. "I was playing Simon Says with Charlie, Jake, Sarah, Frankie, and Ashley and then he was behind us!" He threw himself on the couch dramatically. "It was so cool mom! They finally believed me that he was my dad! They thought it was so cool that he came and played with us for a while."

"That's awesome, Honey," She said with a smile, ruffling his hair as she sat next to him.

"I invited him over for dinner," Tuck added.

Grace's eyes grew wide. "What?" She almost shrieked out but instead said it calmly. She couldn't sit and have dinner with Cody! And Liam!

"He couldn't. I guess he had a plane after he left to park. He's going to Chicago," Deep sigh of relief from Grace; that's right, he had said he was flying out tonight. "We should go to Chicago and surprise him!"

Oh good lord, Grace thought to herself. "Tuck, we can't just go to Chicago. I have to work. Plus, you're dad's working and wouldn't be able to spend much time with you."

His head fell. "I know…it was worth a try."

She smiled and kissed his cheek. "It certainly was. Alright, I'm gonna start dinner, you want me to pop in a movie for you?"

Tuck shook his head, his excitement and energy way down from where it had been when he'd got home. "I'm gonna go in my room and play with my action figures." She sighed as she watched him leave the couch and head upstairs to his room. Poor kid just wants to spend all his waking hours with his father.

"Hey you," She greeted Liam at the doorway with a peck on the lips. "How was your day?"

He shrugged as he unbuttoned his blue button up work shirt that had a patch over the left breast pocket that said 'Liam's Automotive'. "Nothing special," He said then smiled at her, dropping another kiss on her lips. "Happy to see you,"

"Aw, you're a sweet talker. You hungry? Dinner's almost ready, come watch me cook," She said as she started pulling him toward the kitchen.

"Hey, wait, it's pretty cool in here. Your AC turn back on?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, it's working now. Come on," She said trying to pull him into the kitchen again but he stopped her.

"I better take a look at it. It shouldn't be working on and off like that," He said as he started toward the AC controls.

She reached out and grabbed his hand. "No need, it's been fixed."

Liams brows wrinkled. "You call a repair guy? Cause I told you I could fix it," He said confused.

She shook her head. "Nope,"

He waited for her to elaborate but she didn't. "So…how'd it get fixed?"

She sighed, wishing she didn't have to go there. She pulled him into the living room so they wouldn't be standing right next to the stairs where their voices would travel easily upstairs to where Tucker was playing- just in case Liam got pissed. "Ok, listen," She began once they were in the living room. "Cody came over earlier to spend some time with Tucker, he noticed it was hot in here so he fixed it. No big deal."

Liam's eyes darkened at the mention of Cody's name. "He sure is popping up a lot lately."

Another sigh escaped her lips and she reached her hands out to hold his. "He's trying harder."

"I'm surprised he would be so quick to come over after you confronting him last night," Liam wondered out loud. When he'd come over to watch Tuck while she was gone, he had noticed her grab some drawings off the fridge so he figured things had gotten pretty intense over there.

She shrugged. "I was surprised too. I apologized for being so hard on him and he said I kinda woke him up a bit. We'll see how long that lasts,"

Liam's eyes narrowed. "You apologized? Why? You were completely in the right,"

"Well, I mean I could have handled it a little better if I wasn't so angry," She explained.

"Still…He's put you through so much shit, it's his turn to take some heat," He said, pulling his hands from hers.

"Are you mad at me? For how I feel about my own actions?" She asked. She had expected him to be mad about Cody showing up not about the things she'd said to him.

"Grace, come on, I'm not mad. But, I mean, just a few weeks ago you were calling him an asshole and now you're defending him every chance you get." Liam said with his hands on his hips.

"Excuse me?" She asked with a slight edge to her voice. "I am not defending Cody, but if I feel I didn't handle something well then I am going to own up to it,"

Liam ran his hands over his face. "I don't want to fight about him…again."

She sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. "I don't either,"

He took two steps forward so he was close to her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. It took a few moments but eventually Grace uncrossed her arms and wrapped them around him. "It hurts that you don't respect my feelings," She told him, her voice muffled by his shoulder.

He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "I'm sorry, it's not that I don't respect your feelings but I don't want you to feel like you have to back down from him when he messed up and you called him on his shit,"

She was silent for a few seconds before replying, "I get that," She pulled back slightly and smiled at his smiling face before pressing a kiss to his lips.

"I'm going to check on the AC to make sure he didn't ruin anything," He told her and laughed at the look she was shooting him. "Hey, I fix stuff for a living, I'd check it out even if an AC guy worked on it,"

She laughed. "Ok, ok. When you're done, go say hi to Tuck and tell him dinner's ready? I'm going to go finish," She said

She turned around to go into the kitchen but Liam stopped her with a "hey" and he pulled her back so she was flush against him. "I love you," He said softly, pressing a kiss to her lips.

She sighed into the kiss, allowing him to deepen it for a minute. "I love you too," She said once they pulled back. He smiled pecking her once more before turning around to go check out Cody's handiwork.

Grace watched him leave with a goofy smile on her face before skipping into the kitchen. How'd she get so damn lucky?

A/N: Well guys, sorry it took so long, things have been pretty busy for me lately but I'm still here! Thanks for all your reviews for the last chapter, let me know what you think of this one! Many more dramatic things to come, I promise! ;)