“You know what happened between me and Autumn?”
Lucas gave him a short smile as they walked into the living room. “It’s a small town and everybody has a loud mouth. So yeah, I have some kind of idea.”
Griff collapsed onto the sofa, and Lucas took the chair opposite. “I messed up.”
“So I hear.” Lucas blew out a mouthful of air. “What were you thinking?”
He wasn’t. That was the problem. His lizard mind had taken over, whispering in his ear with a hissing voice that it was inevitable that she’d leave. He wasn’t good enough for her, the same way he’d never been good enough for his parents.
This was why he didn’t do relationships. He always messed things up and got hurt. Even worse, he ended up hurting other people.
Autumn. Carla. He had a whole list of them.
“She bought the pier when she was drunk.”
“So? We all do stupid things when we’re drunk.” He gave Griff a pointed look. “What does that matter?”
His heart was throbbing again. “It means she didn’t decide to come out here. It was a mistake.” His voice cracked. “That’s what she told her sister.”
“So? People are allowed to change their minds.” Lucas’s
voice was thick with incredulity. “Autumn loves you. You only have to see the way she looks at you to know that. Like you’re some kind of giant knight riding on a dragon to save her.”
“A dragon?”
Lucas shrugged. “I figure you’d squash a normal size horse.”
Griff would have laughed if he was capable, but the sound was trapped in his throat. “Did you see her ex? And her dad? They’re both here to help her sell the pier so she can go back to New York.”
“And does she want that?”
Griff blinked. “Why wouldn’t she have told me about it if she didn’t?”
“I don’t know. This is all stuff you need to ask her, not me. But none of it makes any sense.”
Griff dropped his head into his hands, his hair falling over his fingers. “She won’t talk to me. Not after the things I said.”
“What did you say?” Lucas asked, folding his arms across his chest.
“I told her to go back to New York and forget me.”
“You really are an idiot, you know that?”
“Thanks for reminding me.” Griff gave him a humorless smile. “And even if she wasn’t going back before, she will now after I’ve been such a douche.”
“The world doesn’t revolve around you, you know? And for the record, her dad and her ex are flying back to New York tomorrow. Without her.”
Griff lifted his head. “She’s staying?”
“That’s what I said, numbnuts.” Lucas pressed his lips together in a firm line. “I suggest you crawl over to her place first thing tomorrow and start begging for her forgiveness. Because I’ve never seen you as happy as you’ve been in the past few weeks. Or so at ease with yourself. The two of you work.” He cleared his throat. “Or you did, until you went and fucked it up.”
“She’ll never forgive me.”
“She won’t if you don’t ask.”
He slumped against the wall. “Yeah, well maybe she shouldn’t. She deserves somebody better than me.”
“Who the hell is better than you? Jackson?” Lucas laughed. “Or the asshole she divorced before she came out here? You want to see her with one of them?”