“It’s better I insult you than kill you.”
“Grace gave up a lot to go home. She may have pretended it didn’t bother her, but I know she wanted to go away for her MFA. She didn’t. I want her to have this, knowing she worked so hard.”
“Is this guilt? Because you got to continue on with your life after Kayla died and she put hers on the back burner?”
I know I’ve hit a nerve when he barely nods. “But there’s also her promise to Grandma.”
“And that is why I’m going to convince her to get on that plane, because I fucking love your grandmother without ever meeting her. You can go to hell.”
“I’m already in hell. I destroyed my relationship with my sister tonight.”
“Lucky for you, I’ll try to clean up your destruction. But if you ever hurt her again, you’ll be out of her life. The things you said could cause irreparable damage to someone.”
My fist clenches, ready to go after him again, but instead, I leave him to nurse his eye that’s already swollen to only a slit.
I get in my car and think about calling Grace again, but there’s too much anger still boiling inside. Her brother has made my job a hell of a lot harder. I expected him to be there to pick up the pieces.
Thinking about what he told her has me speeding toward her house. Unfortunately, I’m going to have to build off that foundation.
Her eyelids start to flutter, eyelashes tickling my chest. I rub my fingertips up and down her arm that’s slung over my chest. She lets out a soft sigh.
“Are you actually here or am I dreaming?”
“I’ve been here all night.”
Her head pops up, and the instant I see her face, I want to punch Logan again.
And again…
And again…
Her beautiful violet eyes are bloodshot, remnants of mascara stained on her puffy cheeks. I’ve seen Grace shed a few tears over the last few months, but never this kind of damage. Slowly, I lift up and kiss each eyelid, willing the swelling to decrease.
“You’ve been here all night?”
“I tried to wake you up, but you were practically comatose. I was two seconds away from calling 9-1-1 until I found the Benadryl on your vanity.”
“I took it hoping it would diminish the effects of crying myself to sleep. I figured it was effective for allergies, so maybe I had a chance. Did it work?”
“I’m not going to lie, babe. You look like you’ve been crying all night.”
“Uggh…” She drops her head back to my chest and curls into me. “I’m sorry I didn’t wake up.”
“It’s okay. Probably for the best. I was pretty livid when I arrived. It took the last nine hours to calm down.”
She tenses, her arm across my chest tightening. “Were you livid with me?”
“No, your piece of shit brother. When he called me earlier in the day, telling me about your acceptance, I was irritated.”
Lie #1
“I’m sorry.”
“When you called me crying, my irritation switched to him, so I went to have a little talk.”
“Did he tell you what happened?”
“He did.”