I start to laugh and cry at the same time. “Okay, Logan. You’ll see everything.”
“I’m so fucking proud of you, Grace, even if you are a pain in my ass.”
There are a few chuckles from the men as I cry harder at my brother’s words. He’s proud of me.
Now, if only I can make Nick say the same.
Chapter 31
Nick
There’s a searing pain in my side and pounding thud in my chest as we walk through the airport. In less than two hours, Grace will be on a plane out of Miami. She walks next to me silently, gripping my hand to the point of numbness. She’s been like this all morning, staying close and holding me tight. The only time she’s been out of my sight was when she went to the balcony to call her family.
I slide my eyes to the side and watch her as we walk. She’s unusually pale, her eyes dull and lifeless as she visibly chews the inside of her cheek. I want to ask her to talk to me but don’t for the fear she’ll break down, and I’ll beg her to stay with me.
Because that’s what I want is for her to stay.
As we get closer to the security line, her walking slows.
“Nick, I need to talk to you.” She glances around nervously and tugs me to a deserted area about ten feet away.
“Sweet Peach, what’s going on?”
She lets go of my hand and rubs her eyes with her palms. Her eyes start to pool with tears before she even looks up, but when she does, my heart breaks.
The feeling from the morning on the boat slams into me. Something’s very, very wrong.
“I’ve been keeping something from you.”
The first thought that runs through my mind is she’s pregnant. Instead of being scared to death, I’m ecstatic. This means I can keep her with me without seeming like the biggest jackass on the planet. Images of her and Bizzy being pregnant together start to run wild through my head. My mom is going to go batshit crazy.
Then I look at her closer and see the same anguish I felt three weeks ago. This isn’t a surprise pregnancy announcement. Whatever it is, it’s going to gut me.
“I’ve been dishonest with you. At first, I didn’t think it mattered because you wanted your space. But then you came in with barrels blazing, not wanting space. It was too late. There wasn’t anything I could do without ruining my credibility, so I tried to stay distant, but you wouldn’t let me—”
“Baby, you’re babbling. We’ve gone over this before.”
“Yes, but you wouldn’t let me tell you. I tried to tell you on the boat, but you wouldn’t hear me out.”
“You’re losing me here, Grace. What is going on?”
“I’m not going to Seattle for a few months. I’m leaving Miami for a year!”
Her statement swirls in my head, not fully sinking in until I see the sheer fear on her face. I have to turn my back and take several deep breaths.
‘I’m leaving Miami for a year!’ replays over and over.
A fucking year?
I spin back to her with hurt and anger bubbling inside. “Repeat that,” I hiss. “Tell me I heard you wrong.”
“I tried to tell you. I tried—”
“You should have tried harder. Maybe blurted out the fact that you were abandoning me for a year.”
She cries silently, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I’m not abandoning you. You wanted space. You wanted to take things slow. I saw you on video with another woman in your arms. It was all too much for me.”
“You know all of that was bullshit! Every single bit of it. So now you’re the one punishing me? All that shit these last few days? I busted my ass to make sure you knew how much I loved you. I’ve beat myself up trying to prove my devotion, but you’ve known you were leaving me.”