Fall From Grace

“Do I need to remind you of all your other failed relationships?”

“Oh my god. Seriously, Owen, you’re my brother, not dad.”

“But ever since Mom died, who have you turned to every single time?”

He’s got me there. I’ve always used him as a shoulder to cry on despite our age difference. And he always listened. He respected me. He held me together when I felt broken.

“There is nothing going on between us.” The lie hurts as it falls from my lips but I can’t tell him the truth. I know he will just be disappointed in me.

He nods and changes the subject away from Carson. “So did you enjoy yourself tonight?”

“You mean wanting to punch that cunt in the face?” I joke.

He laughs. “Oh how I wish you would have.”

I smile at him as I take off my earrings and set them on the table. “I did.”

“You were a hit with the old ladies.”

“What can I say, I like to twist and shout.”

He smiles at me. “Where did you go with Carson?”

“I thought we were dropping this,” I say to him.

“I’m just curious. Living vicariously since I got stuck coming home to help Chelsi after that long, drawn-out night.”

“Such a pity you have to go to such extravagant things,” I joke. “We just went to The Gild and drank there. Apparently, Carson thought going to a dive bar wasn’t the most appropriate place wearing formalwear. I had to disagree. But I made him pay for the overpriced drinks.”

“Did he seem okay? I was worried about him. With the whole Tiffany engagement thing. And when he said he wanted to go out, I was really worried. He doesn’t do that much anymore.”

I think back to when I first met him. When we had our one-night stand. It brings a smile to my face knowing that he was telling the truth when he said he doesn’t do that often. “He was fine. I think drinking kept his mind off it. Of course I’m the one that has to work with him on Monday.”

“You going back to his office?”

I swirl my finger on the top of my glass. “Yes. I figure I don’t need to be mad at him anymore.”

“Why weren’t you working in there the last two weeks?”

Shit. Fuck. Did he ask Carson this same question? How the hell am I supposed to answer? I take the safe route and make it about work. Knowing Carson would never tell him we had an argument, especially since that argument came after a few intense rounds of sex.

“Just a lot of work with the caseload. Trying to make sure we can attack the Phillips case at the best angles.”

He nods his head.

I finish the whiskey in front of me. “Well, I need to go to sleep. I’m tired.”

“Good night, Grace. See you in the morning.”

“Night.”

I walk down the stairs to my room, thoughts stirring in my head. The look on his face when I lied. Did he know what I was lying about? The multiple things I lied about?

I head to my bathroom and look in the mirror. Fuck, my lips are swollen from making out with Carson but hopefully Owen thought nothing of it. My hair is kind of messy from where Carson gripped it as he fucked my mouth. But that could easily have been because of me dancing with the ladies tonight.

A faint red mark sits on my collarbone. Again, that could be from anything. But I sure as hell hope that Owen didn’t notice it. Didn’t see through every one of my lies.

I hate lying to him. I don’t want to. But his words tonight just gave me further proof he told Carson I was off-limits.

I think about his words about Carson too. The masks he wears. The way he changes his demeanor depending on the situation.

A shiver runs through me. I really hope that’s not how he is with me. Does he see me as a challenge because Owen told him no? Is he just wearing a mask around me too?

I don’t want to believe it. We’ve had moments together, especially when I was sick, that prove otherwise. But I can’t get the nagging feeling off my mind as I strip out of my clothes, throw on a T-shirt, and lie in bed.

I grab my phone to plug it in when I see a message from Carson.

Carson: This bed is lonely without you in it.

Well hell. He better not be thinking of me as a conquest because I just melted onto the floor.