Hunter hasn’t called me yet. We discussed earlier that I would wait for him to call me because he planned to talk to Roman after the game. To try get him to come see me tomorrow to talk. So, the fact he hasn’t called means he must still be working on Roman. He might go to a party tonight if Roman does. Hunter said he will stick with him. Make sure he’s all right and doesn’t get into any trouble.
Beside me, Madison makes a soft snoring sound, and I smile. She passed out about an hour ago, and I’m still here watching the movie she picked. It’s awesome, actually. Miles Teller is in it…and well, anything that guy is in is sure to be awesome. He is cute and so fucking hot. I saw that body of his in the new Top Gun trailer. I need to see that movie just to stare at him all day.
I hear yelling outside at the Montero’s place. I can tell it’s Jace. Great, he’s going to wake Madison. What the fuck is his problem now? The world doesn’t revolve around you, asshole. As much as he seems to think it does.
Carefully extracting myself from under the blankets, I sneak over to my window barefoot to look out and see what the hell is going on. The outside light is on at the back of their house, and Daniel is there, stopping Jace from going farther. I can’t understand what Jace is saying until I hear him call out, “Grady, please.”
Grady? I look down toward the street and see a dark figure standing there. Did they have another fight? Jace needs to get over the kiss. We weren’t dating; he was with Britney still. I’m sure of it. He can hate me forever, but he can’t hate his brother. That’s his family, and I know they were very close growing up. I don’t want to be the reason they have a falling out. But I don’t know how to make it better.
The movie playing on my laptop must give off enough light that all three of the Montero men stare up at me. Fuck, I didn’t want Jace to know I’d been looking at him. I glance back toward Grady and see he’s now gone. Stepping back from my window, I block them out. I don’t need to add their drama to my night.
I’m heading back to bed when I hear what sounds like a soft knocking at the front door. Pausing, I listen attentively. Then I hear it again, this time a little louder.
That better not be Jace coming to tell me to stop spying on him from my window. Then I snort. Jace wouldn’t be knocking on my door; he wouldn’t have the guts to tell me that to my face. The only other person it could be is Grady. Hunter would have called if he was coming, plus Dad gave him a key, so he wouldn’t need to knock.
I sneak out of the room and close the door behind me, hoping that Madison doesn’t wake from the knocking. The stair squeaks, and I grit my teeth and listen for her to wake. There’s no sound, so I continue down the stairs. The knocking starts again.
“I’m coming,” I whisper-yell as I switch on the living room light so I don’t fall over anything getting to the door.
But as I place my fingers on the lock, I hesitate. What if it isn’t Grady and is some crazy killer instead? Like, I know the odds are against this being a killer, especially one who knocks, but that knowledge doesn’t help my nerves at all. My hand shakes a little.
“Grady?” I hold my breath, waiting for his response.
“Yeah, can I come in, Mila?”
I let out a ragged breath. I need to stop watching so much true crime. It’s messing with my head. Twisting the lock, I open the door. As Grady’s figure comes closer, I smile into the darkness. But my smile drops as soon as I get a good look at his face. His eyes are red and glassy, and he’s all splotchy and puffy. He’s been crying.
“Grady?” I reach out and grab his arm, pulling him into me. Stopping him as he gets just over the threshold, I reach up to cup his cheek. He closes his eyes and presses his face into my hand.
“Oh god, what happened?” I look over his face for any signs he’s in physical pain.
He doesn’t say anything; he just lets out a loud sob and wraps his arms around me. I feel his body shake as he sobs uncontrollably into my shoulder. It’s breaking me to see him like this. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Grady cry in my whole life. I rub his back. I don’t know what’s happened.
Who hurt him? Jace? God, he needs to get out of his own fucked-up head and think about others around him. What happened to Jace in the last four years that’s made him this way?
“Come take a seat. I’ll close the door and keep the cold air out.” I pull away from him, holding his arms so he knows that I don’t want to stop hugging and comforting him.
He looks away from me and sniffs. I see him wipe his cheeks, trying to hide any evidence he’d just been crying on my shoulder. There’s nothing wrong with crying. We all have the right to our feelings and emotions, whatever they may be.
I close the door and feel my nipples harden from the chill in the air. I cross my arms over my chest to hide them. I’m not wearing a bra. I was going to sleep after the movie so I got comfy and took off the bra hours ago, like Madison did. We called it “free the boobs” and laughed as we threw them across the room and sighed in relief.
He moves over to the sofa and sits. His hands cover his face as he leans over and drops his head to his lap. I move slowly and sit beside him. Placing my hand tenderly on his back, I start to rub, but he begins sobbing again. I’m not sure if I’m making this better or worse. All I want to do is wrap him up in my arms and protect him from whatever is hurting him.
Grady is a good guy, one of the best out there. He deserves nothing but the best. So, seeing him hurt this much makes my chest hurt. Jace did something. I don’t know what, but from the way he was calling out to Grady before with Daniel holding him back, something went down, and Grady is here hurting because of it.
I will go toe-to-toe with Jace. It doesn’t matter that I’m shorter, or that I have a cast on my arm, I will hurt him for hurting Grady.
“Do you want to talk to me? Or do you want some water?” He doesn’t change position or say anything, so I try again. “Maybe a shot of whiskey?”
He sits up, blinking at me a few times as he gazes into my eyes. “Your dad has whiskey? I thought he was a beer drinker.”
I chuckle. It’s true that my dad prefers beer over whiskey. He doesn’t drink much, but I’ve only really seen him drink beer.
“It’s kinda old, but isn’t that stuff supposed to age anyway? What’s a few more years?”
He chuckles and nods.
“Okay, whiskey it is.”
I practically jog into the kitchen and open the top cupboard above the fridge, and right at the back is the unopened whiskey bottle. I knew where to find it, since I spotted it a few weeks back when I was looking for a container to make mac and cheese in.
With a jump, I reach my hand up. Fuck, I need a chair. I should have grabbed one when I came in here. Turning, I slam into Grady’s hard body. I grab onto him to steady myself as he pulls down the whiskey bottle and gives me a half smile. I let go of him and take it from his hands with a nod and smirk. This will be interesting.
“Yeah, my mom gave this to Dad for his birthday one year. I remember only because Dad said he didn’t like whiskey, and I was confused why she would buy him something he doesn’t like for his birthday.” I shrug. I guess it had been a sign that their marriage wasn’t good. Not that I would have realized that then. I’d just been a kid and hadn’t known what to look for.
“Two glasses?” he asks, and I wiggle my brows and stick out my tongue. It makes him grin.
“Can’t let you drink alone.”
We put the whiskey bottle on the coffee table. I’m sure Dad will be okay with us having a little. It was just collecting dust back there, and the last thing he needs is another remind of Mom in this house. Maybe it’s best if we don’t tell Dad at all. He’s pretty cool about stuff, but I’m not sure how cool he is about underage drinking in his house.
There’s not a shot glass to be found, so our tall water glasses are all I have to work with. Grady pours a generous amount of the amber liquid into my glass, and when I move to stop him, he just smirks at me as he moves to pour his glass. I shiver at the thought of the taste. Whiskey is not my liquor of choice, and I’m about to break my no drinking rule for it. But for Grady, tonight, I will happily break that rule.
I take a small sip and swallow. “Gah, shit.” I open my mouth and stick out my tongue. Fucking gross. How do people drink this shit straight? I release a deep breath, and I feel like I’m breathing fire. That stuff is strong as hell.
I turn to see Grady pouring himself another. He chases it down right after the first and starts pouring another. Fuck, whatever happened must be bad.
“Hey, wait, slow down. Let me catch up.” I hold my hand to stop him, and he looks down at my cast.
“Shit, you’re supposed to be on bed rest, and I dragged you down here in the middle of the night. I’m so sorry, Mila.”
I shake my head. “No, you didn’t. I’m not on bed rest anymore, but I’m still on babysitter watch. Got Madison over here.”
He looks around, then to the stairs. “Is she upstairs waiting for you?”
“No, she passed out over an hour ago. A fourteen-year-old girl is babysitting me and fell asleep and now I’m getting into trouble with the cute boy next door.” I giggle and Grady does too.
It’s cute, though. She tried so hard to stay awake, but she said it was a rough two weeks, and I know that’s because of me. She needs all the sleep she can get.
I decide to throw back the rest of the whiskey in my glass and get a second with Grady…or is it his third? Wait, is it his fourth? After this one, I’m putting the bottle away. I don’t need him going home drunk. Ella and Daniel won’t be happy with me if he pukes everywhere. Which I suspect he will, with how much he just drank.
“Cheers,” we both say as we clink the glasses together, the amber liquid trying to escape over the rim.
I hold my breath and count to three before I shoot it back. So much whisky. My tongue is on fire, and I stomp my feet as I groan from the burn.
“Fuck…oh, shit. That’s nasty.” I think I’m dying, but since I haven’t eaten in hours, I can also feel the warmth growing. I need to stop now. I can’t do another with him or I will be on the floor for the rest of the night, passed out.
“Oh, fuck…are you on any medication from the accident?”
My mouth drops open. I have some pills I take three times a day. I didn’t think about it. Shrugging, I say, “I guess we’ll discover the effects soon enough.”
Grady looks worried. “I’ll stay and babysit you…just in case.”
I bump my shoulder into his, and he smiles but it’s full of concern. Regardless, I’m happy to see him smile. I think it’s gonna be me babysitting him.
Although I’m worried about him, I refuse to ask him what’s wrong. If he wants to tell me, he can. Otherwise, I’m happy to just sit here and talk and make him smile.
“As long as you don’t expect to get paid, you can babysit me all night. I can even get the sofa bed out, and we can watch movies. No more whiskey. But we can snuggle and veg out. What do you think?”
He places his empty glass on the coffee table and sits back, his long arm coming up over the top of the sofa. Lost in thought, he pulls on a loose strand of my hair. My heart starts to race. What’s wrong, Grady? Please tell me.
“I couldn’t think of anywhere else I would rather be than right here with you.”
Oh shit. Shit.
“Ah, Grady.” I tug on his hand and clasp it between both of mine. “It’s only new, but I’m dating Hunter.”
I thought the kiss in the car between us was just a one-off. That we didn’t feel more. Does he? Shit. I thought we were friends and nothing more. Especially with Jace and everything there. Oh god, that’s why they were fighting just now?
He gives me a tight-lipped smile. I sit up straighter, the alcohol already at work as I feel a little sluggish. Maybe because it’s late and I’m tired. Or the medication I have been taking is the type to increase the effects of alcohol. Pain killers don’t mix with alcohol. I should have known better.
“I guessed that you were a thing tonight when Jace blew up and punched Hunter in the face and tried to start a fight with Roman.”
My mouth drops open. “Jace did what?” I run a hand down my face and shake my head, trying to clear it. Fuck, I shouldn’t have drank that second glass of whiskey.
“Then Jace broke up with Britney…I think? I guess. And she retaliated and told everyone I’m gay.”
Gay? Did he just say he’s gay? My lips are dry, and I lick them as I try to wrap my head around all this. Jace broke up with Britney, and she called Grady gay? I blink a few times and look at Grady. His big brown eyes are practically begging me to hug him and block out the rest of the world for him.
“She told everyone you’re gay?”
Grady just nods and gives a small, sad smile. He looks away, like he’s worried about what I will say to this news. Fuck, what a bitch. I can’t believe Britney told everyone his personal business. She had no right to say that just because she was mad at Jace.
“Grady, look at me. Please.” Oh god, my heart is breaking for him right now.
He looks at me, and I see the tears again. I reach out and wipe one away.
“Mila, I’m not gay. But I’m also not not gay too. You know? I froze up and ran.” He lets out a deep breath, and I feel him relax, like he’s relieved to have the weight of his confession off his shoulders.
“You’re bisexual?” I ask gently with a small smile.
He shrugs. “I don’t know. There’s only one guy I’ve liked enough to try, and I’m not sure if it’s just a him thing…or if I like all men and women. You know?”
“I do. And you don’t have to label it, Grady. But she shouldn’t have done that. Ousted you in front of the guys.” Right now, I wish I hadn’t drunk so much whiskey, so I could have my head fully screwed on.
Sitting up, I look deep into his dark eyes. I want him to feel my next words.
“I love you for who you are—straight, gay, or bi. It doesn’t matter because you will always be my Grady. I’m here for you if you want to talk about anything and everything. Who you like doesn’t change how I feel about you as my friend. And it will never change.”
I hug him tight, and we settle into the sofa without saying another word. I close my eyes as I listen to the rhythmic beat of his heart. I can feel sleep trying to pull me under, but I have one question. How did Britney know? Unless she saw him with the guy…
“Makai?” I ask.
“Yeah.”
I smile into his chest. “He’s hot,” I whisper, and I feel the rumble of his chuckle in his chest.
“Yeah, he is.”
