“Should we play a game? They have a bunch inside. Monopoly could be fun.” Harlyn is already half out of her seat at the prospect.
Foster’s face takes on a gray shade. “No way, not again.”
“Oh, come on,” she prods. “It’ll be fun.”
He shakes his head. “Nope. It’s too competitive. I can’t handle you at that level.”
Sutton starts laughing. “Right? She’s always cool as a cucumber until hotels start being built. I agree with Foster.”
Harlyn slumps in her chair. “That’s lame.”
“Do they have Life?” I find myself asking.
Three pairs of eyes focus on me. Sutton leans on my armrest. “Maybe. Is that what gets your vote?”
I shrug and drop my gaze. “It always looked fun. Getting to choose your path and see what happens. I’ve never played.”
Sutton stretches for my hand under the table and applies some gentle pressure. I drag my gaze up to hers. She smiles, her stare a calm blue ocean inviting me in. I’ll gladly go. “Then that’s what we’ll do.”
Turns out, board games are a lot of fun. Who the hell knew? Certainly not me. An hour later and I’m the official winner. But with the girl sitting beside me, I was already coming out way ahead.
22
Grady
Happy something #63: Finding an escape that lets me forget. Even for a few moments.
The putrid stench of rotting life wafts into my open windows. I do my best to cover a cringe. There’s no stopping the bone-snapping force that locks up my joints. I clutch harder at the steering wheel until my knuckles are white. This was a mistake. The evidence is strewn about the trailer park between piles of trash and hollowed out vehicles. This place is haunted with the worst memories, many of them my own.
My balding tires struggle across the overgrown terrain. The main drag is even worse than a short month ago. I swerve into the first available spot and shift my pickup into park. Above a pair of squawking crows, I can almost hear the old engine sigh. Not that I’m really listening. Nothing registers over the vicious evil plaguing my mind. Inky black sludge paints my vision until I’m left in total darkness.
Sutton doesn’t belong here. This type of ugly should never touch her. I’m gutted and weak. What worth do I offer? I glare at the rusting dumpster through the windshield, refusing to face the horror marking her features. There’s no doubt her regrets are stacking higher than the abandoned bags of garbage.
“We should leave,” I growl.
In my periphery, I see her head swivel toward me. “What? Why?”
“I don’t want you to see the worst of it.”
She rests a soft palm over my flexing forearm. “Gray, look at me.”
A poisonous thatch of thorns grows in my throat. It takes the remaining control I have to swallow past the pain. I allow my eyes to wander her way. What I find waiting in her expression steals the air from my lungs. There is no pity or embarrassment. I don’t see shame glimmering in her blue gaze. Her stare is steady and doesn’t waver, filling me to the brink with peace and love and everything good. I match her intense focus and take a deep inhale. Only the purest hit of strawberries and coconut greet me. This woman pulls me away from the wreckage, saving me from the worst version of myself. My exhale is a quiet stutter.
“Thanks, Sutt.”
“We’re a team, Gray. I’ll never spook from anything so long as you’re by my side. That should go both ways.”
I manage a jerky nod. “It does.”
“Good. Let’s go see your mother.” She hauls one of the grocery bags onto her lap. The swift move proves the strength in her tone. My girl isn’t going anywhere but inside as planned.
I grab the other sacks and hop out of the cab. Sutton meets me at the tailgate. Her plaid summer dress matches the tropical ocean in her eyes. Shiny dark waves ripple in the slight breeze. It’s no surprise that she’s stunning, a blinding bright spot amongst the corroded rubble.
“Love you, Sutt.” I swoop down and place a kiss against her temple.
She leans into me. “I love you, Gray.”
Those three words inject me with enough confidence to face forward. The four wheels that hold up my mother’s home have been flat since she moved in. I don’t concentrate on the other crushing qualities as we walk along the grassy path. A few long strides and we’re at the front door. The new hinges I installed gleam in the sunlight. I smile at that while knocking on the metal frame.
