“Come on, Grace,” Cole said in his no-nonsense voice, and I knew I was shit out of luck. He wriggled from my arms and stoodup. He was butt naked and if I thought his ass looked good in his Wranglers, then it was something else without them.
Without a care in the world, Cole strode out of the bedroom, leaving me to groan, roll over, and wish the world away.
Just as Cole’s phone stopped, mine started again.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” I snapped with a huff, still refusing to get up. There was no one who needed me that desperately. If it was Ben calling again, then he could fuck off. I didn’t want to talk to him. And if it was my sisters, well they could wait too. They’d made it perfectly clear. They didn’t need me so if things had changed, they could deal with it on my schedule.
“Where’s my phone?” Cole called out.
How the fuck was I supposed to know where his phone was? I wasn’t even sure where my panties were.
A moment later, Cole stepped back into the bedroom wearing his boxers and my mood soured even further. Looked like he wasn’t going to spend the afternoon lounging around with me. A wicked thought crossed my mind … bet I could make him.
Cole handed me my phone. I had three missed calls and two messages. Because I was like every other normal person on the planet who knew phones weren’t for calling but for messages and social media, I checked them first.
Gabriella: Happy Birthday Grace! Can you call when you’re free
I had to shake my head. Even in a text message Gabriella was polite. Georgia, not so much
Georgia: Why aren’t you answering your phone? Call me! I need your help. BTW happy birthday
“What’s wrong?” Cole questioned curiously.
“I’m not sure. Gabriella and Georgia are blowing up my phone.”
“Mine too.”
“Huh?”
“Gabriella is who was calling me,” Cole explained and my confusion grew.
“Why would she be calling you?” It sounded bitchier than I’d intended.
“Maybe because she couldn’t get a hold of you? Why don’t you call her and find out.” Sometimes Cole’s logic was infuriating.
I was sulking and being a baby. They hurt me yesterday. They made me feel like they didn’t need me or want me around. Now they wanted something from me. Part of me wanted to make them wait. Leave them to sweat it out. But given the phone in my hand was ringing again, I didn’t really get a choice.
“Hi,” I answered unenthusiastically as I toyed with the sheet.
“Grace! You answered,” Gabriella rushed out.
“Yeah. I’ve been busy. Look, Cole’s waiting for me to give him a hand so, what’s up?” I asked, trying to hurry her off the phone, while Cole just raised an eyebrow at me.
Gabriella didn’t hesitate. “We need your help.”
“No you don’t,” I countered, sinking back into the pillows and feeling like shit. “You made that pretty clear yesterday. Besides, I’m busy.”
“Please, Gracie. We just need you for an hour or two,” Gabriella pleaded.
“For what?”
“Um. Well, you know how we said we had an event today?”
“Yeah.”
“Tell her we fucked up and overestimated what we can do, and if she doesn’t come and save our asses we’re royally screwed,” I heard Georgia call out, sounding frantic.
Guilt gnawed at me. I didn’t want them to drown but at the same time, I needed them to know they hurt me.
