I knew what Gray had said. I knew he said he loved me and every part of me wanted to tell him I loved him, too. But even if I did, even if he did, what was the point?
Gray would leave me.I love youwere pretty words and maybe I wanted more than that. Maybe I wanted what my parents had. If you loved someone, how could you be okay with leaving them?
I owed it to myself to heal, and that meant hearing what Ethan had to say.
“I have never promised you anything, Gray. And you’ll do nothing of the sort. I’ll make my own decisions and you cannot force my hand.”
Turning away from him, I grabbed my keys from the table in the hallway, but his aura wrapped around my waist, drawing me into his body.
“He’s nothing but a mortal!” Gray said to me.
Gray slammed my body against the wall, and I hissed in pain. My heart thumped wildly in my chest as he crowded my space. More than ever, I saw the God who surrounded himself with complete devastation. His hand wrapped around my throat, ensuring I kept my focus on him.
“I could kill him in a heartbeat,” Gray said, pressing his nose to mine.
I attempted to push him away but he brought his body closer, pinning me with no hope of escape. His face was in the crook of my neck, stubble grazing roughly against my skin.
“What would you do, Quentin?” Gray asked, words at my ear. “Would you cry over his corpse? Would you mourn?”
I looked at him. To him, mortals were disposable. We meant nothing to Gods. They kept us around for their powers and their egos.
“Maybe the others are right,” I said, shaking my head. “Maybe you are a monster.”
His aura disappeared from around him. It was as if his temper just dropped away. Grayson straightened up, stepping away from me. I didn’t wait for him to say anything. I couldn’t even look at him. Instead, I slipped past him and left the house before getting in the car and driving off.
A sharp pain shot through my chest, and breathing deeply, I tried to calm it down. It continued the entire way to Ed’s and I rubbed at the spot as I walked into the diner.
Ethan was sitting in our old booth, and I was hit with a pang of nostalgia. I slid in opposite him, our knees brushing together.
“It’s nice to see you again, Q.”
The words “you too” almost came from my mouth, but it wasn’t nice to see Ethan.
He reached out and his hand covered mine. Once, it lit up something inside me, but tonight I didn’t feel it. There was a weird pull to see Ethan again, which was why I came. I wanted to see what he had to say for himself.
“Is everything okay?” I asked, pulling my hand away from his.
“I guess so.”
“You said you wanted to talk.”
“Always wanted to cut to the chase.”
Ethan was a gentleman; old-fashioned and knew how to hold a conversation, whereas I rushed to the point. I preferred efficiency over manners.
“You turned up at my door, Ethan.”
“Who was that with you?” he asked about Gray.
I was still so mad at Gray for his comments. He had no right to threaten Ethan. The argument banged around my skull. I hated fighting with him. Gray knew how to push my buttons. I never thought Ethan would make him so unnecessarily angry.
“Grayson,” I answered, sighing.
“Grayson?”
I shouldn’t have called him a monster. I knew he had a temper. I knew he was possessive and jealous. I didn’t blame him because I was the same. He told me he loved me, and I was too chicken to tell him the same thing. The truth was, I knew I’d been falling for him for a little while. Despite the temper and the harsh words, I couldn’t stop loving him.
“We’re seeing each other,” I explained.
