“I never agreed to that arrangement.”
I let out a frustrated sigh and ran my hands through my hair. “Why do you insist on being so —”
He took a step towards me. “Yes?”
“Infuriating.”
He let out a bark of laughter.
“I’m not seeing you — fake or otherwise,” I told him, a tone of finality lacing my words.
“So, what do you intend to do?” Grayson asked, curiously. “Tell them the truth?”
“No. You are going to Gareth’s.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Grayson!” Like a child, I stomped my foot, desperate to get out of this situation.
“You see, in the long run, isn’t this the type of interaction and integration that Gareth and Hunter are after?” His words rolled around my brain, and he took another step towards me. “You’d be getting me to do what others thought I would rebel against.”
I bit on my bottom lip. Grayson was appealing to my desire to succeed. To my ambition.
After a few seconds I whispered, almost pleading with him, “This is my family, Gray. Do you understand that?”
He cocked his head to the side, and I quickly pushed away thoughts of how cute he was whenever he did it. Like a puppy you wanted to take home and keep.
“You need to be on your best behaviour,” I laid out for him.
“Aren’t I always?” He gave a half-smile, and my heart stuttered again.
“Please,” I told him gently, and then even quieter, “Cass and Sophie are all I have left.”
He looked taken aback at how vulnerable and open the sentence was, but I needed him to understand. He couldn’t behave around them the same way he had Matthew. I couldn’t lose the only people that mattered to me in this life.
“Am I interrupting something?”
I looked over my shoulder to see Cass hovering by the door. I hadn’t even heard him open it. With a blush, I shook my head and said, “No. Of course not. I’m going to grab a shower and then we can head out.”
“Perfect,” he replied. “Let’s catch up before Sophie pulls you into all the wedding chaos.”
Grayson snorted at the choice of word, and I bit my lip.
“Give me fifteen minutes,” I told my brother. “How about breakfast at Gershwin’s?”
“That place is still standing?” Cass asked, laughing.
“Yes, it is.”
He beamed at me. “Then it would be a crime not to.” Cass walked into the living room. His eyes settled on Grayson. “Will you be joining us?”
“No,” I answered quickly.
“Yes,” Grayson said at the same time.
Cass shot us both a curious look.
“I thought you were busy today,” I said to Grayson.
