“Which he’s an asshole for,” Gracie mutters under her breath and turns to give me a scathing look.
Is she seriously flirting with me right now?
“Not the time, babe,” I chide, though I can’t help the quirk of my lips, even knowing she’s going to have my balls for this, and so, so much more once we’re finally alone.
Lana sighs but in a kind of… gleeful way? Like yes, she thinks it shouldn’t have happened, but that it’s also hilarious and she’s just not allowed to voice it. “Yes well, everyone has their kinks, don’t they? Though maybe they don’t need to be shared with family.” It’s Lana’s turn to glare at me now, and I have to bite my lip to keep from saying something I shouldn’t. How did she go from not wanting anything to do with a single person in school to acting like a parent?
Lana steps away from Cole and crosses her arms across her chest, as if daring him to argue with her. All he does is stare at her for a beat before dejectedly asking, “You already knew about the two of them, didn’t you?”
His tone is hurt, and I can understand why. I’m honestly shocked Lana didn’t tell him as soon as she figured it out, but she’s always been a little… different.
“Yeah, I did. I didn’t know for sure until recently, but I couldn’t be the one to tell you,” she says, her expression apologetic. “I told Noah to tell you, though. Seriously,” she turns on me and looks at me in irritation, “did you have to tell him likethis?”
I shrug one shoulder and step into Gracie’s space, my arms wrapping around her shoulders as though if I can keep her close to me, then she won’t suddenly change her mind and run from me. She leans back into me, the touch a welcome reprieve from how hot and cold we’ve been with each other these last couple of days and it settles something within me.
I need to get her alone.
I need to talk to her, explain my side of things and make sure she’s really okay.
Since the moment I carried her into this house, my mind has been a haze, and it’s only now that I feel like I’m coming back to myself.
I’m pissed at Cole for pushing her, but I’m pissed at myself more for letting it go so far.
“We’ll be talking about this later,” Cole grinds out and Lana rolls her eyes before grabbing his wrist and pulling him towards the door.
“Yeah, yeah, you can punish me later, but right now I think we need to give these two a little space and you need to process everything, then you and Noah can talk things out,calmly.”
She pulls him out of the door, and I hear his protests as they head down the stairs, but I tune them out while burying my face in Gracie’s hair and inhaling.
The front door slams shut, and Gracie turns in my arms to look up at me.
“I think we should talk,” she murmurs, and I sigh, taking a step back from her.
Yeah, I guess we should.
FIFTY
GRACIE
Itake a few deep breaths as I stare into the bathroom mirror then pick up the supplies I came in here to grab before heading back to Noah.
To say today has been a clusterfuck is an understatement, and I still have no goddamn idea what Noah was thinking when he invited Cole over here.
Cole said Noah had texted him a picture of me tied to the bed, and we’re going to have to have a serious talk about boundaries.
Noah is sitting at the foot of the bed, right where I left him. His hands are clasped between his knees; his elbows resting on his thighs and is wearing a look of trepidation.
I don’t blame him, since I feel the exact same way.
This is all so messed up, so completely jumbled and confusing that I don’t even know where to start.
I pad over to him and pull out a few antiseptic wipes before dabbing at the small cuts on his face. He’ll have bruises too, but nothing that will last for an extended period of time.
Once I’ve finished cleaning the wounds, I press a soft kiss to a bruise that’s forming on his cheek before taking a seat beside him.
“Talk.”
He takes a deep breath and blows it out slowly. “I don’t even know where to start.”
