“If you’ve loved her for years, then why the fuck did you wait so long, and why didn’t I know about it sooner? And why have you been with other people if you’re so in love with her? And why thefuckwould you send me a picture of her tied to a bed?”
There’s a lot of questions to unpack there, but one sticks out more than the others and I cock my head. “When have you ever known me to be with anyone else?” I ask, since it seems everyone I know is finding out about my goddamn virginity today.
Everyone’s silent for a moment, clearly thinking back and I see it as realization crosses on their faces. Whenever the guys have talked about their escapades, I’ve always been silent. I’ve spoken when they needed advice and things like that, but I’ve never once spoken of any experience myself.
“Holy shit,” Harley blurts, and I smirk at him.
I’m not embarrassed about the fact that I hadn’t been with anyone before Gracie. Why would I be? I don’t buy into the whole macho bullshit of sleeping with as many girls or guys as you can.
I’ve always known that Gracie was the perfect person for me, and I’ve never looked at a single person the way I do her. I knew no one would compare.
“Holy shit,” Cole mutters, echoing Harley’s earlier statement, and Logan just nods knowingly. I watch as Lana backs away from the kitchen, seemingly giving us some space now that she knows Cole isn’t going to fly off the handle. We added her into the fold with ease, and I don’t mind her being here in the slightest, but it’s nice that she feels the need to give the four of us some time.
Cole swallows and takes a seat opposite of me. “What was with the picture?” he asks with a glare, and I cringe.
Not my finest moment.
“Gracie and I had a… misunderstanding. I’m sorry for sending you that, it was out of line. I was kind of out of my mind in the moment, and at the time it seemed like the best option.” I shrug, not really knowing what else there is to say.
“I don’t like the thought of the two of you… together? Wait,areyou together, or are you just fucking my baby sister before you discard her?” His voice has turned hard once more, and once again, I roll my eyes, a little exasperated.
“She’s mine,” I state, since he doesn’t actually need to know the ins and outs of mine and Gracie’s relationship. While I’m pretty sure wearetogether, we do still have some shit to work out, and I’m not about to explain all of that to him.
“I don’t like this,” he mutters.
“You don’t get a say in it,” Logan grunts, taking my side. “If anyone can look after and make Gracie happy, it’s Noah.”
Harley nods along with Logan’s words. “It’s true. If it was anyone else, then I’d be skeptical, but we all know Noah, and we know that he’d never do anything to hurt our G.”
Why the fuck do they all seem to think they get a say in mine and Gracie’s relationship in the first place?
Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad Harley and Logan have my back, but no one gets a say but us.
“If you hurt her in any way at all, Iwillfucking kill you. One of my best friends or not, Gracie will always be my first priority, and I won’t hesitate to peel the skin from your body.”
I nod. “I know, and I’d welcome it. I’ll never hurt her.”
“Good,” Cole grunts before giving me one last glare and standing. He heads out of the kitchen, no doubt going to find Lana and then it’s just Harley, Logan and I left.
“You and Gracie,” Harley whispers, shaking his head as though he can’t quite believe he hadn’t seen it sooner.
It’s not surprising.
Everyone thinks of Harley as an airhead, but he never used to be like this. Something happened during the summer before we started college, and he’s never spoken of it—not even to us—but whatever happened, it changed him.
He came back from his family vacation and hasn’t quite been the same since.
He’s not broken, and I don’t think anything necessarilybadhappened to him, he’s just stuck in his head more often than not and he zones out often, clearly thinking about something else.
He’s quick to be defensive whenever we bring it up, so we eventually stopped asking, just hoping that one day he’ll tell us.
“You’re all so fucking blind,” Logan mutters and I snort before standing. I give them one last look before leaving them in the kitchen and I head to my room.
I want nothing more than to head over to Gracie’s place, but it’s late, and the last thing I want is to upset her by waking her up after we’ve finally gotten to a place where I think we might be okay.
I strip down and shower, washing away the days ugliness before heading to bed, hoping to get a good night’s sleep so I can be well rested to see Gracie tomorrow.
We haven’t made any plans yet, but I need to see her.
