TWENTY-ONE
GRACIE
It’s good to be home.
And by that, I mean it was good to see Lana put my father in his place over the way he treats Cole.
If I had been on the fence about liking her, that definitely would have cemented it.
Things were awkward around the house for a while, my mom and me opting to hide away in my room and gossip like teenagers about my brother finally finding a girl who can handle him.
Our family dynamics are strained most of the time. My mom and dad love us, and while my mom treats both Cole and me equally, my dad does not. My dad loves my brother, but whereas he shows me love by showering me with it, he shows Cole it by pushing him to be better in everything he does, knowing that he’ll be taking over his position as CEO one day.
I love my father, I really do, but I’ve always hated the way he treats my brother and it was nice to see someone finally tell him how it is.
I’ve tried, but he always waved me off, as if I didn’t know any better.
Maybe now he’ll see it, or maybe he won’t, but I have hope.
Things are finally going well for my brother, and I hope my dad can see just how hard he’s been on him all these years and turn their relationship around before it’s too late.
I lay on my bed, debating what to do with myself. I’ve been up here most of the day since everyone kind of just decided to do their own thing today after spending the entire day together yesterday celebrating Thanksgiving.
Maybe I can hang out with Cole and Lana for a few hours? Or maybe they want to?—
A thud sounds from the other side of my bedroom wall, and I swallow a groan.
“Not again,” I mutter.
Well, I guessthatplan is out.
No way am I attempting to hang out with them when they can’t keep it in their pants for five goddamn minutes.
I’m happy for my brother.
Really, I am. But does hehaveto fuck his girlfriend so loudly when he’s in the room next to me?
If I tried that, he’d be storming in here and ripping the guy to pieces.
I heave a sigh and climb off the bed when they make no show of stopping and head out to the balcony. I close the door behind me and take a seat on one of the chairs set up out here before pulling out my phone.
I scroll through my socials for a few minutes, but that gets old quickly.
Normally I’d call Freya and see what she’s up to, but there’s been distance between us lately. I hate lying to her and I’ve been trying to avoid her so I don’t have to lie, but in doing that, it’s only been putting more of a strain on our friendship, a strain that I have no idea how to fix without telling her the truth.
And that’s the last thing I want to do, if I’m being honest.
I’m Gracie Aston. The good girl. The sensible one.
I don’t want her thinking my lapse in judgement is anything other than what it is—one giant mistake that will not be happening again.
There’s only one person who knows the full truth, and that’s Noah.
I grumble a little to myself and pull up his contact before pressing call and putting it on speaker.
It rings a few times before he finally answers.
“Hey,” he says a little distractedly, and it comes out a little muffled as though it’s coming through a car speaker. Oh shit, is he driving? Why would he answer the call if he was dr— “Are you okay? What happened?”
