But the guy she’s actually dating is me, so how do I go about acting like a concerned pseudo brother when it’s me that’s fucking her?
Christ, this is a mess.
“What the fuck do you mean? Of course, it’s a problem,” Cole barks and I hold my hands up in surrender.
Before I can say anything, Lana jumps in and I silently thank whatever deity brought her into Cole’s life because if anyone can get through to him, it’s her.
“I think what Noah means to say is, is this really that big of a deal? Gracie is a grown woman, she can fuck, date, and do whatever the hell she wants.”
Okay, so maybe I wouldn’t have put it exactly like that, but I’m still grateful that she’s here.
“And of course, if this asshole hurts her in anyway, we can just kill him.”
I take it all back, I think we were better off without her.
“Yeah…” I say slowly. “I know she was with that asshole a few years ago that messed with her, but we just need to trust Gracie’s judgment. We can’t force her not to date.”
There’s silence for an entire five seconds before Cole starts up again, ranting and raging about how his innocent little sister is too young for a boyfriend and blah blah blah.
If Cole hadanyidea of what Gracie and I have been getting up to, I’m pretty sure it would give the poor guy an aneurism.
Or just make him drop dead.
“They’re right,” Logan says, making each of us turn to him. It’s not often Logan speaks up but when he does, it makes us all listen. “Gracie is a grown woman, whether we like it or not. It’s not up to us to dictate her private life and we have to respect her choices.”
I inwardly sigh in relief, the tension draining from me as Cole nods slowly, as though Logan’s words have actually gotten through to him. They all carry on talking, and I discretely pull out my phone and send a text to Gracie.
Did you tell Cole that you were seeing someone?
Gracie
Oh god, is he losing it? I only said it to get him to shut up. Does he know it’s you?
Never mind, if he knew it was you, you wouldn’t be texting me right now.
Maybe this is a bad idea, I don’t want you to die because you had the audacity to date me.
I suppress a snort at that, but something must show on my face because Harley gives me a confused look. I shake my head before focusing my attention back on the screen, my jaw ticking at the sight of her name in my phone. On my burner, I’m free to have her saved asMy Gracie, but I have no choice but to just use her name and her name alone when there’s a possibility that someone could see.
It’ll be worth it, love. Don’t worry about that for now, we have time.
It’s only once the message is sent that I realize what I called her, and the implications of it. Fuck, will she figure it out from that alone? My heart pounds as the possibility visualizes into an image of Gracie ending things with me because of everything that I’ve done.
I can’t let that happen.
Iwon’tlet that happen.
I’ll keep her, one way or another.
Gracie
Okay, but I really don’t want your death on my conscience, so how about we table the idea of outing ourselves for now, yeah?
Oh, thank fuck.
Clearly, I was being overly paranoid.Of course, the use of a nickname wasn’t enough to tip her off enough about who I really am.
Gracie is… Gracie is sensible, if she had any doubts, concerns or suspicions at all, she would have voiced it.
