A sob hitched in my throat at Grayson’s words. He hadn’t left.
“I thought you got rid of the snobby bastard ages ago.” Garret sneered at Grayson.
“Surprise. I’m back.” Grayson moved to my side. “Now, you should know my patience is wearing thin. And you only got as much time with Rayna as you did because I was already driving off when I saw you.”
I still cradled my cheek, tears stinging my eyes. Things could have gone a lot worse if Grayson hadn’t been there.
“You think I’m scared of the little rich kid? Have you ever even punched someone?”
Grayson’s fist appeared in my vision, and he smashed it into Garret’s face. “I have now.”
Garret stumbled back, holding his nose. Blood came gushing out, and I couldn’t stop my smile. That would go into my memory bank as a moment to remember.
Grayson put his arm around me and led me a few steps away from a wailing Garret. “How bad are you hurt? Did he do anything else?”
He ran his hands over my body with such care that my emotions finally got the best of me and a tear escaped. Grayson pulled me in to him, and I smooshed my face into his body. He held me tight, kissing my head and murmuring into my hair.
When we heard sirens, I looked up, but not leaving Grayson’s warm and comforting embrace. Garret was too busy shouting abuse at Grayson for punching him to notice the police officers coming toward us.
“What happened here?” one of them asked, hand on his gun.
Grayson took charge of the situation as I thought he would, and I relaxed even more into him. “My friend wants to press charges against the man over there for assaulting her.”
I straightened up again, not so sure if him taking charge was such a good idea after all. “I do?”
“Absolutely. No more making excuses for him. He hurt you.”
Well, if he put it that way, I did need to do something. “I want to press charges,” I agreed with a nod.
And so began a long hour of talking to police officers, paramedics showing up and looking at my face and arm, and ignoring Garret yelling at us before they got him into a police cruiser.
Grayson stood by my side the entire time, answering questions, brushing his hand along my back, and hugging me to him whenever I faltered.
We had enough witnesses who corroborated our story to make everything a straightforward process. It still took a lot longer than I was prepared for, but thanks to Grayson’s insistence, we didn’t have to go to the police station, and they took our statements right then and there.
When we were finally free to go, Grayson pulled me to his side and walked me to my room. My body was numb, my brain unable to accept what had just happened.
“You want to take a shower first or just crash?”
The question snapped me out of running over the night in miniscule detail.
We were in my room, and Grayson was standing in front of me. The bed sounded like a more appealing choice, but there was no way I could sleep without a shower. I still felt Garret’s hands on me.
I had never been more thankful that my hotel room was small, the bathroom only a few steps away. “Shower first.”
Grayson squeezed my hand and took a seat on the small couch. “I’ll be right outside if you need anything.”
After fighting my way out of my clothes, I stood under the warm water and finally let go. The tears came hard. I did a half-assed job of cleaning my hair, but at least it smelled like the shampoo I used and took the whiskey stench out of my nose.
Once I was done with my nightly routine, I realized I didn’t bring any clothes into the bathroom with me. Dressed in only a towel, I stepped back into the room.
Grayson looked up when he heard the door open. I shot him a tentative smile, noticing his glazed-over eyes that were anywhere but on my face. My cheeks heated, and I rushed to my suitcase.
Despite having lived in the hotel room for weeks, I still hadn’t unpacked. Guess I didn’t need to bother now. Retrieving my underwear and pajamas, I rushed back into the bathroom, closing the door firmly behind me.
He couldn’t look at me like that. It might give a girl ideas. Ideas that his feelings toward me were more than just friendship. But one thing I never knew Grayson to be was dishonest or a cheater. And he was with Wynona.
Once I was decent, I left the safety of the bathroom. Grayson was now standing up, his head bent, studying the carpet.
