Remember what I said about my car, okay? I won’t put any details in this message…just in case. But you know what to do.
Unable to help myself, I crack a smile just as a shadow fills the doorway. I look up at Braxton watching me with a bemused smile. He’s shirtless, navy sweats hanging low on his hips.
“Hey, baby,” he murmurs, voice still rough with sleep. “You coming out any time soon?” I stare at him for a long moment, watching as his smile falls away, uncertainty filling his green eyes.
“Yeah,” I say. I close the distance between us, and he doesn’t move, his expression expectant, waiting for physical affection that’s become second nature between us. The kind of affection that’s been so rare for me…but I just sidle past him.
“Gracie?” he calls, his bare feet padding against the wooden floors. “Is everything okay?”
I don’t answer as we reach the kitchen, watching as he slips past me to grab the creamer out of the fridge. Two mugs are on the counter, steam wafting from them. He pours the creamer into the blue floral one—my favorite.
I blurt, “I know you have a history with Paisley.” I close my eyes, regret curling through me.That isnothow I wanted to start this.
Braxton doesn’t say a word, and when I peek at him, the muscles of his back are taut as he slowly sets the creamer down. He places both hands on the counter, his head dropping forward.
“I guess I’m wondering why you didn’t tell me,” I say into the thick silence.
It takes several seconds, but he looks at me, his skin a few shades lighter than usual. “What’re you talking about?” His voice is deceptively steady, but his tight jaw gives him away.
I press my lips into a tight line. “I really hate when people treat me like I’m dumb,” I say stiffly.
He wets his lips, eyes meeting mine before dipping away, coming back a second later. “That’s not what I’m doing, Gracie?—”
I hold a hand out, stopping him. “No. You’re just trying to see what I know so you don’t accidentally incriminate yourself by saying something worse.” I cross my arms over my chest, the move purely defensive, trying to hold myself together when it feels like I’m falling to pieces. “There’s no point,” I say almost conversationally. “It can’t get much worse than what I do know. So you should just worry about being honest now.”
He flinches at the wordhonest, reaching up to rub a hand over his mouth. Absent-mindedly, I note that he needs to shave, his jaw dark with several days’ worth offacial hair. There are lines carved into the corners of his eyes and mouth. He looks exhausted, and I hate that my instinctive reaction is to take it all back—to try to give him peace.
“Paisley is…” Braxton looks away, dropping his hand to the counter, fingers drumming restlessly against the surface. “Nick’s family has always been mine. You know that. You know how much time I spent at their place growing up. Paisley was—ispart of that history.”
I lift my eyebrows. “Oh, so she’s just a family friend? You see her like a sister?” I don’t know if he hears the warning in my voice or sees it on my face, but when he opens his mouth, he hesitates. “Because the conversation I overheard on Thanksgiving,” I say easily, “wasn’t exactly…sisterly.”
He closes his eyes, devastation leaking out of him, and my anger builds, raising the temperature in my body until it feels like it’s boiling as it slithers through my veins.
“You heard us,” he croaks. “When we were outside.”
“Picture this,” I say, voice trembling. I dig my fingers into my arms, trying to anchor myself so I don’t split into pieces. “I’m doing dishes with Nick’s mother,Paisley’smother, acting like everything is normal. I know it’s not, but I can pretend like the best of them. She leaves me alone for a moment, and two voices drift in through a cracked window.” Braxton’s throat moves on a swallow as he opens his eyes, locking them on me. “I heard her talking about you confessing your feelings for her, and how she wished you had waited for her.”
He slicks his tongue over his front teeth. “If you heard all that, then you also heard me shut her down. You heard me tell her that I love you.”
I’m the one to look away now, disappointment weighing my shoulders down. “You’ve been lying to myface for more than a week, Braxton, and I’m tired. I deserve more from you than empty reassurances.”
He comes forward, hands out, like he might reach for me, but I step back quickly. “I did tell her I had feelings for her,” he says urgently. “Years ago, before she ever left. I loved her, or at least…I thought I did. But it was all a long time ago. I don’t feel that way about Paisley now. It was just…” He trails off uncertainly, voice dropping to a hushed whisper. “It was a shock to see her walk in.”
I drop my chin to my chest, hiding the pain as I remember how he tensed when he saw her, right before he pulled away. “I can imagine,” I say hoarsely. “I also have an ex who would shock the hell out of me if he reappeared in my life. The difference is that you know about Nolan. I didn’t know anything about Paisley?—”
“We were never together,” he argues heatedly. “The talk we had about our pasts…It wasrelationships. I was never with Paisley. It was nothing.”
I close my eyes, pulling in a slow breath through my nose. “Standing in that kitchen, watching her touch you…It didn’t look like nothing.”
He blanches. “Gracie?—”
“You let me be blindsided that night, but four years is a long time, right? I could have easily convinced myself it was all in my head and let it go.” He doesn’t interrupt, watching me with growing desperation. “You pulled away, Braxton. You barely called. You canceled the house viewing twice without even talking to me. And you weresuchan asshole when I questioned you about it.”
His cheeks redden, his eyes landing on a spot over my shoulder. “I told you, I took a shift for Ben.”
“And you couldn’t call me before you called Marjorie?” I ask quietly. “You didn’t even give me the option of rescheduling.”
“I didn’t think about it,” he says, shamefaced. I sigh.That might be the most honest thing he’s said so far.Braxton glances at the coffees behind him. “Look, let’s go sit down and talk about this calmly, okay? Our coffee is getting cold.”
