“No. Hold on, no. That’s not what I meant.” This wasn’t going well. I brushed my hair back. “On Thanksgiving, I saw Grayden in his truck. I was pretty sure he didn’t have a place to stay, so I offered my couch. After what happened with Ashford that night, I wanted to make sure Grayden was okay.”
Grace’s throat moved as she swallowed. “Alright. That makes sense. Why didn’t either of you mention that before now?”
“I don’t know. He was embarrassed, I think. He didn’t want you and Callum worrying about him. And after that, he started renting the house from me. There was one day that Danny showed up here, and Grayden…”
I squeezed my eyes shut. It was hard to get all of this out.
“What happened, Piper?”
“Danny broke in here looking for something. I caught him, and Danny attacked me.”
“What?”
“But Grayden stopped him. He was there for me. And after that, we kept getting closer, I guess. Nothing really happened between us until just a couple days ago, though.”
I was leaving out the time Grayden first kissed me, but she probably didn’t need an exact play-by-play.
Grace breathed, seeming to process everything I’d said. “I heard something about police showing up here the other day. I was actually going to ask Grayden about it. Did that have something to do with Danny too?”
“Yes,” I said on an exhale. For once, I was thankful for the Silver Ridge gossips. They’d caught Grace up on recent developments. “Danny’s trying to punish Grayden for protecting me. It’s completely stupid, but you know my ex.”
She rubbed her face beneath her glasses. “So Danny has been back in town, and he’s been harassing you. Worse, heattackedyou. Are you okay?”
Tears burned in my eyes. “Yeah. I’m okay.”
Because of Grayden. He’d made everything better.
“Can I hug you?” she asked, tears in her eyes too.
“Of course.” I leaned over, and Grace and I hugged tightly. This was why she’d been my best friend my whole life. Because, no matter what, even when we fought, she still loved me.
Yet I’d kept these secrets from her.
Guilt made nausea rise in my throat. “I’m sorry, Grace. I just didn’t want to scare you. Or for you to think you needed to fix it for me. You’ve already been through so much.”
She pulled back, frowning. “So you and Grayden both don’t want my help?”
“It’s not like that.”
“Sounds like that. And then you and Grayden, you’ve been… I mean, that kiss didn’t look like your first.”
“He spent the night at my place again last night. But not on the couch.”
She groaned and dropped her head in her hands. “I cannot believe we’re discussing this.Gross.”
“I’ve discussed my sex life with you plenty of times before.”
“But not involving mybrother!” Grace swatted my arm.
A giggle snuck up my throat. She looked like she was holding back a laugh too. Then her expression smoothed out.
Her glasses had gone crooked, so I reached out and straightened them for her.
“Thanks,” she said.
“You know I love you. Always.”
“And I love you.” She took my hand and squeezed it before letting go. “I’m confused, though. Is Grayden just convenient? I mean, I know Hart County isn’t huge, but there have to be other attractive men out there.”
