“Dani’shere.” Frank gestures wildly.
“I’m good, really.” I thump my chest. “I drank too much wine and had too much red meat, if I’m honest. I think I’m just going to pick up a salad on my way to setting up the rehearsal dinner.” I pull out my phone and send a text message.
“She said Graham didn’t hit her in the face,” Aurora tells Frank.
“Yep, it was a sex toy. So yay—he’s not a violent monster.”
Frank sits down heavily on a bench in the kitchen.
“Ryan and Claire are coming over.” I wave my phone. “So, uh, hope you feel better?”
I escape back out the gate.
Great. I just made everything worse.
Graham’s definitely done with me now.
50
GRAHAM
“She cashed the check,” I say to the ceiling in Grayson’s living room. “She’s really done with me.”
“You can’t set a boundary and then get mad when people acknowledge and accept it,” Finn says lightly from the couch.
“A boundary? That was a cry for help.” Aaron snorts.
The morning talk-show clip is replaying on the TV. I’m in a daze.
Connor’s lying next to me on the floor, surrounded by computers and phones, feeding the online flame war.
“Everyone’s going after Window Cat Girl, saying she set this up.” Connor smirks. “Apparently, she’s selling unpasteurized pink ranch dressing?”
“Wait, what?” Lexi rushes in from the kitchen. “Pink sauce is bad for you?”
“It is if you don’t refrigerate it,” I tell her dully.
“Well, take the ones out of your suitcase that I put in there.” Lexi sighs.
“What? Where are you going?” Spencer demands, coming into the living room. “Grayson, do you know he’s trying to leave?”
“Yes, I told him he needed to get out of the city for a while. We dodged a nuclear warhead with Dani’s mother and grandmother taking the fall for that kidnapping.” My eldest brother frowns.
“I’m sending them a gift basket of oranges,” Lexi calls from where she’s cooking some very spicy-smelling soup.
“I have that mountain house. He’s going to stay there for a few months,” Grayson continues.
“I’m going to be up there too.” Lexi gives me a thumbs-up. “We’re going to be mountain-house buddies. It’s a fixer-upper, so I hope you know how to use a hammer—”
“Because she does not.” Grayson shakes his head.
“I have YouTube and a dream.” His girlfriend beams.
“The only reason I’m letting her do this is because the architect has a five-month delay before she can start on the project,” Grayson tells Aaron quietly.
“Yeah, okay, I’ll hammer things.” My voice sounds far away. “I just… I have to do something first.”
“Stay away from Dani,” Aaron warns me.
