Page 109 of Worth the Fight

“I can’t live my life in maybes, Em.”

“Oh, sweetie, I know, but you also can’t live your life in what could have beens either.”

Her words strike me to the core and cause the foundation I’ve been standing so defiantly on to tremble and crack.

“Why are you being so adamant about this?”

“Because I almost threw love away. I tried to run, hide, lie to get out of it . . . and damn it if Grant wasn’t persistent. And thank God he was. If he hadn’t been, I would have made a huge mistake. And I can’t stand by and watch someone I love miss out on living that same dream with you.”

“Whoa.” I hold my hands up. “No one said we were that serious.”

“No one had to.”

“It doesn’t matter if he loves me or doesn’t love me. He’s told me he’ll never change his mind. He’s never going to settle down and bring the burden Brody and Shelby live with upon someone else.”

“Then fight for him, Dylan. If he’s worth it, fight for him.”

“How?” There is so much frustration in that one word, and I’m not sure what else to say.

“Just fucking fight.”

* * *

I stare at the ceiling. I’m surrounded by everything that smells of Grady—his sheets, his pillow, his T-shirt I’m wearing—as Emerson’s words ring in my head.

Over and over.

Grady is worth fighting for. But do I give up my life in Los Angeles on a wing and a prayer? Do I step away—step back—from my life once again for a man and put mine on hold?

It would be so easy to. Simple really.

But what does that say about me?

What does that mean when I put my career second again because of a man?

I close my eyes and try to sleep. But all I see is Grady.

All I want is Grady.

And I know this is going to be one of the hardest things I’ll ever do—walk away—and not because I don’t love him, but rather because he doesn’t love me enough to ask me to stay.

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

GRADY

“Why the fuck are you here when she’s leaving tomorrow?”

“Because I’m here,” I grumble. Because if I go home then this is real, and she is leaving, and right now I don’t want that to be fucking true.

“You come straight from shift here? Don’t you think you should be somewhere else? Man the fuck up, Grady. You’ll figure it all out, but just ask her to stay. Or tell her to go, but add that you want to keep this thing going. Something. Anything. Just don’t let her walk out that door without saying a word. Quit being such a goddamn pussy, will you?”

“I’m not being a pussy. I’m being realistic.”

“Realistic? Do you know the odds of being in a plane wreck twice?”

“Can’t be too good considering most never survive the first crash.” I sit on his couch and take the beer he offers me.

“Exactly. And you did survive the first one. So why the hell do you keep thinking you’re going to crash again?”