Page 112 of Worth the Fight

When dawn comes and the sky is as gray as I feel, I slide out of the bed and stare at Grady. There are no more words to be said. Everything was said when we made love last night.

Because yes, that was what we did. Grady may not be able to verbalize it, but what we shared was so much more than simply sex.

It was everything he can’t give me but wants to.

It was my goodbye.

With a sob, I lean over and press the most tender of kisses to Grady’s lips. “Goodbye, Grady Malone. I love you.”

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

GRADY

I jerk awake.

Just like I do at the station when a call comes in and the alarm goes off.

But there is no call.

No alarm for an emergency.

Just the empty bed beside me.

No request to save someone.

Just the scent of her perfume lingering in the air.

There’s no note on the nightstand. There’s no text on my phone. There’s nothing left of her anywhere.

Except for my fucking heart.

I run a hand through my hair and sigh as I stare at the ceiling.

Dylan’s gone.

The woman who was slowly saving me disappeared.

Christ.

She’s really gone.

CHAPTER FIFTY

DYLAN

My need to work is paramount. To keep busy so I don’t think of Grady.

But who am I fooling? It’s been a week since I left Sunnyville—since I left him with the note on the counter and a kiss on his sleeping lips—and I feel like a piece of me has been left behind.

Emerson was right. I did leave my heart there, but hell if I’ll tell her that. And I can’t bring myself to answer her texts, either, because I miss her too.

Who knew going to Sunnyville to escape Jett would make me find a whole different life I’d want to keep?

I roll my shoulders as I stare out the conference room windows at the bustling city below. The city I had missed like crazy. The one full of broken dreams and rising stars. The one in which I thought I belonged but now feel like an imposter.

There is no pig wandering around to make me laugh.

There is no constant hammering of Grady and his brothers as they work on the playroom.