Page 85 of Worth the Fight

“Man stuff,” I repeat and stifle a laugh.

“Thanks again,” Shelby says, and her eyes light up with humor.

“Any time.” I watch them climb in her car and stare after them while they drive off.

“You going to tell me what the hell’s going on?” Grayson asks as he walks up beside me and hands me a fresh beer.

“What do you mean?”

“Ha. Nice try, baby bro, but you don’t have Brody here anymore to protect you from me asking where the heck Dylan is. Did you scare her off already?”

Maybe.

I think back to last night. To the hurt in her eyes when she walked in the back door. To the shock that made her jaw go slack when I told her how I really felt. To the wince in her posture when I told her I was using her. And to the taste of her kiss that fucking killed me to walk away from. If I hadn’t, I would have used her again—right there.

“Not sure,” I confess. “I woke up to an empty bed and⁠—”

“An empty bed implies it was occupied.”

“Knock the grin off your face.”

“So was it?”

“Occupied? Yes. But for strictly platonic reasons.”

“Bullshit.” He coughs out the word.

But he’s wrong. My bed has been empty since Jett the fuck face left. Empty so the nightmares returned.

Except for last night it wasn’t.

For some reason, when I came in from working out here, she wasn’t hidden away in her room. No, she was asleep on her side of my bed. Her side? I’ve already given her a side? And I selfishly opted not to wake her because with her next to me, my nightmares wouldn’t come.

That and I wanted her there.

Had she gone in there to wait for me to cool off and accidentally fallen asleep? Was she still upset and needed some company?

I don’t know. I can’t ask her because she fucking left without waking me to say goodbye.

“I woke up to a note,” I say, the sting still there. “It said she had to head to L.A. for a couple days to work on a few of the songs in the studio.”

“And you buy that?”

The way he stares at me says he knows there is so much more going on, but he doesn’t outright ask it. If it was Grant, he would. But Gray is the peacekeeper and will let me explain if I want to or leave it be if I don’t.

“I knew she had to go and had been waiting to know when it was scheduled. Otherwise she’d risk violating the terms of her contract.” He looks at me like he doesn’t believe me, and I don’t know if I even believe myself. I know it’s what I want to believe. I know it’s easier to think she left because of work instead of fleeing because she still thinks she was my pity fuck. “Honestly, dude, I’m not sure what I believe when it comes to why she left.”

“Ask yourself this, were you disappointed she was gone or were you breathing a sigh of relief. The answer will tell you all you need to know.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

DYLAN

“You are my shot in the dark.

The flame I can’t put out.

The nightmare I need to walk away from.