Macy squeals, already on board with planning the fantasy wedding playlist with Rylee. Makenna doesn’t say anything else right away, but I catch the corner of her mouth twitching with what looks like the beginnings of a smile. Just slightly.
Grayson finally reaches us at the edge of the stage, still trying to catch his breath, a towel slung over his shoulder.
“Hey, beautiful—” he starts, stopping short when he notices Makenna and Macy on either side of me. “Oh. So this is happening.”
“Grayson,” I say with a warning smile. “You remember my older sisters, Makenna and Macy.”
Grayson has been going through so much. I don’t want the intensity of my sisters’ inevitable interrogation of him to be another thing he has to go through.
“It’s nice to see you both,” Grayson grins easily. “Great of you to come out and support the band, and your incredible sister of course.”
His hand slips around my waist and pulls me close to him. I don’t even mind that I feel the sweat from his skin seeping into my shirt.
“Do you want to show them around? I think there’s a bar in the greenroom—we can have a drink and celebrate.”
“Ooh, yes!” Macy gasps, clapping her hands together. “Do we get a cool VIP wristband? Can we pretend we’re famous, too?”
Makenna rolls her eyes as Grayson laughs at Macy’s enthusiasm. “Come on.”
We start walking down the hallway, Makenna just a few paces behind us. I can tell she’s still taking everything in—Grayson’s affection towards me, the way the crew acknowledges us as we pass by, asking us if we need anything. How I seem to belongin a world that just a few weeks ago had no idea who I was. As she does with everything, ever since we were kids, she plays her feelings close to the vest. I still can’t tell what she’s thinking, but she’s definitely watching.
“Are all of your shows completely wild like this?” Makenna asks once we reach the greenroom. “We might’ve almost died a few times while we were by the security barricade.”
“They didn’t used to be,” Grayson shrugs, smiling a little. “But when you and your girlfriend break the internet two nights in a row, apparently it gets a little more… chaotic.”
That earns the smallest hint of a smirk.
Macy pours herself a glass of champagne and flops onto the greenroom couch.
“So tell us everything! We want the whole story. How did you two run into each other again after all these years?”
Grayson looks at me, then smiles. “Nowthat’sa story worth telling.”
Chapter twenty-eight
"The Love You Want" - Sleep Token
Grayson
The story I tell Mia’s sisters is honest.
From the moment Mia walked back into my life, I knew she had to be a part of it.
Did I know that it was going to end up with her practically saving my life, being the one thing tethering me back to earth?
No.
But I need Makenna and Macy to know how important Mia is to me.
“When I saw her again… everything else just kind of faded into the background,” I tell them.
Macy gives a swoony little sigh, but Makenna eyes me as if she can see through bullshit even if she were blind.
“Nice line, Mr. Songwriter,” Makenna smirks. “Didn’t you just get divorced, like, five minutes ago?”
I’ve been waiting for that one to come up.
“My marriage was in trouble long before your sister came along,” I say honestly. “We’d decided to split up before Mia even came to LA. But seeing her again… it was like coming up for air after years of drowning. Everything just realigned.”
