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“I already said it, Grey. It’s Charlie.”
I felt her studying me for a long time before she looked up at the ceiling as well. “Is that really it, or is it the fact that for the first time, you’re actually falling for someone, and that scares you?”
“Falling for—no. I’m just—”
“Falling for her.”
“Confused,” I argued, my voice bordering on a growl.
“You’ve spouted off a list of what sounds like your reasons why you shouldn’t be with her. You came storming in and shoved Jagger out of your way to get to her tonight, and looked defeated on your way out.” She paused, then reiterated. “Defeated, Deacon. I’ve never seen you look like that in my life. You’re Deacon Carver, nothing can bring you down, let alone defeat you.”
I was rethinking my love for Grey. She was too perceptive. Too right.
“But a conversation with Charlie did,” she added softly. “I’m not going to pretend to understand what’s going on, and I’m not going to tell you that I’m okay with it. Because even though I’m here right now with you, I know that you have the capability of breaking her heart. She doesn’t need her heart broken again after how hard she fought to put it back together after Ben.”
I ran my free hand through my hair, gripping at it as I did. “I don’t want—” I cut off with a growl. “I don’t want her heart, Grey. I don’t want her in that way. I just . . . I just want her out of my goddamn head.”
Silence engulfed the room again for a long while before Grey sat up and spun around so she was facing me. “I’ll let you keep denying everything to yourself after I leave, but know this: you can’t have it both ways. Charlie isn’t someone who falls in and out of a bed. Charlie is a girl who falls into arms and stays there. So this girl you ditched her for—”
“Girls,” I corrected, my throat thick. Revulsion churned my stomach.
Shock covered Grey’s face and quickly morphed into disappointment.
The front door opened, stopping Grey from speaking, and Graham came walking in with a satisfied look on his face. He did a double take when he spotted us, and walked back a step to flip on the light in the living room.
“What the hell, man? She’s married and has a kid!”
Grey rolled her eyes without looking back at her brother.
I didn’t have it in me to mess with him tonight.
“Does Jagger know you’re here?” Graham demanded as he walked up on us.
“Yes, Graham, he does, and I’m sure he’s totally worried about what’s happening since he let me come alone.”
Graham mumbled something about Jagger needing to keep an eye on Grey, then said louder, “Hey, is Charlie okay?”
The second her name left him, my attention shifted from Grey to Graham, my jaw clenched as I thought of the way Graham seemed to always go after Charlie lately.
Grey’s brow tightened in confusion as she looked up at her brother. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, it seemed like there’s something bothering her.”
“Wh—”
Suspicion flooded me and leaked out when I spoke. “When did you see her?” I asked quickly, cutting Grey off.
Graham gestured over his shoulder, as if Charlie would be standing in our entryway. “Just now at Bonfire.”
Before either of us could respond, Graham pulled his ringing phone out of his pocket, and slowly started backing out of the room as that same satisfied smile covered his face.
I didn’t hear him answer the call, my mind was racing, trying to figure out if there was a key word I had missed just now, or earlier when I’d seen Charlie.
Grey’s wide eyes came back to me again, and this time, the silence between us felt strained and awkward.
Like the times I’d seen Charlie with Graham in the previous weeks, my blood felt white-hot as it pulsed through my veins. I gritted my teeth against the surge of anger that flared up. The feeling so foreign and sickening.
Jealousy.
