Page 37 of Shattered Hearts

“When did you…?”

“In Sydney. Twelve weeks ago,” I breathe out hoarsely.

His jaw tightens as he glances away, and my heart stutters at the look on his face. He’s disappointed in me. It’s hard not to miss. Guilt and shame wrap themselves around my soul as I drop my chin, unable to see his expression anymore when his grip on me tightens.

“You slept with someone.” I hear the hollowness in his tone.

Sniffing, I nod, hair falling like a curtain around me, protecting me. His breath is uneven as it hits my ear. He’s so close yet feels like an eternity away in the same moment. I cling to him.

“Who was it?” he asks quietly, his voice echoing off the tiled walls.

“It doesn’t matter. I don’t think he wants anything to do with me. He won’t pick up my calls,” I rasp.

He murmurs something under his breath that honestly sounds something like he’d murder the guy, but I don’t ask him to repeat himself. Instead, I grip onto him, sobbing against his shoulder as he strokes my hair.

“He’s an idiot if he doesn’t do anything,” Grayson admits, although it sounds distant and hollow.

My throat works as I blink up at him; there is a shadow in his eyes and a wrinkle in his brows.

“It’s not like it matters.” My voice catches as another tear slips down my cheek. “I don’t even like him, G.”

He holds my gaze before wiping my cheek clean. I press my skin against the smoothness of his thumb. “Then why did you sleep with him if you don’t like him?”

The lump in my throat builds, and when I think I might be sick again, I shake my head, averting my gaze. “I-I don’t know,” I let out weakly.

I do know, but he doesn’t need to.

“I feel like I screwed up everything,” I murmur.

Grayson stares at me before cradling the back of my head, rocking my body gently. “You haven’t. You’re still the capable, strong woman I know.”

I let out a loaded sob as his head rests on mine. I feel his heart beating against my arm. It’s somehow steady, comforting, keeping me in check as I continue to break down my walls a bit for him.

My best friend. The love of my life. The one person I wanted to be with and might not now that he knows what I’ve done. He might not see it, but I’ve ruined everything. My plan has been thrown out the window now.

“But I feel like I have.”

His hands are on my face, lifting my chin to stare into his eyes as he holds my gaze. It’s warm and familiar, exactly what I need right now. “You haven’t, Laynie. You’ve just detoured a little, that’s all. You’re still the best baker I know, and you’re still my best friend.”

Best friend.

Feels like a slap in the face, but he’s right. I am still his best friend, but that’s all I ever will be. Even if Scott returns my calls and agrees to go through this with me, we won’t love each other. We might tolerate each other, but that’s all.

It won’t be real.

What I feel for Grayson is real, but he’s drawing that line between us. The line that specifically states what we are.

Best friends.

Nothing more and nothing else.

Chapter Fifteen

Laynie

Icouldn’t stay there.

No doubt Grayson’s whole family knows by now. Macie found us on the floor, and Grayson told her that he knew. She grabbed Sadie for me as Grayson held me as I cried until my eyes burnt and my throat was numb, never letting me go. I’ve never been more grateful to have a best friend, no matter how much it gut punches me each time I think about it, but he was there for me, just like he always is.