Page 37 of Wicked Love

She trained a long dark fingertip along my chest. “You sure? I have specials I reserve for selected customers. And congratulations, you made the cut.”

“As I already said, not interested.”

The old me would have relished the idea, but not this new and improved version.

“Want me to change your mind?” She leaned forward, and her lips grazed mine for an infinitesimal second before she whispered next to my ear, “Meet me when you’re done.”

Wow, had our roles been reversed and I had acted like that, I would have gotten kicked out of this place in two point nine seconds.

“Think about it, handsome.”

She turned to leave, swaying her hips and waving at me over her shoulder, when I noticed a frozen Grace ten feet in front of me.

She glared at me, hurt flashing in her brown irises. Raw and almost palpable.

“Wow. Don’t be shy on my account.” Her clipped words hit me straight in the heart. Where it stung. “Follow her. She’s clearly waiting for you to join her behind that door.”

She padded forward, drained the rest of her drink, banged the glass on the table, and stormed outside.

I dopped a couple of twenties on the table and scurried after her. “Grace, wait.”

She ran into the night, ignoring my pleas.

“It’s not what you think. I told her I wasn’t into her. Guess she’s not smart enough to understand simple words.”

Grace halted her escape and spun to face me. “I’m not stupid, Joe. She was kissing you. I saw it. Don’t deny it happened. Don’t paint me a fool.” She flicked her wrist. “Anyway, it’s none of my business, so go back in there, and finish what you started. We both know it wouldn’t be the first time you fuck a girl you meet in a bar.”

“Cheap shot. More so, coming from you.”

“I say things as I see them. Stay here. I’m going home.”

I blinked. “Home?”

“No. I’m going to cuddle with DH. That home.”

My shoulders sagged. “Don’t go. I have no intention of going back to that bar. Not without you.”

She snorted. “I’m not the boss of you. You are free do to whatever or whoever you want, Joe. I’m no one. Just the daughter of the woman your dad married.”

Fury swirled in my stomach. “Is that what you believe?”

Grace folded her arms over her chest. She didn’t wear a jacket and would freeze to death if we didn’t retreat inside soon. “That’s what it is. Don’t try to sugarcoat what we are.”

“It’s not true. Stop making up stories about me when you don’t know the truth.”

Grace tipped a hip forward. “What’s the truth, Joe? Go ahead, enlighten me.”

“What do you want me to tell you? That every minute of every day you’re in my mind? That nothing in my life has ever felt so right than the night we met and that I was upset when I woke up the next morning and realized you were gone? That I let myself believe you went to grab coffee and would be back because you were in no hurry to leave me? And that I waited three hours before deciding it was a lost cause and you were never coming back? What do you want me to tell you, Grace? We’re stuck in a situation that pleases neither of us. And still, we gotta make it work.”

Fat tears streamed down her cheeks. “It’s not… That’s… I don’t know what I want you to say, Joe. I wish things were easy. That I could fall in love with you and it would right all the wrongs in the world. In my world. I wish I could hold your hand when we’re out and about. And kiss you. Because God knows I’ve been thinking about your kisses and your arms around me for a long fucking time. I wish our parents weren’t married, but I will always be glad we moved to Pennsylvania because otherwise, you and I might have never met. See how fucked-up this is? We’re prisoners in a state of limbo, and I have no idea how to get out of it. Or if I wish to get out of it…”

She wiped her runny nose with the back of her hand.

“All my life, I never belonged. My mom made sure of it. I grew up faster than any kid should. I witnessed my mom making herself sick, thinking she would be loved if she looked a certain way. I saw her cry herself to sleep because she got rejected. That only fed her obsessions. She would start a new diet or exercise until she fainted, refusing to eat after sweating at the gym for three hours. Then she would gulp diet and sleeping pills like they were candies. I saw it all. She made me feel ugly and fat because it helped her feel better about herself. She insulted me, put me on a diet, made me exercise, as if it would fix things in her. I was forced to be an adult early because my mother would always make herself the priority. Her needs always came first. All. The. Freaking. Time. She never once put me first.”

“Grace—”

“No. Listen. You’re the only person who makes sense in the craziness also called my life. You challenge me. You cheer on me. You make me want to be better, do better, reach for my dreams. You make me want to put my needs first for once. And yet the one thing I desire, I can’t have because someone somewhere decided it was wrong for us to be together. I’m tired of my mother, society, and everyone around telling me what I should do and how I should do it. Sure, my age on paper says something, but the age in my heart and my soul says something else. I just wish for once their votes would count.”