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Chapter 17 - Grayson: Do I Care?
It had been almost four days since my little mishap with Jade. I didn’t know what I had been thinking. I had been blinded by damn lust, like a stupid teenage kid.
I didn’t want to feel all these things for her. It had been years since I had last seen or heard from this woman and, all of a sudden, so many feelings came rushing back. I wanted to forget her. I wanted nothing more than to move forward with my life. But she was stuck in my head, and I couldn’t get her out of it.
She was like this poison that had infected me, and there was no antidote.
I took another swig of my beer and changed the channel to something more entertaining. I had given Ethan some time alone because I knew he needed the space. He would not admit it, but his mother’s death really broke him. He was pretending to hold it together when all he really wanted to do was crumble and fall.
But I also knew there was more to this than just his mother dying. There were some underlying emotions that he had yet to deal with.
I wanted to be there for him, but the only way I knew how was to give him the space I knew he needed. I hadn’t seen much of Jade either. I had purposely kept my distance from her. I couldn’t trust myself around her right now.
I knew she was still in Riverroad because she was working on Ethan’s case. Their relationship was strained, and there was a lot of hurt that needed to be healed. I didn’t know if they could heal it anytime soon.
What Ethan had told Jade was a lot to take for one person. I remember seeing her face and how broken she looked. I had this urge to wrap my arms around her and dry her tears. I wanted to make whatever was hurting her stop. That was when I had this insane desire to punch Ethan in the face. But of course, I held back.
I took another swig of my beer. I was going to need something stronger soon because this beer was doing nothing but making me think more about Jade.
I started to stand but then I nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw my sister’s face in the window. She was smiling like a damn lunatic.
“What the hell, Lily?” I walked to the front door and unlocked it.
She walked up to the door and beamed up at me. “Hello, big brother. Mind if I come in?”
I didn’t have time to answer because she barreled past me and made her way into my home like she owned it. As she passed me, I could smell the faint hint of cigarettes and the unmistakable stench of vodka.
I closed the door and walked to the living room she had disappeared into.
I looked at the time and saw it was nearly eleven at night.She was out late which meant she was with her no-good biker boyfriend, Maximus, or some whacked-out name.
“Where have you been, Lily? Mom has been worried sick about you.”
She waved me off. “I’m a grown-ass woman, Gray. I was out.”
“Out doing what exactly?”
She turned to look at me before she plopped onto my couch. “Just out. I don’t need to tell you about my life. I was with my friends having fun and enjoying my life. Is that such a crime now?”
“No, it’s not, but it would be nice if you picked up your damn phone, Lily. You can’t just show up at my house unannounced, smelling like a bar, and expect me to be cool with it. You are underage.”
She scoffed, “Please don’t try to get all responsible on me now, big brother. You are the one that gave me my first shot of tequila when I was 17 remember? So, if anyone is to blame for my sudden interest and intrigue in alcohol, it’s you.”
I crossed my arms over my chest, staring daggers at the back of her skull. She propped her legs up on my coffee table like she owned it and started flipping through the channels.
“Screw this.” I moved around the couch and grabbed the remote from her hand. She protested, but I shut her up with one look. When I turned back to her, I noticed something on her neck that her polo had been trying to hide.
I felt my anger rising and I knew I was about to blow.
“What the hell is on your neck, Lily?”
Lily panicked and started pulling the polo up trying to hide the bruising, but it was too late. I had already seen it.
“Grayson,” she said warily. “It’s not what you think.”
“What it looks like to me is that whack-ass boyfriend of yours touched you again. Lily, I didn’t go after him the first time, but I will not stand for this. What kind of big brother am I if I can’t even protect my own little sister when things like this happen?”
She stood from the couch. “I know, but I don’t want you getting on the wrong side of him. He is dangerous, Gray, and I don’t want you getting hurt.”
