AllFreeNovel
Share Us
THIRT
TYLER
My fist connectswith Gracie’s door twice before it falls to my side. She’s going to tell me to get fucked. That’s what I would do if I were her. But it’s too late to turn back now.
Soft footsteps sound behind the door before they stop. My chest constricts when the door still doesn’t open a few moments later.
I sigh. “Open up, Gray. I know you’re looking at me through the peephole.”
A loud huff. “What are you doing here?”
“Open the door first. I want to talk.”
“Okay, well, I don’t.”
The menace in her words doesn’t surprise me. I’d say it’s completely warranted. I should have been here yesterday, not zip-lining with my friends. Fuck, all yesterday did was allow me a space away from Gracie to feel even guiltier about what happened both inside of her room and afterward at dinner.
The odds of her forgiving me now, after I let her marinate in her hurt feelings for an entire day, are slim to none. But that doesn’t mean that I won’t at least try. She might not be my girl, but she’s still family. I would have wound up in jail had any other prick hurt her the way I did.
I swallow my pride. “Please, Gray. Open the door.”
Two beats later, she does.
It’s a struggle not to show the effect she has on me, looking like a goddamn angel without trying.
Her hair is loose, cascading down her back in waves and shining under the early morning light that’s slipping in beneath the window coverings. She blinks at me sleepily, and I have to divert my eyes before I end up falling to my knees in front of her and begging for forgiveness.
Her eyes harden. “Okay. Speak.”
“Can I come in?” Please.
She watches me for far too long before shifting backward and opening the door enough for me to slip inside. I wander further into her room as she shuts the door.
“If you’re here to shit on me again, at least let me put on different clothes,” she mutters. I look at her outfit and immediately regret it.
She’s wearing nothing but small sleep shorts and a tank top with straps too loose to carry the weight of her breasts. I gulp and quickly look away.
“I’m here to apologize, Gracie,” I say on an exhale.
She makes a sound in the back of her throat that explains just how little she believes that. I can’t blame her.
“Right. Let me guess, it was my brother that sent you? I’m surprised you’re even here considering how badly I must creep you out. I wouldn’t want to catch your heels under the toes of my shoes.”
My stomach drops. “Shit, princess. Nobody made me come here. And I shouldn’t have said that stuff to you. It was out of line.”
She glowers at me. “Don’t call me that. Actually, just don’t call me anything. Get out of my room, and don’t come back.”
“Yeah, I’m not going to do that,” I say. Her cheeks are flaming, and the only thing I want is to hold them in my palms and find out just how hot they feel. “We need to talk about this. I’m not leaving this resort with these feelings between us.”
“That’s only because you can’t live with your guilt, Tyler. I don’t want you to apologize just because you feel bad. I want you to apologize because you care about me and can’t stand the thought of ever hurting me.”
I scrape a hand through my hair. “Are those not the same? Fuck, Gracie. I don’t know what I’m doing here, but I’m trying.”
Sadness flashes across the blue pools of her eyes. Panic swells inside of me.
“No, Tyler. They’re not the same thing. And honestly, I don’t blame you for not knowing the difference. It goes beyond the scope of what you can give me emotionally.”
I take a step toward her, my lungs tight. “What does that even mean?”
