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“Your mom is right. Too much chocolate will rot your teeth.” Grant reached behind him and pulled out two cans of soda and a bar of chocolate. He walked over to Ron and handed him the can of soda with a flourish. Then he offered me the chocolate, our fingers brushing against each other as he did.
Despite the fact that we parted ways in the way that we did, Grant was still the same man Taylor had tried to set me up with him. Not only was he as attentive and sweet as I remembered, but there was also something different about him. He held himself differently and with a lot more confidence than I remembered, as if the past five years had humbled him.
Maturity looked good on him.
“Thanks for this.” I peeled back the wrapper and broke off a piece. “I didn’t even know I needed this.”
Grant gestured to one of the chairs opposite his desk and took the other one. “It’s my pleasure. I’m sorry there isn’t more I can do to help.”
I sank into the chair opposite him and sighed. “You’re already doing plenty.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
“You’re doing it.” I looked directly at him and gave him a small smile. “So, how does it feel to be back? Do you miss Chicago?”
Grant sat back in his chair and folded his arms in his lap. “I liked Chicago, but I definitely like LA a lot more. It’s got a lot more life and color.”
“That’s good then. No regrets about moving back?”
“None.”
“There you are.” Taylor materialized in the doorway, a thin sheen of sweat on her forehead and her heels in her hands. “I thought you guys left without me.”
“We wouldn’t go to dinner without you.” I stood up and smoothed out the front of my shirt. “You ready to go?”
“Let me just wash my face and fix myself. Grant, do you mind if I use your bathroom? I’m too tired to walk back to my own office.”
“Of course.”
Taylor strode past us, giving me a meaningful look on her way past. “I hope I didn’t interrupt anything.”
Grant shoved his hands into his pockets. “Not at all. Rach and I were just catching up.”
“You should join us for dinner, Grant. If you don’t have anything else to do.”
“I don’t, and I’d love to, thank you.”
Taylor’s head popped out of the bathroom, droplets of water sliding down her face and a bright grin on her face. “Great. We’re probably going out for Mexican. Any objections?”
“Mexican sounds great.”
Taylor emerged with her shirt tucked into her skirt and her hair in loose waves around her shoulders. “Great. Let’s get going then.”
With that, she took Ron’s hand in hers, and the two of them walked ahead of us. Grant and I trailed behind, making small talk the entire time. In the elevator, Grant stood next to me while Ron bounced on the balls of his feet. Once we reached the garage, Grant ushered us towards his car and held the door open for us.
Taylor got into the back with Ron, leaving me in the passenger seat next to Grant. In the rearview mirror, she kept giving me pointed looks while talking to Ron. During dinner, Taylor used any and every excuse to push us both into conversation, smiling to herself the entire time. Thankfully, Grant was none the wiser.
All through dinner, he was attentive and kind, going out of his way to make sure that both Ron and I had everything we needed. He kept telling stories to make Ron laugh, and he even elicited a smile or two from me. By the end of the night, the knot in my stomach had unfurled, and I was feeling better about everything.
At least until Grant dropped us off in front of the apartment building, and I spotted Bernard through the glass doors. He had his phone held up to his face and a harried look on his face. Our eyes met when he got on the elevator, and I held my breath until the doors pinged shut behind him. As soon as they did, I breathed a sigh of relief and led Ron inside.
A few moments later, the elevator doors opened. I kept glancing over at Bernard’s door while I struggled with my key. Finally, the door clicked open, and Ron skipped in first while I followed closebehind. For the rest of the night, I kept finding excuses to check the door, even when I knew no one was there.
Over the next few days, I did everything I could to stay busy.
Between work and my dinners with Taylor, I didn’t want to be left alone with my thoughts. Taylor did everything she could to keep me distracted, and whenever I visited her, I ended up running into Grant. Every single time, he greeted Ron and me with a smile and some kind of candy.
But I still couldn’t see him as anything other than a friend.
