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It was five fifteen Evan still hadn’t shown up. I was ready to call him when there was a knock on my door. If it was my brother, he owed me a huge apology. Gregory’s were never late. If we gave someone an agreement for our time, we honored that.
“Can I come in?”Her voice sliced the air between us. My already broken heart splintering as she stood in the doorframe unwilling to move closer.Her blonde hair fell on her shoulders glistening in the sunlight that was still peeking through my windows. Those gorgeous green eyes clouded with fear and uncertainty. Two things I didn’t want to see right now.
“Yeah. I was uh, expecting Evan.”
I stood, unsure of how to greet her or what to say. My inner turmoil fighting two battles against my chest. One telling me to be mad and the other wanting to kiss the shit out of her.
“I think we need to talk Bryce.”
That didn’t sound good.
Chapter Twenty One
Hannah
The tapping of my fingers against the steering wheel did nothing to ease the tension building. How could a building be so terrifying? Gripping my phone I typed quickly.
Hannah: this is a bad idea. I changed my mind
Evan: not a bad idea
Evan: Morgan’s next to me, she said get your ass in there
There was regret telling Morgan what was going on, but I needed a non-Gregory opinion. In the last week I had grown close to her. Even with the slight age difference we got along really well. It was nice to have someone else besides Nicole to bounce ideas off.
Hannah: what if he kicks me out?
Evan: have you met my brother? He’s not going to kick you out sunshine
He was right. No matter what I said when I walked in that room Bryce would listen with open ears. He would understand, or at the very least let me get the words out.
Inhaling deeply I took the keys out of the ignition and exited my car. I could do this. The faster I got in there the faster I could get out.
“Hello, how can I help you?” The young man sitting behind the desk right inside the entrance flashed a wide grin in my direction. He looked like he was enjoying his job although the fact that his face was buried in his phone watching some videos probably was the real reason.
“Hi. I’m here to visit… umm Bryce Gregory. I know his room number, I just don’t know where it is.”
“Nice. Bryce is cool. Can’t believe he’s here. Damn good bull rider. You family? He’s got a big family, it’s hard to keep track of everyone.”
Mustering up a smile, I shook my head. “No. Just a, no. I’m not family.”
This kid couldn’t be over sixteen. His eagerness and enthusiasm talking about Bryce wasn’t something I expected. Although it wasn’t unfounded. Bryce was a damn good bull rider. He deserved the fan club that came along with it.
“He’s on the second floor, when you get off the elevator he’s at the end of the hall.”
“Thanks so much.”
Stepping onto the elevator my mind flashed back to our vacation. The first time we really spoke to one another. It felt like a lifetime ago now. How was I going to go into his room and have this conversation?
The doors parted, and with each lazy footstep I told myself this was necessary. Bryce didn’t deserve the way I had been treating him. It wasn’t fair to keep lying and having his family lie for me.
The kid downstairs said it was at the end of the hall. Walking past each closed door my chest tightened. Could I really do this? He may never forgive me once I told him. There was no doubt he would never look at me the same.
My knuckles rapped gently against the door, the soft sound reverberating loudly in my ears. Swinging open Bryce stood in front of me looking damn near perfect. From his fitted black shirt to the grey joggers hanging precariously on his hips down to the white socks. Because yes, my eyes stuck to the ground where those white socks stood as I opened my mouth. I was petrified to speak.
“Can I come in?”
Asking him to come in seemed easy enough, yet the words were hard to force from my throat. His eyes barely met mine, his voice straining as he spoke quietly.
