Total pages in book: 45
Estimated words: 41725 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 209(@200wpm)___ 167(@250wpm)___ 139(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 41725 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 209(@200wpm)___ 167(@250wpm)___ 139(@300wpm)
Him talking about our bed squeezed my heart in the best way. I imagined him pulling at his shirt collar in frustration as he grasped for words, and thinking of that familiar gesture made a little seed of happiness bloom in my chest where only doubt and sadness had been before.
“Look, I know Liza showing up unannounced wasn’t ideal,” he went on. “And I’m guessing it brought up a lot of, uh… emotions? Sadness and loss? Thoughts of your parents and brother?”
“Actually… yes,” I managed to whisper. “In a way, it did.”
“Right. Okay. And that’s… that’s why you can’t come home?”
“At least for tonight,” I agreed carefully. “Besides, I have a meeting with Professor Casteel before class in the morning, and you have that patient consult—”
“You promised Cleo you’d come to her robotics thing after school tomorrow,” Grant reminded me. “Will you be there?”
“Of course,” I said without a second thought. “If Cleo wants me to be.”
“She does. And so do I.”
Grant spoke with such conviction I couldn’t doubt it.
He blew out a breath. “Please, Brody, talk to me. Are you okay?” His voice was softer now, more gentle and hesitant. So damned kind.
“Not really,” I said softly, surprising myself with honesty.
“What can I do? How can I fix this?” Grant’s voice sounded stressed. “Send me Fen’s address, and I’ll come get you. I know I’m not anyone’s idea of an emotional support person, but I’d like to try. To… to be there for you.”
I squeezed my eyes closed and wondered how I’d gotten lucky enough to meet someone who cared enough to want to go into battle for me.
“You’re wrong,” I whispered. “No one’s ever been as supportive of me as you have. But I… I don’t think I’m ready to talk tonight. I need rest more than anything, and if we talk, I won’t get any.”
More than that, I was scared of what might come out of my mouth if we talked right now. Scared I’d beg him to love me. Scared I’d do something to run Liza off, which would disappoint the girls. Scared I’d ruin their family dynamics and make the girls question who they should come to with their issues.
The situation was far more complex than a simple question of what I wanted… or what Grant wanted, either.
Grant exhaled. “Will you call or text if you change your mind? Your number is set to break through my Do Not Disturb setting. I can be there any hour. Promise me.”
I nodded, though he couldn’t see. “I promise.”
“Okay, good. Good. Okay.” Grant snorted. “Christ, I sound like an idiot. You know… I became a doctor so I could fix things,” he said quietly. “Make people better. I hate that I can’t do that for you right now.”
“You have.” Just talking to him for a few moments made me feel settled in a way I hadn’t all day. “Really, Grant.”
He paused for a long moment, during which neither of us spoke, and the air around me buzzed with the things I wanted to say but couldn’t bring myself to yet.
Like, I love you.
Like, I want this to be real so badly.
Like, I want to fight for you. For my family.
“I’ll let you sleep,” Grant said finally. “But call me if you… Oh. Uh. Guess I already said that, huh?” He laughed softly. “Good night, sweetheart.”
He ended the call before I could say anything, but I could tell I was wearing a goofy smile on my face as I put the phone down. Anything I would have said in return would have sounded as goofy and giddy as I felt.
Maybe Fen was right. Maybe I had overreacted to Liza’s sudden appearance.
Grant cared about me. That much was obvious. And it was nice to hear he was also a little mixed up about things like I was. Tomorrow, we’d talk about it, clear the air. And maybe, just maybe, we could find a way to make it work.
I fell into an exhausted but peaceful sleep, imagining that I’d be back in Grant’s arms the following day.
But I should have known it wouldn’t be quite that easy.
11
GRANT
“And since when do we listen to Liza?” my sister, Gwen, demanded in a low voice so the parents around us couldn’t hear. We were standing on the edge of a wide, grassy robotics practice field—a thing I’d swear could only be found at Mountbatten—surrounded by groups of excited kids from several other schools and a collection of robots that were about to do battle… or something like that.
“Since she made a good point. Brody deserves to know he has an out,” I said determinedly. What I did not say was that I was equally determined to make sure he didn’t take it. I wanted Brody to want our marriage to be real, to make that choice of his own free will, but I was prepared to be very convincing.