Grayson

I FELT LIKE a world-class jackass. All the work I’d accomplished to destroy those walls of hers was undone with one careless mistake. She’d locked herself in the pool house bathroom for a half hour, crying her eyes out and refusing to let anyone in. The sound of her crying shredded my insides. I couldn’t recall the last time I’d ever felt so helpless. The only words she’d spoken to me since she emerged, fully dressed, were a demand that I take her home.

She was still trembling when Mom and Nana had insisted on hugging her goodbye. She remained in a kind of dazed silence as my family bid us farewell, and had stayed quiet the entire ride back to her apartment, no matter how hard I tried to engage her.

“Lola,” I attempted again as I pulled the car to a stop in front of her building. “Baby, please talk to me.”

“Thanks for the ride,” she mumbled, reaching for the door handle.

Okay, that wasn’t what I had in mind. I hit the automatic lock on the door to prevent her from opening it. “I’m so fucking sorry. I didn’t realize—”

“It doesn’t matter,” she snapped. “You should have listened the million times I begged you to stop, but you didn’t. Maybe if you hadn’t been so busy playing with your ex-girlfriend you’d have noticed I was freaking the fuck out.”

“Baby….” I reached for her hand but she pulled it away. “Fiona had nothing to do with this—”

“Whatever. It doesn’t matter. Just… unlock the door.”

“Not until you talk to me. Why didn’t you just tell me?”

“Because it’s not something I like talking about!” she barked. “It’s embarrassing! I’m a thirty-one-year-old woman who’s terrified of water and doesn’t know how to swim because of one stupid little episode from my childhood.”

“It’s not stupid if it still affects you so strongly,” I insisted. “Lola, you can talk to me about anything.”

That statement got her full attention. Unfortunately, judging from the look on her face and the short bubble of hysterical laughter. “Oh my God, Grayson! We had sex, that’s it, and you’re acting like it means we’re fucking soul mates or something. I’ve got news for you — that’s not how it works.”

Anger began clawing at my throat and it took everything I had to swallow it down. “It was more than that and you fucking know it,” I growled. “You’re pissed at me and I get that. You have every right. But you called yourself my girlfriend—”

“Consider it a moment of weakness, a lapse into insanity. It won’t happen again.”

I lost the precarious hold I had on my temper and shouted, “That’s fucking bullshit!”

“I told you I don’t do relationships!” she shot back. “It’s not my fault you didn’t listen.” She yanked on the door handle in aggravation. “Now open this fucking door!”

“Not until you talk to me!”

“You want to talk? Fine, we’ll talk.”

“Good.”

“Instead of trying to fix my shit, why don’t you concentrate on fixing your own?”

Not good.

“I don’t have anything I need to fix. Everything in my life is great. Except the fact that the girl I’m attracted to is crazy!”

She dropped her head back against the headrest and yelped, “Jesus Christ! How could you possibly be this clueless?”

“What—”

“You know what? I’m done. I’m so freaking done. Unlock the door.”

“Lola—”

“No! Just open the door!”

Her eyes were wild, flashing with a mixture of emotions I couldn’t decipher. Because she looked so close to losing it completely, I decided it best to give her what she wanted now, and revisit the more important things later.

I unlocked the door, stating firmly, “This isn’t over.”

“Just another thing you’re wrong about,” she laughed bitterly, as she shoved the door open and stepped out. But before she closed it, she leaned in and offered a parting shot that left me reeling. “Oh, and I hate to burst your bubble of ignorance, but the reason things are bad between you and your brother is because he’s in love with Fiona, probably has been for years. That took me all of thirty seconds to figure out. And she’s still so desperately in love with you that she doesn’t even notice him. So much for not having anything to fix, huh?”

With that, she slammed the door and stomped up the steps into her building.

Lola

I WAS PISSED. I hated how I felt as I walked away from Grayson, but my stupid pride and sense of self-preservation wouldn’t allow me to turn around.

Which just pissed me off even more.

“Oh, Ms. Abbatelli, your—”

I held my hand up, palm out, and kept walking. “Not now, Maury. I’m in a shitty mood.”

“But—”

I kept moving, feeling more and more bitchy with every step I took. I just wanted to get up to my apartment, wash the stink of chlorine from my skin and hair, and drink myself to sleep.

I counted the floors as the elevator carried me up to my apartment, thankful that no one else got on to slow my ascent. My puffy eyes itched from my pitiful crying jag earlier. My hair was a tangled mass of knots since I’d had nothing to brush it out with after getting it wet. I was sure my streaked mascara and eyeliner made me look like an escaped mental patient. But I didn’t care about any of that at the moment. I was too busy drowning in my misery after… well, nearly drowning.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I climbed off the elevator onto my floor, rummaging around in my purse for my keys. I twisted, disengaging the lock, and was so consumed by my own personal pity party that I didn’t register the sound of the television or the fact that all the lights in my apartment were on.

That was until a deep voice sounded from behind me, scaring the ever-loving shit out of me.

“Hey, shorty. Where you been all day?”

The blood-curdling scream that came from deep within my belly was fit for a horror movie. I spun around on my gorgeous Alexander Wang studded platform sandals, wielding my huge Michael Kors tote like a weapon, and smacked the man right in the stomach. He keeled over with a pained “Oomph.”

Still screaming like crazy, I lifted my bag high — thankful that I never left home without my wallet, Kindle, makeup bag, phone, travel manicure kit, day planner, and at least three pairs of sunglasses — and brought it down on the back of his head.

“Goddamn it, Lola! Have you lost your mind?”

I was just about to swing again, that time going for the guy’s twig and berries, when I recognized the angry voice belonged to none other than my brother.

“Dominic?” I screeched. “Are you crazy?” I continued to shout, arms still extended over my head. “I thought you were a robber! I could have killed you!”

He straightened from his prone position and glared as he rubbed his stomach with one hand and the back of his head with the other.

“Your bag weighs a fucking ton, little sis, but you’d still be screwed if I was a real robber.”

“Sweet sister Christian,” I breathed, placing a hand on my chest to try and soothe my frantic heart. “You scared the shit out of me. What were you thinking?”

Dom snatched my purse from my hands and dropped it on the table just inside the front door, still scowling at me. “I was thinking I’d surprise my sister with a visit. Didn’t Maury tell you I was up here?”

“Oh.” I worked my bottom lip between my teeth and shuffled from foot to foot. “I, uh, wasn’t really listening to what he was saying.”

“Christ, Lola. Really?” He threw his hands up in exasperation and turned around. I followed as he headed for the kitchen. “And you tell Ma not to worry about you living on your own,” he grumbled sarcastically as he rummaged through my wine selection. He settled on a nice red blend and started uncorking.

“There’s nothing for her to worry about. I’m perfectly safe here by myself.”

My brother’s look screamed “Bitches be crazy” as he poured wine into two glasses and slid one across the counter top in my direction. “What the hell happened to you? You look like you took a walk through a drive-thru car wash.”

It was my turn to glare. “Thanks, asshole. I’ll have you know it’s been a really shitty day, so if you could refrain from making fun of me, it would be greatly appreciated.” I guzzled my wine in a very unladylike manner and wiggled the glass in front of his face for a refill.

He poured me another glass while making that concerned-brother face as he stared at me. “What happened? You get mugged or something?”

“No,” I sighed. “Nothing like that. It’s a long story.”

He rested his back against the counter across from me, crossing his ankles as he sipped his wine. “Well, that’s why I came for a visit, shorty, so I can catch up on your life… long stories included. Now tell me why you look like that creepy little girl who climbs out of TV screens and kills people in The Ring. Does it have something to do with the guy you’re making out with in all the papers?”

I frowned at my brother’s smirking face. “God, you’re just as bad as Mom.”

He ignored me and repeated, “Tell me what happened.”

I inhaled a deep breath before sucking down more wine, needing it to help ease my still frazzled nerves. “He took me to meet his parents today.”

Dom choked on his wine and started beating on his chest as he coughed. Once he was able to breathe regularly, he looked up at me, his eyes the size of half dollars. “You went to meet his parents?”

“Well, you don’t have to say it like that,” I said flatly.

He let out a laugh of disbelief. “Excuse me for being shocked. You’re the one who said you’d rather eat gas station sushi than ever enter into another committed relationship.”

“I never said that,” I argued, setting my wineglass on the table and crossing my arms over my chest defensively.

“You said exactly that.”

“Whatever. Are you going to let me finish my story or what?”

His hands went up in surrender. “Sorry, sorry. Continue.”

I blew out a puff of air and attempted to run a hand through my hair, but had to stop when I encountered a mess of knots. “So, he took me to meet his parents today and it was….” I paused, trying to find the word to best describe my afternoon before finally settling on “A disaster.”

Dominic instantly went into intense big brother mode. Uncrossing his ankles, he moved closer, resting his palms on the counter and leaning in with a stony expression on his face. “What happened? Did that fucker do something to you?”

“No,” I huffed, giving my head a minute shake. “God, no. Nothing like that. It was going really well at first….”

“Okay…,” he dragged out, prompting me to give him more.

I told him about Fiona’s sudden appearance, how seeing them interact twisted a knife in my stomach, how for the first time in my life I’d experienced jealousy so acute it ate at me. I even went into detail about my theory on his brother being in love with Grayson’s ex. I spilled it all, opening up to my big brother in a way I never had before. Then I finished by telling him about being tossed into the pool, knowing he was one of only a handful of people who knew how badly something like that would affect me.

“Oh God.” He rounded the kitchen counter and pulled me into a big protective hug that infused my limbs with much-needed warmth. “God, shorty. I’m so sorry that happened. You must have been terrified.”

“I was, for a little bit, at least,” I admitted with a sniffle, burrowing deeper into his strong chest. I hadn’t realized until that very moment just how badly I needed the security he offered. “But then I was just embarrassed. I mean, I acted completely insane. In front of everyone. It was humiliating.”

“Don’t even go there,” he commanded in a rough, angry tone. “You have nothing to be embarrassed about.”

“Easy for you to say. You weren’t there to witness my meltdown.”

His arms tightened around me. “I didn’t need to be. I was there that day, remember?”

I shivered at the recollection of the day he was talking about. I’d only been six years old, but it still sat in my memory clear as day. “Thanks,” I whispered, hugging Dominic back just as tightly as he was holding me. “I really needed to hear that.” Pulling back, I looked up at my brother and smiled. “Despite you nearly giving me a heart attack, I’m really glad you’re here.”

He returned my smile and said, “Me too, shorty.”

I moved out of his embrace and returned to my wineglass, taking a sip, thinking the discussion was over. I was wrong.

“Now, about the ex….”

I groaned and let my head fall back. “I don’t want to talk anymore about her. I hate her. She sucks. Can’t we just leave it at that?”

“No, we can’t,” he informed me, bending at the waist to rest his elbows on the granite countertop. “Because I’m not going to let you hide behind that as an excuse. I know you better than anyone else, and I’ve never seen you like this.”

“Like what?” I asked, trying to come across as sarcastic even as my heart flipped in my chest.

“Like you care. You can’t hide it from me, shorty. You really like this guy. And that terrifies you.” I had nothing to say. It was uncanny how correct he was. “From what you said, your guy doesn’t have any feelings left for this girl—”

“Yeah, but she’s still in love with him,” I defended.

“So? That doesn’t mean shit and you know it. She might still want him, but if he’s done, there’s nothing she can do about it. He told you he sees her as nothing more than a friend, and I think you need to trust that. He hasn’t given you any reason not to.”

I narrowed my eyes at my brother and downed the last of the wine in my glass. “You know, I really don’t like you right now.”

He chuckled and took a sip from his own glass. “That’s because you know I’m right.” I didn’t respond since the stupid jerk was right; instead, I stuck my tongue out at him. “Ah, now I know I’m right. You only turn into an immature little brat when I’m right.”

“Shut up before I kick you out.”

His head fell back as he laughed his ass off. “Oh, little sis. I’ve missed you like crazy.”

That worked wonders in warming me back up. “I’ve missed you too, big brother.”

“Good. Now go get a shower. You look like an extra on The Walking Dead.”

I rolled my eyes and started for my bedroom. “And then you ruin it,” I muttered as I walked away.

“Oh, and Lola?”

I turned to look back over my shoulder. “Yeah?”

“Hate to dump this on you now after you had such a shitty day, but I need to warn you about something.”

The hairs on my arms stood on end. “Warn me about what?”

The smile that spread across Dominic’s face was positively evil. “Mom’s coming for a visit in two weeks.”

“Son of a bitch. Can this day get any worse?”

My brother’s laughter followed me all the way into my bedroom. The prick was enjoying my misery way too damn much.