GRACE CONVINCED ME to ride back to the house with her. Honestly, I was glad for the offer because it meant I wouldn’t have to leave her. I probably shouldn’t have drunk so much, but if I hadn’t, would I have ended up here beside the woman I loved? I glanced over at her as she drove, her eyes intently watching the road. I could feel a wall being built between us ever since we’d left Dixie’s. She could keep her walls if she needed them. I’d still be here when she broke them down, but the ride was all too quiet. The radio was on but turned down so low I could barely hear it. I needed to break the silence.

“Was Chloe okay today?” I wanted her to know I cared just in case there was any doubt about it.

“Oh, yeah, she’s fine. I’m glad she called you yesterday.” Grace glanced at me with her normal smile and stared back at the road. She seemed so closed off now. I had no idea what was going on in that head of hers.

“I meant it when I said I was here for y’all. I’ll always be here. You know that, right?” She had to know I would drop everything for her and Chloe.

“I do,” she said as we exited the highway.

That was it. She didn’t say anything else. How could things change in a matter of ten minutes? Everything had been going great until now.

“What’s wrong, Grace? Something seems off.”

“Let’s just get home first.”

Home. For some reason, the word didn’t feel as welcoming when she said it.

I stared out at the road I had driven so many times over the past year. I had just admitted my love for Grace, and now, within a matter of minutes, she was going to take it away. Eventually, she would speak, and I would have to listen to her and accept anything she said. If she wished me out of her life, then I would have to grant her wish. I wasn’t sure how I could possibly do such a thing, but I knew if I pushed, I would lose her forever. That was the last thing I wanted.

The headlights brightened the driveway. The car slowed to a stop, and she turned off the engine. I slowly got out and walked behind her as we approached the house. She opened the front door and I followed her inside, closing it behind me. She went to the fridge while I moved to the back window and closed the blinds, still open from earlier.

“You’ve gotta keep these blinds closed at night, Grace.”

“I know.” She shut the fridge door.

I walked over to her and she handed me a bottle of water. I stared into her eyes while I opened the bottle and took a sip. I couldn’t tell what she was thinking anymore, but I could tell that her guard was up and she had shut down somewhere along the way. I wouldn’t be able to sleep if I knew she was upset with me. I knew her well enough to understand it was also going to bother her if we didn’t talk it out.

“Do you want to talk now? I don’t know what’s wrong, but I know something’s bothering you.” I exhaled, trying to rid myself of the nerves. “I want you to be able to talk to me.”

She nodded, and we headed into the living room. She sat, staring at the bookshelf. I followed her gaze to Mike’s picture. I didn’t want to compete with a ghost, but I could sure use his help right now. If anyone knew Grace, it was Mike. I had never wanted to receive signs from a ghost so much in my life. I hoped the things Grayson and Chloe had told me were true and that Mike approved of this. Too bad she’d given up already. I turned to face her and found her closely watching me.

“I’ve never held hands with anyone else before, Wyatt,” she explained. “I don’t know what I’m doing.”

I put my water bottle on the floor and reached out for her hand. I could do this, but I needed her with me. She was so close to getting there, if only she would explain what was going on in her head. Something had happened between Dixie’s and the car, and I needed to find out what it was.

“Can I be honest with you right now?”

She nodded as I clasped both of my hands around hers.

“This right here. This is more than enough for me. I want to be here. I want to be in your life. I want to be in Chloe’s life. If what you need is someone to hold your hand once in a while, then I want to be that guy. I don’t want to ruin us. I’m fine with this. I’m happy to be whatever you want me to be.”

“I’m already in, Grace. Even if it’s only the smallest bit, I’m already in.”

“You can’t, Wyatt.” She slowly pulled her hand out of mine. “You need to have a life. Fooling around with Megan while still hanging out with me and Chloe isn’t a life. I don’t need a babysitter. I’m okay.”

“Is that what you think I’m doing?” I reached out for her hand again, and she let me take it. “Do you think I’m just babysitting you? Making sure my partner’s wife is surviving?”

“Kind of.”

“Grace…”

“I don’t want to be some charity case. It’s been a year. We’re okay. You don’t have to keep doing this.”

I let go of her hand, stood, and walked over to Mike’s picture. Come on, buddy. Help me out here. I placed my hands on the shelf holding his picture. The war we were fighting was different than I had originally assumed. I was fighting to stay with her, but she was fighting for me to go. I needed her to fight for us.

“You’re not some charity case, Grace. That’s not it at all.” I turned around and looked into her glossy eyes as they fought back the tears. I didn’t know what to do. “Don’t you see that I want to be here? You have to see it.”

“I don’t know what I see, Wyatt. Everything’s just really confusing. I’ve been taking advantage of your friendship for so long that I never saw how it was keeping you from having a normal life.”

How could I tell her that she was my life? I wanted so badly to say the words, but they refused to come.

“I think you’re overthinking things,” I said. “We’re friends. I’m not losing that.”

“Friends,” she paused, looked down and nodded.

The world around us fell silent. I didn’t know what to say as she stood up and began to walk away.

“Grace,” I called out just before she went down the hall.

She turned around, keeping her eyes down. I walked over to her and pulled her into my arms. She hugged back, resting her head on my chest. I couldn’t remember the last time we’d shared a hug like this. Probably Mike’s funeral, and just like then, I felt like I was losing my best friend.

“I want to be whatever you want me to be,” I said gently into her ear. “Just let me be in your life.”

She turned her face into my chest, her arms squeezed tighter around me. “You promise you’re not just babysitting me?”

“The farthest thing from it,” I whispered as I breathed in her scent. I pressed my lips against the top of her head. There was no other excuse for the action but to show her I was here for reasons other than babysitting.

“I’m sorry, Wyatt.”

“You have nothing to be sorry about. You should never feel worried about talking things out with me. That’s what we do. We talk things out. I’m always here for you, and it has nothing to do with Mike. I’m here because I need to be. I need to be here with you or I’ll go insane.”

She lifted her head from my chest and gazed up at me. My eyes focused on her lips. I swore she was looking at mine too, but I couldn’t kiss her yet. I moved my hands to her cheeks, slowly brushed my lips against her forehead, and pulled her into me. I didn’t want this moment to end. I wanted to keep her in my arms like this forever. The thought of losing her was crippling, but being able to stand with her like this made it almost worth it. She was worth everything.

“You know,” I said quietly. “The day after tomorrow is New Year’s Eve. You better rest up because I’m going to wear you out.”

Her grip around me loosened as she stepped back and stared wide-eyed.

“We are going to dance for at least five hours,” I clarified.

She laughed it off. “I guess I better wear flats then.”

“Yeah, because I’m not carrying your stinky ass around Dixie’s.”

She pushed me away and headed down the hall. “Don’t deny it. You like my stinky ass.”

I watched her walk away, my eyes taking in the small of her back, moving down to that very same ass. There was not a damn thing wrong with it. It definitely wasn’t stinky.

“Oh, you have no idea.”

She turned around, catching my gaze. A smile crossed her face as she walked into the bathroom, the door closing silently behind her. I released all of my stress in a single breath. I smiled to myself. All of this weirdness was only because she didn’t think I shared her feelings, but I did. Everything seemed so clear now. She wanted to be with me.

—

Her fingers brushed softly up my arm, her bare body pressed against my back. I reached back for her hand and wrapped it around me, placing her palm on my heart. She pressed her lips to my back and rested her chin on my shoulder.

“I love you, Wyatt,” she whispered in my ear.

A smile rose up my cheeks. I wanted to look into her eyes when I said it back. I turned over and my face planted into the back of the sofa. My eyes popped open and I realized the moment I was having, snuggling with Grace was just a dream. I scooted off the sofa and wiped the sleep out of my eye. I was still at her house. The smell of bacon filled the air. I walked into the kitchen to find Grace at the stove, wearing nothing but extremely short shorts and a tank top. Her eyes were fixated on me; although, it wasn’t exactly my face drawing her attention. I looked down and realized I wasn’t wearing a shirt and my pants were still unbuckled. I hung my thumbs from my belt loops, but this caused my pants to sag a little more. I might have let things become extremely uncomfortable in the best way possible, but the smell of burning distracted me.

“I think the eggs are done, Gracie.” I told her.

“Huh?” She didn’t turn away.

“The eggs, Gracie. The eggs.”

“Oh!” Laughing, she lifted the pan and scraped them into a plate. “Sorry. I’m still pretty tired.”

“Uh huh,” I whispered as I walked to her and reached for the plate of eggs.

She cleared her throat and followed me to the table with a plate of stacked bacon. “Sorry, it got so hot last night. I forgot to turn the heat down before I went to sleep.”

“I don’t mind.” I cocked my eyebrow and checked her out, not trying to be discreet. I reached for the mug of coffee sitting next to an empty plate. “Do you mind?”

“Um…”

I took a sip and continued staring at her. This was way too much fun.

“Well, it’s still a little hot.”

I could have taken her comment in so many directions, but I decided to take it easy on the first day of active pursuit. “We’ll cool down soon enough. It’s still winter out there.”

“By the way …” She glanced away from the eggs and bacon. “Did you just call me Gracie?”

“I did. I figured you might prefer that over Stinky.”

She stared at me a moment, pondering this new name.

“It’s definitely a lot better than Stinky.” She handed me the plate of bacon.

“I might still call you Stinky Gracie from time to time.” I traded her the plate of bacon for the plate of eggs.

“Well, it would be so unlike you if you didn’t.”

“I have to work a double today. Will y’all be okay tonight without me? I can come by when I get off, but that won’t be until about one in the morning.”

“We should be okay. Why are you working a double?”

“Well…” I didn’t know how much I should say. “I kind of wanted to take off both New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.”

“Oh, that makes sense,” she said. “It’s a big football day after all.”

“Something like that.” She was so oblivious sometimes. It was adorable. “Maybe I can make Chloe that lasagna she likes on New Year’s.”

“You want to spend New Year’s Day with us?”

“I’ve gotten kind of used to being here, but I don’t have to come over if you don’t want me to.”

“Hey.” She rested her hand on my leg. “Don’t think that. I do want you here. I’ve kind of gotten used to you being here, too.”

“Are you sure don’t want me to come over after work tonight?” I grabbed the hand resting on my leg.

“Well, I do, but I think I need to have a talk with Chloe.”

I didn’t hide my smile as I nodded. While I should probably have told her about the conversation I had with Chloe a few days ago, I had a feeling Chloe would fill her in tonight when they talked.

“I bet she’s excited about her New Year’s Eve slumber party.” I had to change the subject or I’d never leave this house.

“She is. That’s where she went last night. They had to plan the music. Apparently, it’s essential to the party.”

“Her words, I’m sure.”

“I have no idea where she gets her brain from.”

“Says the ER nurse. That’s not exactly an easy profession, you know. And you did it while raising her. From where I’m sitting, it seems pretty obvious how Chloe got so smart.”

She smirked. “You’re laying it on thick this morning.”

“Oh, you haven’t seen anything yet.” I rose from the table and grabbed my plate. “Thank you for breakfast, Gracie.”

I kissed the top of her head and left to have a shower, leaving her to her thoughts. A cold shower would be mandatory. I had to curb my natural impulse to love her completely. New Year’s Eve was going to change everything, and I couldn’t wait for what was to come.