“You had sex with Grace?”
Gideon froze at the sound of Kira’s voice. His stomach felt like he’d stepped out of a plane without a fucking parachute.
He turned around, staring guiltily at Kira as she stood in the doorway of the kitchen. “Kira, what… what are you doing here?”
“I came over to check on you and see how Tank was doing,” Kira said. Her gaze flicked from him to Grace and back to him. “I… I could hear you yelling from the driveway.”
She pulled at the hem of her suit jacket. “You and Gracie are sleeping together?”
“It isn’t… I mean, we didn’t…”
“How long?” Kira said.
“Kiddo, sit down and -”
“How long have you and Gracie been fucking, Gideon?” Kira’s voice rose into a shout. “How long?”
“Since I moved in with him,” Grace said. “But we were attracted to each other before that.”
Kira staggered back and the look of betrayal and confusion on her face hurt Gideon to his core. “Kira, I can explain, okay?”
“You lied to me,” Kira whispered. “You – you guys are like siblings to each other.”
“No.” Grace’s face was pale, and her hands were shaking, but she sounded calm.
Kira’s gaze swung to Grace.
“Honey, we never lied to you,” Grace said. “I know you think of me as your sister and I feel the same way about you, but I don’t feel that way about Gideon. I don’t, honey. And he doesn’t feel that way about me. I know this is a shock, but -”
“A shock?” Kira laughed and Gideon winced at the bitterness in it. “Oh, it’s a fucking shock, all right. The two people I thought I could trust the most have been lying to my face for weeks.”
“We didn’t lie, Kira,” Grace said. “You never asked us if we were having sex and -”
“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” Kira said. “That’s how you’re going to justify it? That it’s not lying because I never thought to ask the question of whether or not the two of you who are practically goddamn siblings, are fucking each other. Are you serious, Grace?”
“We’re not siblings!” Grace’s voice turned sharp. “There is nothing wrong with what we’re doing.”
“No, nothing wrong at all.” Kira started to cry but backed out of the kitchen when Gideon walked toward her. “No, don’t come near me. I need some space, and I need to-to… hell, I don’t know what I need to do other than get away from the both of you.”
She turned and ran down the hallway. The front door slammed shut, and Gideon stumbled to a chair and sank into it. He felt like he’d just run a fucking marathon and if there’d been anything in his stomach, he’d be vomiting it up.
Grace sat down across from him. “She’ll be okay, Gideon. She just needs time to process.”
“You don’t know her like I do,” he said. “She won’t get over this.” His voice was dull, and he could barely hear her over the thud of his heart in his ears.
“We’ll give her some time, and then we’ll both talk to her and we’ll help her understand.”
“No,” he said.
“Honey, I know you think it’s best if it’s only you but trust me – we should both be there.”
“We don’t need to talk to her. I’ll talk to her and let her know that we’re just – just friends again, and that she doesn’t need to worry or try and understand what the fuck we did.”
“Why?”
He stared up at her. “Why, what?”
“Why do we have to be just friends? Kira knows now. The thing we both worried about has happened. Now, we fix it. We fix it and we begin our life together.”
“It isn’t just Kira,” he said.
Her temper pushed to the surface. “You’re gonna walk away from what we have because of your stupid belief that I’ll die if you love me? Life doesn’t work that way, Gideon. Grow up! You’re not some kind of curse. You love Kira and she’s perfectly fine.”
“She was suicidal after our parents died!” he shouted. “She almost died!”
“But she didn’t! Because you – we – got her help. You’re not a curse, Gideon. Shit happens in life and we have to deal with it. Your parents didn’t die because you loved them. Tank didn’t get bloat because you love him. Bad things happen sometimes.”
“You think it’s so simple,” he said. “You think that you can assure me you won’t die and that’s it… that we can be together? Well, I have news for you, I’m not the only fucked up one in the room, Grace.”
She sat back, two bright red spots appearing high on her cheeks. “I never said you were, Gideon.”
“You think I haven’t noticed that you’re always waiting for me to screw up? For me to disappoint you and not be there for you?”
“I know I have my issues,” she said, “but I’m trying to work through them.”
“Are you? What happens if I forget again to do something I said I would? Or if a day goes by where I don’t make you feel cherished or special. It doesn’t matter what I say or what I do, you will never think you’re worthy of love. You’re always going to compare me to your parents who have never, and will never, give a fuck about you.”
She gasped, those bright red spots fading as her mouth trembled and tears slipped down her pale cheeks. He groaned, instant regret flooding his entire body. “Gracie, baby, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean -”
“You did,” she said. “You meant what you said and that’s okay. You’re not wrong. My parents don’t love me and it’s… it’s messed me up a lot. And, yeah, maybe I don’t think I’m worthy of love but at least I wasn’t afraid to try.”
She stood up and grabbed her purse from the table before pausing in the doorway of the kitchen. “You’re right. We can’t have a relationship. I love you, Gideon, I do. But loving you hurts too much.”
* * *
“Well, you look like hell,” Connor said.
“Thanks.” Grace slammed her locker shut.
“Come into my office for a minute,” Connor said.
“Can we talk later? I’m already ten minutes into my lunch and I haven’t eaten, and Mrs. Jennings is coming in right after lunch and -”
“Nope. My office now, Grace.”
She sighed and followed Connor down the hallway and into his office, sitting down as Connor closed the door with his good hand and sat in the chair behind his desk.
“Is this where you fire me for breaking Kira’s heart?” Grace said.
“You know I wouldn’t do that,” Connor said.
“How is she?” Grace said.
“Better,” Connor said. “She feels bad about what she said to you both.”
“She shouldn’t,” Grace said. “Did you tell her that you knew I…”
“Had a crush on Gideon?” Connor nodded. “I did. She was pissed at first, but she knows that you and I are friends. It also helped that I had no idea you and Gideon are in a relationship.”