Instead, I stare directly at his arrogant face. “Too busy to return a text? Stop being a dick. You’re mad, I get it. This is a shitty way to make a point. We don’t do this.”
“We don’t do anything. But you two…that’s a different story,” he grits out between his teeth, fury in his eyes as he looks between me and Liam.
What?
“What the fuck are you talking about, Grey? What’s your problem?” Liam yells loudly, removing his hand from behind my chair, squaring up in his seat.
Grey starts laughing, placing a finger over his lips, blowing “Shhh” through his liquor-soaked breath. “People will hear, Mr. Brooks. And you need to keep your secrets, right? What would Daddy think of his golden boy if he knew you were a thief.” His face shoots to mine. “Right, Cherry?”
Golden boy? Secrets? What is happening?
Liam smacks the table. “Golden boy? Really, dick? It’s not my fault your dad is an asshole. And what the fuck did I steal? You’re fucking wasted.”
Grey laughs and holds his hands up in mock surrender, but Liam looks at me, exasperated and as confused as I feel.
“It seems to me the only person with secrets is you, Grey,” I counter, narrowing my eyes on Laura.
Grey leans in closer, licking his lips and pointing at Caroline.
“No. You have plenty, or maybe you just tell them to your bestie. Since she seems to know all the secrets before me.”
Oh fuck. Caroline told him about the conversation in the limo. Likely the whole conversation. My head swings to Caroline. “What have you done?”
She doesn’t answer, giving a small satisfied shrug. My eyes drop to the table. I want to fix this, talk to him, explain. Tell him that I hate him right now but love him more. I lean in and bring my eyes to Grey, but his are so cold. He’s bleeding the kind of hurt I’m feeling. He really does hate me for not choosing.
“All this time I thought you wouldn’t admit you loved me more because you didn’t want to hurt Liam. Wrong. Then again, maybe Liam should know that your taste lies in older guys—specifically the kind who have wives. I never pegged you as the other woman type. Like mother, like daughter I guess.”
I can’t breathe. My chest feels so tight that all the words I want to yell are caught inside of me. I feel Liam’s eyes on me, questions behind them, but I can’t explain now. Jesus, this Grey is mean. I don’t know the brown-eyed boy staring back at me. He’d lured me in, just to slit my throat. Taking a deep breath in, I draw in all the resolve I have left and push away from the table.
“You’re the cruelest boy. Call me when you grow the fuck up, Grey. You know what, actually? Never call me.”
“Like I said, Cherry—” He grips Laura’s jaw as he says it, holding her chin up like he’s showing her off. “—I’ll be too busy. Busy dining on Laura. And also, how did you put it? Oh yeah, balls-deep in a little redhead. Funny enough, she tastes like cinnamon. I prefer it to cherry.”
I’m going to be sick. Liam is saying something to me, but I can’t hear him past the strumming of my heart. Slower and slower. He’s killing me, but I think that’s the objective. I need to get out of here before I snap.
“Grey, baby,” Laura whines, and my head shoots up.
It’s so dumb, but I can’t hear her say his name. Not like that. My palm comes down hard, slapping the heavy wood table in her direction.
“No. Don’t do that.” I hate how raw my voice is; he’ll know he got to me. “Don’t insert yourself where you don’t belong. I would’ve thought that you might’ve become tired of being the runner-up. This little show is for my benefit, not yours.” My eyes shift to Grey’s. “It’s still all about me. You’re just a prop, Laura.”
She rolls her eyes at me, and I catch it out of the corner of my sight, saying, “Mmkay. Jealous much, bitch?” and I make a mental note to return the favor when she begs me to stop making her life hell. She’s taken a place that isn’t hers and that won’t go without punishment, but neither will the fact that Grey gave it to her.
For now, I have to get the fuck out of here before I cry or scream, giving him exactly what he’s looking for.
“Laura, you have nothing for Donovan to be jealous about,” Liam throws out, standing next to me as Grey’s jaw tenses. “Let’s go. It’s enough now, Van. Fuck him. Fuck her. And you—” He scowls, looking at Caroline. “—you aren’t the girl I thought you were. I don’t know what you did, but I choose Van.”
I hear her intake of breath, and I hope she chokes on her fucking sadness. Taking Liam’s hand, I nod, feeling my eyes sting with the waiting tears. But Grey shoots from his seat, the chair falling backward and whacking against the floor as he yells at me.
“You don’t get to leave. I want to watch you cry. I want to hear it. Memorize the goddamn sound.” My breath becomes uneven as he hurls his hatred at me. “Tell me something, Donovan. Did your married guy share you too?”
Liam launches toward Grey over the table, trays hitting the floor, but I wrap myself around Liam, burying my face into his chest. “Get me out of here. Please… Please, Liam.”
Liam’s chest is heaving, and his heart is beating through his blazer. Hard. He pats my arm, letting me know he hears me, and leans to grab my bag before taking my hand to lead me out. I can’t look at Grey. I won’t. I never want to remember this version. He’s not mine—he’s a monster.
I’m pulled in close to Liam, my arm wrapped around his back as we walk around the table to the exit. I take deep breaths as we walk, feeling all the eyes in the room on us. Just make it out. I can do that. Sharp fingernails dig into my arm, shocking me as I shriek.
“What the hell!”
I spin around, taking Liam with me, to see Laura is standing in front of us. But it’s the faces five feet behind her that I stare at next. Caroline is staring at Liam, devastation written on her face. And Grey is standing, staring at me, drenched in desperation. He wants his pound of flesh, and he hasn’t gotten it. But what more could he do to me?
“Don’t go yet. It’s my turn.”
Laura pokes my chest as she speaks, but I smack her hand away.
“What the fuck does that mean?” I snap.
She grabs my arm again, and this time, Liam removes it.
“Ow, dick,” she complains. Watch yourself, Laura.
She continues to gripe, but as she shakes her hand, I see it. My hand darts out and I grab her arm, holding her hand toward the ceiling, and shove her jacket down. She pops a hip, feigning resistance, sarcasm thick on her tongue.
“Oh no. Let go. Get your hands off me.”
Her smile spreads slowly over those bruised lips as my heart stops. This is the real moment he planned. Everyone always wishes that the person you love most will know you deeply and true, but that just means they know how to really hurt you.
Fucking her was nothing in comparison to seeing the goddamn gray bracelet I made him around Laura’s wrist. That’s us. Everything we meant. All of us, wrapped in silver thread. Wrapped around my heart.
“He gave us away.” My words are for me, but everyone hears them and I don’t care.
I look up, tears streaming down my face freely now. I can’t hide them anymore. His eyes bore into mine as I unravel, string by string, in front of him. Nothing else exists. Just me and Grey and that twelve-year-old promise of love. Because that’s what this was. This was the first time I told him that I loved him, in the only way I knew how. He knew it, the same way he knew this would eviscerate me.