It’s clear she doesn’t know what she’s saying, and if she did, she’d probably smack herself for giving me yet another piece of leverage. However, hearing her say those words is like heaven to my ears. I had my assumptions, being as she pretended to date Brady for almost all of high school, but to have them confirmed is something else entirely. No one has taken what should have been mine, and for as long as I’m around, that’s how it’s going to stay.
I place Savannah down on the bed, thinking she’s asleep, but as I turn to walk away, her delicate fingers wrap around my wrist.
“Wait,” she mumbles. “Lay with me.”
I shake my head. “I shouldn’t.”
“Please? Just for a minute.”
Everything in me is screaming to leave. Hell, I shouldn’t have brought her back here in the first place, let alone get in bed with her, but there’s something about the way she’s asking—like she’s damaged and needs someone to hold her for a moment.
Against my better judgment, I kick off my shoes and slip in the other side. As soon as I’m lying next to her, she slots herself against me, with her head on my chest. All I can do is hope she’s too drunk to notice the way my heart is pounding. If she’s not, she’ll realize the effect she has on me.
“My Gray,” she murmurs, just before her breathing evens out.
I take a deep breath, letting myself get high on the smell of her hair. She’s sound asleep, and I could leave at this point, but I don’t. With everything the two of us have been through, it feels good to be here. To forget everything and just allow myself to pretend like this is okay. This is right.
“Gray! Wait up!” Savi calls, not able to ride her bike as fast as I can.
“Come on, slowpoke!”
I know I should slow down and wait for her, but I can’t help it. After finding this place over the weekend while she was at her grandmother’s, I’ve been itching to show her. I pedal faster, going past the playground and into the woods. We follow the small dirt trail until the point where I know to turn and go off track.
“Where are we going?”
“You’ll see!”
Like I knew she would, she follows me through all the overgrown foliage until we finally get to the clearing. I stop my bike before it and climb off, wanting to see her reaction. She pulls up behind me and looks around.
“You’re not taking me out here to kill me, are you?”
“Don’t be stupid.” We walk over to the last bush that’s still blocking our view, but you can hear the splashing of water. “Are you ready?”
She nods, and I pull the bush back to let her walk through, then follow. The waterfall is gorgeous, with rocks around it. It’s probably twenty feet high, and the water falls into a small pond-like part of the river before flowing further downstream.
“Whoa.” Her gaze searches around the area, taking it all in. “How did you find this place?”
I shrug. “I was exploring.”
She doesn’t need to know that I was bored without her and couldn’t sit around my house because it just made me miss her more. Or that I was in these woods looking for pretty flowers to make into a bouquet and ended up finding something much better.
“It’s so pretty,” she whispers.
I take a deep breath and turn to face her. “You’re prettier.”
Her cheeks turn a light shade of pink as she smiles at me, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen her look at me that way before. I bravely brush my hand against hers, feeling relief as she laces her fingers with mine. We stand there together, holding hands and admiring this waterfall—and I couldn’t be happier.
I jolt awake, realizing I fell asleep in bed with Savannah. Thankfully, I look out the window to find it’s still dark outside. With as much control as I can manage, I slip out from under her slowly and leave the room. The last thing I need is for her, or my mother, to find me holding her.
THE NEXT MORNING, I wake to the sound of laughter. My brows furrow, and the first thing I think is that Justin is here again. However, as I get to the door of my room, a familiar voice reminds me of last night. Savannah.
“I’m so glad you and Grayson reunited!” I hear my mom tell her as I walk down the stairs and toward the kitchen. “You two were always the best of friends, and it makes me happy to see you’ve gotten back to that.”
“We haven’t,” I interrupt and both their heads turn toward me. My attention focuses solely on Savannah. “I called you an Uber. It’ll be here in three minutes.”
My mom shakes her head. “Don’t be silly. At least let me make you two breakfast first.”
“No. Savannah was just leaving. Weren’t you, Savi?”
“Y-yeah. I, um, I have stuff I need to do today anyway.” She stands and moves toward the door. “It was nice seeing you again, Mrs. Hayworth.”
“You too, dear. Don’t be a stranger, okay?”
She nods. I glare at my mother as I back out of the room. I’ll deal with her later.
With one hand on her back, I lead Savannah out the front door. She shivers from the chilly morning air.
“You know, you really shouldn’t drink that much. Someone may take advantage of you.”
Her brows furrow while she looks down at the ground. “So, we didn’t—”
I shake my head before she even finishes the question. “No.”
A part of me considers telling her what she revealed last night, but I don’t think I could stand to listen to her lie and try to tell me something different. She looks up at me, and for once, I see the vulnerability in her eyes.
Real.
Honest.
Exposed.
It almost knocks the wind out of me, and I grip the door handle to keep from doing something I’ll regret.
Thankfully, the car pulls up, and she walks down the steps to get in it. I don’t wait for it to drive away before I turn around and go back inside. When I reach the kitchen, my mom glances from where she’s standing at the stove, her disapproval obvious.
“What?”
She shakes her head. “Nothing.”
I sit at the counter and rest my elbows on it. “You’ve got something on your mind, so spit it out.”
Sighing, she drops the dish towel onto the counter. “I just think you should be a little nicer to Savannah, that’s all.”
My jaw drops, and I can’t believe what she’s saying. After everything that girl has done to my family, she thinks I should be nicer? That bitch should be grateful I didn’t leave her at that party and let her enjoy the consequences of her choices.
“I don’t get it,” I say in utter shock. “I know you’ve seen the tape. The one that helped convict dad of a crime he didn’t commit. For God’s sake, it was practically the final nail in the coffin. Why the fuck would you be so forgiving of her?”
“She was a child, Grayson. She didn’t know what she was saying.”
“Oh, like hell she didn’t!” I shout. “She was old enough to tell me she wanted to marry me one day. Old enough to sneak out of her house to meet me in the middle of the night. Don’t try to tell me that bullshit. She knew exactly how wrong it was when it came out of her mouth.”