65. Chapter 65
65
Nelle
A furious pounding erupted on the door to the guest bedroom before someone shouted. “Graysen Crowther, I know you’re in there!” A few more thumps made the door shudder. “What have you done with my sister?!”
My gaze locked on Graysen’s with mutual horror.
“Lise,” I hissed.
Mortification flooded through my veins. My sister was going to barge in here, take one look, and discover I’d had sex—
Oh my gods…I just had sex.
A lot of sex.
Like…a lot.
I was not ready to have that conversation with my elder sister when even I hadn’t turned it over in my mind.
“Do something. Anything. Kick the godsdamned door in!” Lise barked.
“Annalise,” Aldan growled.
“Now. Do it now!”
I sprang to my feet, unmindful of my nakedness. Graysen scrambled from the bed.
All rational thought fled. All I could do was bounce up and down on the mattress, flailing my arms, freaking out.
Oh my gods, oh my gods, oh my gods!
“Oh my gods!” I whisper-yelled.
Graysen was a blur of black speed. Something got tossed at me, soft and white. Suddenly I was yanked from the bed, manhandled into whatever was held in my hands, and then my ass slapped against leather. A seat, I realized, as something bendy that fluttered with a familiar scent of ink was shoved into my hands just as the lock gave out under Aldan’s force, and the door crashed inward a split second later.
Graysen and I were sitting at the table across from one another, both of us reading books—well, I wasn’t, I barely comprehended that there were words on the page in front of me—when Lise stormed into the bedroom ready for war, Aldan right behind her.
“Graysen,” she snarled, then came to a sudden halt in the middle of the room as she took me in. “Nelle?” Her eyes widened in surprise and the pitch of her voice notably lowered.
Graysen held up a finger and made a show of turning to the next page, and I barely contained the snicker. I was also impressed that he was now wearing a black shirt and pants.
“What the… What’s going on…?” The words drifted apart, as Lise blinked rapidly to see me there, obviously fine, and Graysen and I casually reading like we were in some kind of book club.
“What the hells does it look like?” Graysen squinted at her, as if annoyed she was interrupting him on his last page.
Lise’s wide eyes bounced between Graysen and myself. For a moment she seemed taken aback and rueful and about to apologize. “You weren’t answering my calls,” she directed at me.
No. I suppose my phone was somewhere in the woodland, together with my shredded dress. And I might have incinerated Graysen’s phone along with his clothes.
Aldan’s gaze flicked around the chaos of the room. He ran a meaty palm down his face and the look he gave me over Lise’s shoulder was both shocked and disappointed and made me wish I could swift out of there.
“Lise,” Aldan murmured, stepping flush with her. He gestured for them to leave, but Lise abruptly reared back, a stricken, surprised expression tightening her features. Her flattened palm slapped across her upper chest. “Oh my gods… You’ve… You two… Nelle…?”
I coughed, spluttering on nothing but air, attempting terribly to shake my head in denial.
“No? Is that the line you’re going to feed me?” She raised her hand, jabbing an accusing finger at me. “For one, that shirt…of his …is inside out.”
I glanced down—shit, she was right.
The finger swung to Graysen. “And your book is upside down.”
The finger got pointed at me again. “And that goofy smile is a dead giveaway. ”
“Goofy?” I echoed, my eyes widening but my expression not shifting. I think I was incapable of actually doing anything but grin.
She snorted. “Yeah, goofy , little sister.”
A clearing of a throat, and an arched eyebrow from Graysen, his mouth twitching in amusement. There was a wicked promise gleaming in his gaze that said he was going to keep that goofy smile on my face.
Graysen tossed the charade of a book onto the table and glared at Lise. “What are you doing here?”
“Your absence at the engagement party has been noted and gone on long enough. I suggest you two get yourselves together and show your faces, for Evvie’s sake.”
I straightened, instantly worried. “Is she all right?”
“She’s fine,” Aldan answered, ushering his wife out the door.
“But,” Lise protested, frowning at him. “I haven’t—”
“You’ve said enough. Leave them be.”
“She needs to know about Mas—”
But the door closed on her with a thump and Aldan’s exasperated “ Annalise ” cut her off.
“Ugh,” I sighed, banging my forehead on the tabletop. “I am never going to hear the end of this.”
I glanced sidelong to see Graysen rise, jerking his chin toward the door that adjoined his to mine. “Best we get ready. We’ll show up, make a brief appearance, then—”
“Bed. Sex.” I answered eagerly, jackknifing upright.
He pulled a horrified face. “To sleep, or in my case, rest. ”
I made an ugh sound again, feigning a yawn. “Boring.”