Chapter Twelve #2
“Yeah. They did the best they could. We found out all sorts of things we didn’t know that night.
We found out my dad was a painter, which explains where Grant got his talent from, but none of us knew that until then.
We didn’t know my father didn’t want to take over the family business, or that he and my mom had plans to go to Paris after college so my dad could make a name for himself as an artist. My father wasn’t given access to his trust fund until he was older.
He was literally going to make his way as a starving artist, and my mom was all in. ”
“That’s so romantic.”
“I know. I can’t imagine my parents like that.
But then they found out my mom was pregnant with Grant, and they did the responsible thing and went home to make their life on the island.
I think that’s why they made sure we got access to our trust funds when we turned twenty-one, so as adults we wouldn’t be stuck choosing between the life we wanted and the one we needed. ”
“Wow. My parents forced us to live out their dreams, and yours gave up their dreams for your family. It’s amazing how life is so different for everyone.”
“It really is. We also learned that they spent every night together but that they like living apart because it’s exciting, and they don’t get on each other’s nerves that way. The exciting part was a little TMI for me.”
“I bet.” I laugh. “I can’t imagine not wanting to be in the same space as the person I love, but most families probably can’t imagine living the way my family did, either. Did growing up like that make it harder to have relationships?”
“Yes, but I never realized how it messed me up until high school.”
“What happened in high school?”
“Leni didn’t tell you?” he asks with disbelief.
“She just said you went out for a while and had to keep it secret because she was afraid her brothers would get mad.”
“That’s true, but I fell hard for her. She was my first love. The one who got away.”
Holy shit. A pang of jealousy shoots through me. “She never told me that.”
“Probably because she wasn’t in love with me and we were just kids.” He presses both hands to his thighs. “Or maybe because I cheated on her with Abby and hurt her so badly, she carried a chip on her shoulder toward me for years.”
The pit of my stomach sinks, and I can’t hide the shock widening my eyes. “You cheated on her?” I can’t believe she didn’t tell me that when I told her I’d been with you.
“I’m not proud of it, but yes,” he says remorsefully. “I was terrified of my feelings for her. I thought if my parents couldn’t make their relationship work, there was no way I could, and in my stupid teenage brain, cheating was the only way I could end it for good.”
“That’s an awful thing to do to someone. Why didn’t you just break up with her?”
“I loved her too much. I knew I wouldn’t follow through with it.
But after she found out and we broke up, I realized how stupid I’d been.
We were both devastated. I tried many times to explain why I did it, but she couldn’t even look at me, and I don’t blame her.
It was a dick move, and I have never cheated on anyone since. Not once, and I never will.”
“Because you hurt her so badly?”
“I wish I could tell you that was the only reason, but the hurt I caused her was only about half as bad as the pain and guilt I caused myself. Remember, she didn’t love me. I was the one who was madly infatuated. It took me a year to get over her, and we remained friends, but it wasn’t the same.”
“She’s never said anything to lead me to believe she thinks badly of you.”
“Maybe that’s because a couple of years ago, when she and Raz got together, she finally let me explain. I think that helped both of us.”
I stare absently out at the trees in the distance, swinging a little, thinking about the things he shared and our complicated childhoods and lives.
It’s no wonder he went the player route after having his heart broken when he was young.
We’re not so different after all. He took the left fork in the road, and I took the middle one after Harvey died, cutting off men altogether.
I wonder if there is a right fork. Maybe that’s what we’re on now.
A path of deep friendship, attraction, and understanding.
“Second-guessing being with me?” he asks.
I meet his worried gaze. “No. You were a teenager. Lots of kids make that mistake, and for worse reasons. I was just thinking about how our parents’ decisions and life affected us.”
“This is going to sound bad, but at first when they told us they’d always been madly in love and when we were kids my dad would sneak into the house to spend the night and leave before we got up so they wouldn’t confuse us, I thought it was selfish.”
“I’m relieved to hear you say that.”
“Why?”
“Because I felt that way about my parents, too, but I’ve never told anyone because I was afraid they’d think I was being ungrateful or selfish.”
He squeezes my hand. “I don’t know if that makes us selfish or not. Maybe everyone needs to be a little selfish. Otherwise would we ever really succeed at anything?”
“Good point. I don’t hold my childhood against my parents or anything, but if I ever have kids, I’ll think twice about what I put them through.
” I walk my feet back and swing slowly. “Life would’ve been a lot easier for me if I were more like you.
A laid-back partier who’s everyone’s friend.
” That’s actually one of the things I like most about him.
He’s comfortable in his own skin, easy to be around, and gets along with everyone.
“I’m not a party boy anymore.”
“Just a playboy,” I tease, putting my feet down to stop the swing.
He shakes his head. “You keep saying that, but I’m really not. I like to flirt, and I enjoy a fling now and then, but it’s not like I’m sleeping with a different woman every night.”
I hold up my hand. “I don’t want to know.”
“Yes, you do.” He grabs the chains to my swing, turning me toward his wolfish grin. “You’re the only woman I want to be sleeping with, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.”
I can’t stop smiling even as I say, “I didn’t ask.”
“But you wanted to know.” He slides one hand beneath my hair, palming the back of my head and drawing my lips to his in a delicious kiss. “Want to have some fun?”
“That’s a loaded question.”
He flashes a playful grin and lets go of my chain. “Let’s see how high these things go.” He starts swinging.
I laugh.
“Afraid you can’t beat me?” He swings higher. “Where’s that adventurous girl who danced with me at the concert?”
“She’s about to kick your butt.” I grab the chains of my swing, push back until my legs are straight, and swing forward as hard as I can.
“Is that all you got?” he taunts.
We egg each other on, pumping our feet, swinging so high we bounce at the top. The sounds of the chains creaking and our teasing and laughter fills the air.
“Let’s see who can jump farther!” he shouts.
My heart races. “Are you crazy? I’m not jumping!”
“You definitely won’t be victorious with that attitude. Are you afraid?”
I haven’t jumped off a swing since I was a kid, so yeah, maybe I am a little afraid, but I’m not about to admit it. “No!”
“Yeah, you are!”
“Shut up. I am not !”
“Okay, then! On the count of three,” he shouts.
“You’re nuts!”
He laughs. “Be nuts with me, sweet thing! One! ”
I try to remember how I gripped the chains when I was a kid. As I move one hand so it’s upside down gripping the chain, my elbow pointed out, I see he’s doing the same thing. My competitive nature drives me to pump my legs harder as I grip the other chain.
“Two!” he hollers.
We pump our feet, and as we swing forward, we both yell, “ Three! ” and jump.
We fly through the air. My arms flail, and for a split second, as the world sails by, our eyes meet, and I feel young and free and not at all afraid.
Our feet hit the ground, and we tumble into a tangled heap in the grass, cracking up.
“I can’t believe you got me to jump!” I say through my laughter and roll off his chest onto my back.
He leans over me. “I can’t believe you doubted I could.” He presses his lips to mine, and we both laugh again. “Let’s stay here tonight and explore the Inner Harbor tomorrow.”
My heart nearly stops out of sheer nervous excitement. “What about Tessa? Isn’t she waiting for us?”
“I might have told her that there was a chance we’d stay. I wasn’t sure if you’d want to go bar hopping or take advantage of me. I know how you are.”
“ Might have, huh?”
“Believe me, I wanted to assume we’d stay and plan a whole night, but I feel lucky that you gave up your regular Friday-night dinner to come with me, and I didn’t want to push it.”
I’m having such a good time, I haven’t even felt guilty about not going to the tavern. “You’re serious? You really want to stay?”
“Absolutely. When’s the last time you explored someplace new?”
“I don’t know. I usually work on the weekends.”
“I got that impression when you said you buried yourself in work. Do you have anything lined up that can’t wait until Sunday?”
“No,” I say honestly, but even if I did have plans, I’d cancel them to stay with him.
He starts to get up and takes my hand, tugging me up with him, and then he wraps his arms around me. His coaxing dark eyes make my heart race. “Then let’s do our thing and go on a Saturday Scoutabout. See what trouble we can get into.”
I kind of love this. “Since when is this our thing? You’re just making up names for every day of the week.”
He gives me that devilish grin I can’t get enough of. “Gotta start somewhere.”
I laugh, and he crushes his lips to mine. “Where are we going to stay?”
“That’s part of the adventure. Let’s see what’s around here.”
He pulls out his phone and searches for nearby hotels. As we scroll through them, there are several typical-looking waterfront hotels. When we come to one that’s built on a pier, we both say, “ There ,” and laugh that we chose the same one.
“You’ve got good taste, Braden.”
“So do you, Silver. It reminds me of your restaurant.”
“I’d love to find something like this for my restaurant.” He angles the phone toward me. “Look. It says it used to be a shipping warehouse.”
“Maybe you can convince them to sell it to you and you can open your restaurant here.”
“You can’t get rid of me that easy.” He drapes an arm around me. “Let’s go get a room, sweet thing.”