Chapter 11 #2
I pout. “I don’t want avocado anything…I want cookies. Charlie would have cookies.”
“Who’s Charlie?” Grady asks, amused.
“The man I’m in love with,” I reply, leaning back on the couch.
“Lucky guy,” Grady says, seeming sincere.
“He doesn’t know I love him yet,” I say, twirling my hair.
“Well, don’t waste too much time before you tell him,” Grady advises me. “I did that once, and I’m still kicking myself for it. She was the love of my life, and now…she’s the one who got away.”
“ Who ?” I ask, my eyes wide. I’ve always loved celebrity gossip. “Is she famous, too?”
Grady nods. He rolls up his left shirt sleeve and shows me a tattoo on the underside of his bicep.
“La vita è Bella,” I read slowly. “Life is beautiful?”
“That’s the literal translation, yeah,” he says. “But in this case, it means: Bella is life.”
“Bella,” I say with a crinkled brow, the wheels in my head turning. “As in, Bella Landry?”
“The one and only,” he says with a frown.
“I love her!” I exclaim. “She’s America’s sweetheart! I didn’t even know you two dated.”
What I do know is that Dex and Bella dated briefly, before he and I reconnected in LA. But of course I don’t mention that.
“It didn’t last long,” he admits, running a hand through his dark hair. “Want another piece of unsolicited advice? Never get a tattoo for someone who may not be in the picture forever.”
A wry laugh escapes me. “Too late.”
I stand on wobbly feet and pull the waistband of my skirt down to uncover the rose tattoo on my right hipbone.
I look from the tattoo, back up into Hunter’s ocean-blue eyes, and I can hear his voice clear as day in my head. “A rose for every month I’ve known and loved you.”
Grady reaches out to touch the ink on my skin, but I pull my waistband up before he can. “I’m weird about people touching it,” I say before I stumble backward onto the couch .
“How about I get you that water now?” he offers again.
This time, I accept. I don’t know how long he’s gone, but when he comes back, I realize I’d fallen asleep. I look up at Grady, and he’s changed out of his t-shirt and jeans, into sweats.
“Have I been sleeping awhile?” I ask, confused and groggy.
“Maybe an hour.”
“Oh my gosh, Grady. I’m such a mess. I’m sorry.”
“You have nothing to apologize for,” he says. “It’s my fault, for not feeding you enough. Why don’t you stay here tonight? You can have my bed. It’s the most comfortable.”
I shake my head. “No, I couldn’t do that.” But when I stand up from the couch, I’m so lightheaded, Grady has to reach for my arm to steady me.
“Follow me. And drink this,” he adds, handing me a glass of water.
“You’re a good guy, Grady Brooks,” I tell him as he leads me to his bedroom.
I wake up the next morning with a raging headache.
God, I’m such an idiot.
I can’t believe I put myself in this position. I drank an entire bottle of wine and spent the night in Grady’s bed. I’m so lucky he didn’t try to take advantage of the situation.
When I stand and look in the mirror, I see that I’m wearing one of Grady’s t-shirts, and it takes me a few seconds to remember why.
He gave it to me so my own clothes wouldn’t get wrinkled.
I find my skirt and tank top in his bathroom, where I changed last night, put them back on, then look for Grady.
He’s in the kitchen, drinking a green smoothie.
“How are you feeling?” he asks, his forehead creased with concern.
My cheeks are flaming hot. “I have a headache, but I’m fine otherwise. Just embarrassed. I’m so sorry I got wasted and took your bed.”
“I’ve done far worse, Jenna,” he says. “Believe me. It’s no big deal. You want a smoothie?”
I shake my head. “Thanks, but I need to head home and get ready for a client meeting this afternoon.”
He nods, and walks me to the elevator. “I’m flying out to New York tomorrow, but I’ll call you so we can make a plan for the guest room.”
“Sounds good,” I say, turning to him. “And, thank you…for everything. For dinner, and for taking care of me last night. I really appreciate it.”
“The pleasure was all mine,” he says with a nod.
The elevator door opens, and I give him a hug. “Bye, Grady.”
When I pull away, he winks at me and smiles.
On the walk home, I begin to think that maybe the universe sent me to Grady’s for a reason. A corrective experience, to make up for the times I couldn’t trust men in the past. And not only that…
Is it possible that seeing Grady’s ocean-blue eyes smiling at me was precisely what I needed to heal?
Maybe their resemblance to my ex-boyfriend’s wasn’t a warning to stay away from Charlie—but a reminder that Hunter loved me once.
A sign that I can be that loveable girl again.
The one who believed in her own happy ending.
I know that Hunter will never forgive me.
But maybe it’s time I forgave myself and moved on. With Charlie Sutton.
Grinning, I take my phone out of my purse the minute I get home and scroll to his number, which I put in my contacts before I went to sleep on Saturday night. It’s Monday morning now, and I’m sure he’s anxious to hear from me. I can’t wait to finally thank him for the beautiful photograph.
But as I’m about to call him, my phone rings.
It’s Dex.
“Hey!” I say brightly. “How are you guys?”
“Um…good,” he says, his voice low and gravelly. He doesn’t sound like himself. He sounds angry , which is rare for Dex. It makes my stomach flip.
“Are you sure?” I ask, my heart beating faster. “Wait—is everything okay with the baby?”
“The baby’s great,” he says, his voice softening a bit. “Sunny had an ultrasound just the other day. But—where are you right now?” he asks, that unfamiliar edge creeping back into his tone.
“I’m home. Why? What’s going on, Dex?”
He lets out a deep sigh. “I just got a text from Grady.”
“Oh,” I say, my brow furrowed. “Yeah…that’s why I called you yesterday. He hired me to design one of the rooms in his penthouse.”
“Look, Jenna. I don’t want to overstep here, but you’re my friend, and…I think you should know that Grady Brooks is not a good guy.”
I nod. “I understand why you think that. But he’s changed. He’s been sober for a year, and he was a perfect gentleman when I met with him yesterday. You have nothing to worry about.”
Dex clicks his tongue. “I know it’s none of my business who you sleep with?—”
“I’m not sleeping with him. And I don’t plan to. I could see us becoming friends, though. He took care of me last night. I had dinner at his place, but I drank too much wine, and he let me sleep it off in his bed. But he didn’t make a move on me, or anything. He slept in one of the guest rooms.”
Dex is quiet.
“What?” I ask, my palms sweating.
“That fucker,” he finally mutters under his breath.
“What do you mean?” I ask, losing patience. “Just tell me what’s going on.”
“Grady’s had it out for me for years,” he begins to explain. “He thinks I stole Bella Landry from him.”
“Oh,” I say, remembering Grady’s tattoo. “Yeah…he told me she was the love of his life.”
Dex scoffs. “I guess he didn’t mention that he cheated on her with a stripper. She found out while we were filming, and?—”
“You were there for her,” I say.
“Ever since then, Grady’s made this game out of sleeping with as many of my exes as he can,” he goes on.
“It’s sick. He asked me about you after that party, and I told him to stay away.
Obviously, that backfired. I’m so sorry, Jenna.
I would’ve warned you, but I hadn’t heard he was filming in Chicago. ”
“But I didn’t sleep with him. Like I said, he didn’t even try.”
“That’s the thing…” Dex pauses, and my st omach churns. “He sent me a picture of you.”
My heart lurches. This can’t be happening again. “He did what?”
“He texted me a picture of you, asleep in his bed. Wearing his shirt. But he didn’t stop there. I don’t want to repeat what he wrote. But he described your rose tattoo, in detail.”
“Oh my god,” I say, lifting my hand to my mouth. “I did show him my tattoo, but that was it…we didn’t kiss, or anything.”
“You don’t need to convince me, Jenna, I believe you.
Grady’s a total piece of shit,” Dex says, his voice infused with anger again.
“I guess this was his backup plan, when he realized you weren’t going to sleep with him.
I’m really sorry. I hate having to tell you this—I just figured you should know. ”
I nod, wiping my eyes. “No, I’m glad you told me.
I just can’t believe what a liar he is. Now, I don’t know if a single word he said to me last night was true.
I mean, he showed me these beautiful old photographs of his grandparents, and told me this sob story about his mother leaving him…
but was any of it real? Or was he just trying to manipulate me? ”
A chill runs down my spine. I already had trust issues with men before Grady. What is this going to do to me?
“Well, he brought his grandparents to the Oscars last year, so I guess that much is true. And…come to think of it, I do remember him mentioning his mom to me once. This was a long time ago, in the early days of our careers, before the Bella ordeal. We were at a party, and he was drunk, and said his mom was a heartless bitch—something like that. So, I guess that tracks. But it’s no excuse for how he treats women.
I mean, Sunny’s dad abandoned her, but it didn’t make her cruel. ”
“Exactly,” I say, sniffling.
“Are you gonna be okay?” he asks me. “What can I do to help?”
I try my best to hold it together. Dex doesn’t know that something similar happened to me in grad school. He has no idea how triggering this is for me.
“I’ll be fine,” I say after a deep breath. “Really. But thanks for telling me. I’m gonna go now—I have to pull myself together for a work meeting. Give my love to Sunny and the baby, okay?”
I hang up before he can answer.