CHAPTER NINETEEN
Grayson
“You wanted to talk to us?” Easton said from the doorway of my office, where Holden stood next to him, my best friends looking slightly fearful as they gazed in.
I couldn’t blame them. I’d been exploding more than normal lately.
I pulled my hands away from the keyboard and wrapped them around my coffee mug. “Yeah, come in and shut the door.”
The boys followed my order and sat in the seats in front of my desk.
I’d gotten here two hours before everyone else this morning to give myself some extra time to get shit done. Although I’d been working nonstop since Jovana had come into my life, I’d lost focus. My productivity had declined. There were days when I wasn’t sure I’d returned a single email.
I’d originally agreed to this marriage contract because I wanted to win back the memberships that Hooked had lost and to continue growing our company. But my work ethic hadn’t reflected that.
I’d been a goddamn mess.
I had a lot to catch up on.
“We have a problem,” I said to the boys, lifting my mug, realizing there was only a sip left. I chugged the small amount and reached for my bag. I normally tossed a bottle of orange juice in there and drank it on my way to work. But as I unzipped the top of the leather, I realized I’d forgotten to grab any juice this morning. Therefore, I wasn’t sure why the green top of the bottle was staring at me from inside the bag.
I pulled out the juice and there was a small note taped to the side.
As if I’d ever let you forget. xo
Jesus, that woman.
She was adorable and so fucking good to me.
She’d gotten out of bed at the same time as me, leaving before I did to go for a walk, but when I got out of the shower, there was a cup of coffee waiting for me on the bathroom counter, a little cream added to the dark roast because that was how I liked it.
Small gestures that hit hard.
“Are you going to tell us what the problem is?” Easton joked. “Or just stare at your orange juice?”
I caught eyes with the feisty motherfucker and barked, “Would you rather be in here, relaxing with your best friend? Or fielding emails and sweating your balls off over numbers?”
“I’d rather know what the problem is, so I don’t start sweating.” Easton pulled at the short sleeves of his shirt. “It’s never good when you call us in first thing in the morning.”
I peeled off the note and put it in the top drawer of my desk, unscrewing the cap of the juice to take a long drink.
Aside from needing to get work done, one of the reasons I’d come in so early was that I hadn’t been able to sleep last night.
There was too much on my mind. Too much eating at me.
Too much at stake.
The guys didn’t know that things had changed between Jovana and me.
They didn’t know that, in the last week, I’d told her I cared about her, and she’d been spending the night in my bed ever since.
That when she posted a photo of me kissing her cheek two days ago, that hadn’t been a planned shoot. That was just feeling an overwhelming desire to lean into her face, needing the feel of her skin under my lips.
Her scent.
Her warmth.
I’d been dragging my feet about coming clean to them.
Like the asshole that I was, admitting I was wrong about wanting a relationship, that I’d blown the fuck up and lost my shit more times than I could count, that they were right and I was wrong—I didn’t know how I felt about speaking those words to my best pals.
“As I was saying”—I cleared my throat—“we have a problem.” My gaze focused on Easton’s stare and then Holden’s. “I don’t think it’s a good idea that I marry Jovana.”
Holden pushed himself to the edge of his seat, holding both armrests. “We’ve already talked about this far too many times—”
“Hear me out,” I said, cutting him off.
“We have,” Easton countered. “We’ve heard you try to weasel your way out on multiple occasions, and brother, I don’t know how many times we have to tell you that you’re going to marry this woman. The contract is for one year. What you do after the twelve months is up to you.” He sighed. “I honestly don’t want to have this conversation again.”
I huffed out a lungful of air. “This isn’t the same conversation. It’s something entirely different.”
“It doesn’t sound that way,” Holden said.
I eyed him up. “That’s because you’re not hearing me.”
“That’s because you’re not saying anything,” Easton shot back.
It was rare that they got snappy. The dudes were typically as happy as goddamn yellow labs. But I knew this topic rubbed them the wrong way.
“I’m about to. Fuck.” I took a long, hard breath, trying to push my ego aside so I could be honest and vulnerable with them. “I’m bringing this up again because ... I care about her.”
“Wait ...” Easton immediately reacted, his brows so high on his forehead, I thought they were going to get lost in his hairline. “What?”
“You heard me correctly.”
Holden looked at Easton, and when their eyes locked, he said, “I think I need to hear you say it again.”
A few weeks ago, I would have marched my ass over to the bar in the back of my office and added vodka to this orange juice.
But I was good.
Real good, in fact.
I sucked in more air, holding it in for a second before I said, “I care about her.” I paused, knowing this part was going to be even harder to say. “And I want more with her.”
Easton’s hands lifted into the air, and he groaned, “Praise fucking be.”
“What the hell does that mean?” I asked.
“Just some show that Drake’s been making me watch and it stuck in my head—it doesn’t matter. What matters is that I’m happy as hell to hear this news.”
Holden couldn’t stop smiling. “I’m so pleased you finally came around. I knew you would, it was just a matter of when you were going to admit it to yourself.”
My exhale was louder than I intended it to be. “It’s been a long road.”
“And not just with Jovana.” Holden’s voice was soft, his expression considerate as he inched his way to a topic I didn’t want to discuss.
I appreciated the recognition and that he hadn’t said my mother’s name.
I rubbed my sweaty hands over my jeans. “So, now you know why there’s a problem and how these feelings are causing this situation to be even more fucked up.” I pulled a file off my desk, opening the top to show the spreadsheet I’d printed out early this morning. At the bottom, I’d circled three numbers in red, which were the current membership totals for each arm. “What Jovana and I are doing is working. These numbers prove that.” I pointed at the red circles. “We’ve regained nineteen percent of what we lost in the marriage arm. The other two arms are going up as well.” I clasped my hands together, folding my fingers. “But we’re not fake anymore, fellas. What she and I have is real. And that changes the playing field. All this forced PR and an engagement and marriage—shit, I don’t know how that’s going to affect us.”
Holden looked at Easton.
“Dude, you don’t have a choice at this point.” Easton rubbed his hand over his gelled hair. “You’ve got to keep going. I know it feels fucked up. I know things have changed between you guys. But this is the path we’ve decided to take, and we can’t quit now.”
“Hold on a second, I’m confused.” Now I wanted a goddamn drink. “I’ve shown the world I can settle down. It’s plastered all over my social media and Jovana’s. Therefore, I’ve proven that Hooked works. Business is on the rise. And you’re still going to make me follow through with this marriage?”
“Yes,” Holden said carefully. “Because all you’ve shown so far is that you’re willing to date. You have to show them that you’ve found the love of your life on Hooked, that you’ve proposed and gotten married—that’s the whole point of this.”
“Anyone can date,” Easton added. “But not just anyone is willing to make a commitment that involves vows and deeds and beneficiaries.”
Holden’s expression turned sympathetic. “I know this seems monumental in your world—and it is, trust me, I get that. But as far as business is concerned, Easton’s right: dating Jovana is not nearly enough.”
I fell back in my chair, my hands flattening on top of my head. “This is the first goddamn relationship I’ve ever been in. The first time I’ve ever had feelings for a woman. And our relationship is now going in fast-fucking-forward.” I pushed away from my desk before I lifted something off the top of it and threw it across the room. “I’m meeting her parents soon, and I have to pull her dad aside and ask for his approval to marry his fucking daughter.” I squeezed my eyes shut. “Do you have any idea how hard that’s going to be?” My eyes opened and I glared at my best friends. “To look him in the face and ask a question that I know I’m not ready for? To make promises to him that I don’t know if I’m capable of keeping? To straight-up lie and say I want this marriage more than anything when I’m scared shitless and—”
“We understand.” Easton’s tone was calm.
Far too fucking calm.
“That’s easy for you to say. You’re not the one who has to do it,” I roared.
“But you knew this going in,” Holden pronounced. “You knew you’d have to ask her father’s permission; you knew you were going to have to propose. You knew you were going to have to get married.”
“I’m not denying that fact.” I pounded my fist against the armrest. “What I’m stating is that it’s fucked up.”
Easton placed his hand on my desk. “Listen, we’re doing this for Hooked—”
“But what about me? Why isn’t that taken into consideration?”
Silence penetrated across the room.
“Grayson, you’re still getting the girl.” Holden slid back in his seat, crossing his legs. “We’re not taking her away from you.”
My teeth ground together. “You’re missing the point.”
“I think you want us to say we’re going to drop the requirements so your relationship can progress the way you want it to on a normal timeline.” Easton’s hand left my desk and went onto his lap. “We’re not going to do that. We can’t. And I wish you could understand that.”
“This is fucked up.”
I knew I’d said that multiple times this morning, but each instance was with more emphasis.
Couldn’t they fathom how this was going to put pressure on Jovana and me?
How being forced to take things to all these new levels would have us moving at a speed that was so far from typical?
That this could ruin one of the biggest things to ever happen in my life?
“Grayson, the international launch is a milestone we’ve strived to achieve for a long-ass time,” Easton said. “The numbers are only just turning around, and we have no way to determine or control where they’ll go from here. All it takes is one more article scrutinizing your wicked, philandering ways, and everything will blow the hell up. That’s why we can’t just let this play out.”
“Again, this is fucked up,” I repeated.
“I’m sorry,” Holden said softly. “We want you to be with her. We want you happy. Hell, I’ve been waiting more years than I can count to see you in love.”
That word caught me off guard and I hissed, “Holden ...”
“But we won’t change the plans just because the two of you are together now,” he continued. “You’re going to have to just keep going, my man. See where this all takes you. And at the end of the twelve months, you’re either going to thank us or you’re going to fucking hate us.”