Chapter 22
Sophia
The Diner
Men like Grant didn’t need to take an hour to get ready to go out.
After throwing on his clothes—another flannel with jeans, and boots—he looked effortlessly handsome, and I couldn’t look away.
I was kinda glad he decided to wait for me in the truck, giving me space and time to get dressed and pull myself together.
I knew we were going to some small diner that Sophia from a week ago wouldn’t have been allowed to touch.
Just seeing the saturated fats I was hoping to order would give everyone I knew back in Texas a heart attack.
And for once in what felt like ages, I didn’t give a damn.
Grant wouldn’t judge me for downing a plate of hashbrowns and over-easy eggs, and that knowledge alone made me smile as I tied my hair up in a loose bun.
Standing in front of a mirror, I buttoned up one of Grant’s flannels and noticed the bruising on my legs had faded to mostly yellow from the purple it was a few days back.
They were harder to see now, revealing the deeper scars beneath.
The ones I’d never get rid of. I hadn’t noticed just how pronounced they were becoming because I’d gotten so used to covering myself up.
Yet Grant hadn’t said a word about them since the night he asked me who’d done it.
Maybe it was time to tell him about my past and all the messed up shit I’d let happen. Give him one last chance to see that I wasn’t worth the fight he was givin’. He deserved at least that much, but also, so much more.
My cheeks turned bright crimson as I applied a thick layer of my peach lipgloss, thinking of all the ways Grant would be kissing it off me later.
Somehow, I’d had the hindsight to tuck it into my jeans before we left for his shop, and maybe that was evidence to just how much I’d wanted him then, too.
My core throbbed, wondering how many more rounds we could go before we had to turn back to reality.
Before I had to go back to Texas. That thought didn’t leave my mind even as I found the pair of sandals that must’ve been Tallulah’s by the front door and headed for the truck.
Grant was typing away on his phone as I entered, an uneasy look about him, similar as to what I must’ve had.
“Are you too tired to go?” I asked.
“What?” He pulled his thumbnail from his teeth, his brows scrunched together. “Why?”
“I dunno.” I buckled my seat belt, keeping my eyes glued to the front windshield as I added, “You look like something’s wrong.”
His features softened as I finally faced him. He reached for my hand, kissing my knuckles gently before smoothing the kiss over with his thumb. “It’s nothing to worry about. We aren’t doin’ that today, remember?”
I gave him a faint smile. “Yeah. Okay.”
“I see you found the shoes I left out for you. They fit fine?”
I lifted both feet inches from the floor, showing him. “A little big, but they’ll work. Thank you.”
“’Course.”
The diner was only about ten minutes up a winding road surrounded by tall trees and streams that flowed over large rocks.
I kept looking at Grant, but whatever he’d been feeling before I’d entered the truck was now masked with a laid-back expression.
I could feel a shift in the air between us, and while part of me wondered if maybe he was truly done with me now that we’d slept together, the other part screamed that thought was all wrong.
Grant wasn’t like other men. He didn’t make promises and not keep them, and he certainly didn’t seem to have anyone else in his life that he was pining for.
He had to be one of the good ones. Right?
Grant kissed my knuckles again, pulling me from my thoughts. “We’re here, Peach.”
“Great.” I slapped on a quick smile, covering a flood of inner-turmoil. “I’m starvin’.”
He chuckled and hopped out of the truck, coming around to open my door and help me out.
When he threaded our fingers together, holding my hand even as we made our way to a booth, warmth and comfort coursed through me.
I almost begged him to keep holding my hand as I worked my way into the booth and he took up the one across from me.
He watched as I picked up the menu, and when he didn’t reach for his, I asked, “Are you not eating?”
“I am.” He folded his hands on the table. “But somethin’ is eating at you.” I frowned behind my menu. “Tell me what it is, darlin’.”
“Me?” I cleared my throat, narrowing my eyes at nothing in particular on the menu. I couldn’t piece together letters to form words right now if I wanted. “I’m good.”
His finger tipped over the top edge of my menu, forcing it down slowly. “I’m not buyin’ it.”
I huffed and fixed the menu upright again. “I’m Just Sophia today, I don’t have anything wrong with me. Not like Just Grant does.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means…” I dropped the menu to the table and stared right back at him. “It means you seem like you have something wrong with you, too, so don’t go actin’ all innocent here.”
His brow arched. “Innocent?”
“You know what I mean. I’m not the only one wondering where to go from here.”
“I know where I want this to go.” He gave me a sad looking smile as he pushed back into his seat.
“I really like you, Sophia. Like, really fucking like you. So, excuse me if I’m trying to look like I’m not thinking about the biggest damn elephant in the room when I look into your eyes.
” I pushed down the knot in my throat, not having expected him to say… well, any of that.
“Good afternoon, folks. What can I get for ya to start with?”
Grant didn’t blink in her direction, so I ordered for us both. “Two coffees, please.”
“You two know what you want to eat yet or want me to come back?”
“I know what I want,” Grant said, his voice deep and almost broken. Still keeping his eyes on me, he said, “I’ll take whatever you have that has peaches in it.”
“A sweets man,” the waitress said casually. “I got a dessert covered in peaches. Nothin’ else for you?”
“That’s all I want,” he replied definitively.
I glanced between Grant and the waitress as she scribbled on her notepad and nodded her head. “Gotcha. And for you, miss?”
“Umm…” I looked at Grant and held my breath, wondering if now was the time he’d start acting more like the men I knew.
But he just sat there, staring back at me as he laced his fingers behind his neck.
“This.” I pointed at something on the menu, I’m not sure what.
And I didn’t really care what it was. The waitress seemed oblivious to the growing tension between us as she took our menus, then said she’d be back with our coffees before leaving.
“Peaches? Really, Grant?” I crossed my arms over my chest.
He shrugged, his body looking at ease while that dark storm in his eyes kicked up. “It’s the only thing I want.”
“You’ll get tired of it.”
“No way in Hell.”
“You’ll need something more.”
He narrowed his eyes and leaned forward. “What more could I possibly need than what makes me happiest?”
Yep. We're definitely not talking about peaches.
“Peaches aren’t always in season.”
He smirked. “I think in Florida, getting one to thrive wouldn’t be hard. It just needs some care and—”
“Here’s those coffees. Cream? Sugar?” Grant waited for me to say something to the waitress, but realizing I had to answer was getting difficult. Was he just about to say something he’d regret? The waitress hurried away, possibly noticing my stricken expression and the way Grant was ignoring her.
“Care and…what?” I asked in a hushed tone.
“You know what, Sophia.” I rolled my lips in and looked around the diner. It was empty, save for us, but even if a hundred people were inside, all my focus would be set on hearing what he hadn’t said.
What he almost admitted.
“We still have another week left together.”
“A little over that, yes,” he replied curtly.
“And then I’ll have to go back to Texas.”
His hands fell to his lap as his head tilted. “Will you?”
If I thought his tone sounded broken before, I was wrong. That was a sound I didn’t like hearing from him.
“That’s what we agreed to,” I said. “You asked for two weeks, so I’m giving you those two weeks.”
“To find out what you want in life. To make a different choice than him.”
My stomach roiled at the immediate thought I had—I can’t.
As much as I wanted to stay, as happy as Grant was making me, and as carefree as I felt around him, none of it would make the deal I’d made go away.
Getting Grant looped up in it, putting his life in danger all over my happiness, over the possibility of a life where it could be him and me just like we were in the cabin not even an hour before, was selfish.
“You don’t understand what’s at stake if I don’t choose Walton,” I answered. I knew I had to tell him everything and make him see just how screwed I was, but wasn’t sure he’d ever understand. No matter what happened between us, I was always going to have to go back home.
“So, you have a choice, then?”
“Grant.” I tossed my head forward on my hands, pressing my fingers to my temples. “I’m from a world where the choice is there, but it isn’t. Not really.”
His booted foot nudged mine as his voice softened. “So choose me and let me deal with the consequences.”
“I—” I wanted to. That’s what he wasn’t listening to.
God, I wanted to see where this would go, and even if it ended up horribly, I knew I’d be the happiest I’d been in my entire life.
I’d only been with him for a few days, but from the first time I saw him, I knew he was going to be trouble for me.
And I was right.
“I need to go to the restroom.” I stood, feeling Grant’s eyes on my back as I walked to the other side of the diner.
I needed to get my head straight. To think of the right way to go about this, because every minute was precious.
My wedding was coming up fast, and once my family caught wind I’d stayed behind in Florida, even if that was to help Lyra, it wouldn’t fool my family, and I’d already tested their patience when I lived in Georgia instead of waiting for Walton in Texas.
A small window with frosted glass lit up the sink and two stalls as I stepped into the women’s bathroom.
I pulled the band from my hair, letting it fall as I flipped the light on and headed for the sink, pulling a handful of paper towels from the dispenser.
Soaking the paper in warm water to put on my neck, I hung my head over the sink, trying to focus.
The door creaked shut behind me, but I didn’t care if anyone watched what I was doing. I was done caring about what others thought. Right now, I just wanted to figure out how to get what I wanted, for a change.
“Princess.”
I froze in place at the voice.
The nickname.
No. No, no, no.
Familiar fingers brushed my hair to the side as the man bent over my shoulder, brushing his lips over my neck. “I’ve missed you, baby.”
Ice slithered through my veins.
“P-please,” I managed to get out. “Please. No.”
“No?” He chuckled before I felt a pinch on my neck.
Seconds later, I tried to stand and fight my way to the door, but he wrapped his arms around me.
The room spun as I tried to scream, only to be met with his hand clamped over my mouth.
“You know there is no ‘no,’ Princess. Not when it comes to us.”
My eyelids grew heavy, black dots filling my vision. His arms tightened their hold as I fought, trying to focus on the door and scream for Grant to save me.
But it was no use.
There was no escaping him. I’d tried for nearly half my life to do so, but every single time, he found his way back to me. Eventually, the fight left my body, and the blackness took over.