CHAPTER 45
GRAYSON
S omething jostles the mattress beneath me, and I roll over, letting out a groan as a steady throb makes itself known in my head.
Fuck, I drank too much yesterday.
I pull my pillow over my face to shield my eyes from the daylight creeping in through a gap in the curtains. The darkness is soothing and just as I feel my body begin to relax, my mattress is jostled again.
“Wake the fuck up,” Hunter’s pissed off voice sounds from somewhere behind me and I freeze.
Why the fuck does he sound pissed off?
I pull the pillow away from my face and open one eye as I look over my shoulder.
“Good. Now you’re awake, wanna tell me what in the fuck you said to piss off my fiancée? And where the fuck you disappeared to all night?” He crosses his arms over his chest, and I let out a long breath as the last twenty-four hours comes flooding back.
Liv. The car accident.
Reuben’s grave. Savannah finding me. The disappointment on her face when she realised that I’m going to break her best friend’s heart.
Fuck.
My stomach rolls and I fight with all my willpower to hold back the vomit rising in my throat.
I fail.
I shoot up in bed, ignoring the pounding in my temples and make a run for the trash can in the corner of the room. The room spins as I sink to the floor and empty the contents of my stomach.
“Are you fucking serious right now, Gray?” Hunter asks as he leaves the room. I hear a tap running from somewhere in the house and he returns with a glass of water in one hand and a cloth in the other. He holds both items out to me and I take the water gratefully. My hand shakes as I bring the glass to my mouth and take careful sips of the cool liquid.
“You’re a fucking mess,” my older brother says, his voice laced with disappointment and a hint of pity.
No fucking shit.
“Why are you here?” I croak, my throat hoarse from the violent retching.
“Because Mom and Dad are worried sick about you. Not to mention the fact that my pregnant fiancée found you laying in the dirt next to Reuben’s grave, clutching a bottle of whiskey and soaked through. Do you even realise how selfish you’ve been, Grayson?”
I slump back against the wall, the trashcan tucked between my legs as a cold sweat breaks out over my body. “ You’re exaggerating,” I argue weakly as my eyes become heavy, and sleep tries to claim me again.
I just need him to get the fuck out of my house so I can go back to bed.
Hunter drops his head back with a disbelieving laugh. “Exaggerating,” he says more to himself before bringing his eyes to mine and shaking his head. “Fuck you, Gray.”
He storms out of my room, slamming the door behind him with a bang loud enough to make me wince.
Fuck you, too, big brother.
Any other day, his words might have stung. Maybe even hurt. But right now, I feel nothing. I’m numb. And that’s the way I plan to stay.
Once I know the coast is clear, I somehow manage to get to the bathroom and brush my teeth. I clean out the trashcan and place it outside my front door, not wanting to even look at it, and take my ass right back to bed. Within minutes my body relaxes, and the darkness claims me.
And like I have so many times before, I welcome it.