CHAPTER 46
OLIVIA
“A re you sure you’re okay? I can stay,” Savannah says as she helps me to the sofa. She’s been hovering over me like a mother hen all day and as much as I love her, I don’t think I can take much more.
“I’m fine, Sav. I have the girls if I need anything. Go home to Reign,” I say, trying to conceal my quickly dwindling patience.
She looks like she’s going to argue so I let my annoyance show on my face. Her expression becomes sheepish. “I’m sorry, I’m being overbearing, aren’t I?”
I soften. “You’re just looking out for me, and I love you for it, but I need to be alone for a while.”
She nods her head in understanding. “Okay. Just call me if you need anything, okay?”
I nod. “I will, I promise.”
She gives me a hug, careful to avoid any cuts or bruises on my body. “I love you, Livvy.”
“I love you, too, Sav.”
After making sure I’m comfortable and have everything I need in reach, Savannah finally leaves, and I release a heavy sigh. I’m incredibly grateful for her, I really am, but I couldn’t handle the fucking pitying looks she would shoot my way every time she thought I wasn’t looking. I have a broken arm and a few cuts. I got lucky. So why the fuck is everyone tiptoeing around me like they know something I don’t?
I reach for the new iPhone Savannah picked up for me earlier today and power it on. My phone was smashed to shit in the wreck, so a new one was the only option.
I log in to my apple account and wait for my apps and contacts to transfer to the device. Within minutes the phone is dinging in my hand as an onslaught of messages and missed calls come through.
There are several texts from Carter and three missed calls from Grayson. I click on the missed calls from Gray and disappointment floods me when the timestamp shows they’re all from the night of the accident.
Nothing since. Not even a text to check if I’m okay.
I open our text thread and my fingers hover over the keyboard as I contemplate sending him a message. The curser blinks at me as I stare at the screen and try to think of something to say to him. I type, delete and retype multiple messages before deciding against contacting him altogether.
If he wanted to speak to me, he would have. I’m not going to chase him. When he’s ready to pull on his big boy pants and face me, he knows where to find me. And if he doesn’t, then he’s not the man I thought he was.
I close the app and open my contacts, scrolling until I find Carters name and press call. The phone rings for several seconds and I try to mentally calculate what time it would be in London right now. Just as I’m about to hang up, Carters voice comes down the line. “Hello?”
“Hey, sorry it took me so long to call you back,” I say.
“Where have you been, Liv? I’ve been texting you for two days. You were supposed to ring me yesterday.”
I sigh. “I had a car accident after I spoke to you the other night.”
Silence greets me and I pull the phone from my ear and check the calls still active. “Carter?”
“Did you say you had a car accident?” His voice is so quiet he’s almost whispering.
“Yeah. I got out of the hospital like an hour ago.”
“Shit, Liv. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Just a broken arm and some cuts, but I’ll be good in a few weeks. Anyway, I’m calling to tell you I’m gonna take the offer on the house if it still stands?”
“It still stands,” he says and my shoulders sag in relief. I’ve had two days surrounded by nothing but blank walls to think about my decision and I know this is the right one.
“Good. I’ll fly home in two weeks. I have to get the all clear from the doctor first.”
“I can explain the situation to the buyers. I’m sure they’ll understand and give you more time to heal,” he says but I’m shaking my head before he even finishes the sentence.
“No. I need to do this as soon as possible, Carter.”
He lets out a long breath. “Okay. I’ll call them tomorrow. Take care of yourself, yeah?”
“Yeah. I’ll see you soon.” I hang up the call and slump back against the couch .
The house is quiet without the girls’ here. It’s only four so I have another hour or so before they finish work and grace me with their presence. Its times like this that I’m glad I didn’t think too much before asking them both to move in with me. I think I’d likely go insane if I had to spend the next few days cooped up in this house all alone.
As much as Savannahs hovering drove me nuts and I couldn’t wait for some time to myself, being alone fucking sucks. My mind has too much opportunity to run wild. To replay things I’d rather forget, create false scenarios and just overthink everything in general.
Grayson is at the forefront of my mind. I think about everything Savannah told me when she found him. All I can picture is a broken man and the image of him that way after how far he has come, hurts my heart.
I don’t know what pushed him over the edge but if I had to guess, I imagine seeing what was left of my car and knowing it was another person close to him whose life was in danger was just too much for him to deal with. And as much as I understand that I don’t deserve his silence.
***
The front door opens at exactly five-thirty and Bellas voice calls out. “Liv? You home?”
“In here,” I call back from the living room. I haven’t moved from this exact spot since Savannah dropped me off earlier and I don’t plan to for the next few hours unless it’s to use the bathroom or take more painkillers.
“Hey. How’re you feeling?” Bella asks as she falls into the seat next to me .
“Well, I’ve felt better, but I’m alive so I can’t complain,” I tell her.
“Do you need me to get you anything?”
“An extra-large bottle of tequila would be wonderful,” I joke, and she lets out a small giggle.
“If you weren’t on strong pain pills, I’d run to the store right now and get you one, but no alcohol for you, doctors orders.”
I pout at her playfully. “You’re no fun, Bells.”
She wiggles her eyebrows at me in return. “Oh, I’m plenty fun.” I let out a genuine laugh for the first time in days and it almost feels foreign.
We simultaneously release a sigh and fall into a comfortable silence. My head becomes lighter as the pain relief I took a few minutes before she walked in start to kick in and I drop my head back against the sofa, turning to look at Bella.
“I’m going back to London for a few weeks,” I inform her, and the smile drops off her face.
“What? Why?”
I stare at the blank TV screen and take a deep breath. “I put my parents’ house up for sale and they’ve found a buyer, so I need to go back and pack up their things. Decide what I want to keep and what to put in storage or throw away.”
“Damn. And you’re going alone?” she asks, her eyes searching my face.
I nod. “Yeah. I’ll only be gone a few weeks.”
“You better come back,” she narrows her eyes.
“Of course I’m coming back. This is my home.” And it is. As much as my parents’ house was once the only place I’d ever consider home, it hasn’t been for a long time. London stopped feeling like home the moment I lost them.
“Good,” she says, her shoulders visibly relaxing.
“Wanna watch a movie?” I hold up the TV remote.
“Yeah. You find something and I’ll order us a pizza,” she says picking up her phone.
I give her a cheesy smile, because I’m high as a kite right now and the thought of pizza is making my mouth water. “You have the best ideas.”
Bellas eyes rise from her phone with amusement. “Hmm. Funny how your tune changed at the mention of food, huh?”
“I’m a funny girl,” I wink – or at least I think I do, I can’t be sure – and she just shakes her head with a laugh before focusing her attention back on her phone.