CHAPTER 55
GRAYSON
R ed.
That’s all I see as I look between the love of my life, dressed in nothing but a flimsy robe and the half-naked man standing behind her.
Liv says something, but I don’t hear her over the whooshing in my ears as the rage takes over. My legs have a mind of their own as they carry me through the door and straight to the man staring at me with wide eyes.
The second I reach him, I don’t hesitate.
My arm rears back before snapping forward, my fist colliding with his jaw with a satisfying crunch. The prick grunts, cupping his jaw and stumbling backwards. I follow him, ready to throw another punch, but a hand wraps around my wrist, stopping me.
“What in the ever-loving fuck do you think you’re doing?” Liv screams at me, her blue eyes burning with a fury I have never seen before.
I whirl on her. “What the fuck am I doing? What the fuck are you doing, Liv?” I point at the asshole behind me .
Her eyes widen in anger as she squares her shoulders, ready for a fight. “ I,” she points at her chest, “am packing up my dead parent’s house – which you just barged into, by the way.”
I scoff as I look her up and down in disgust. “Doesn’t look like much packing is happening.”
Her mouth drops open in outrage and her eyes narrow at me. “I beg your pardon?”
The slimy little prick behind me decides now is the time to pipe up. “I’m gonna get dressed and get out of your hair.”
Liv’s face softens as she looks over my shoulder and I turn, scowling at him as I size him up. He’s bigger by a few inches and has at least fifty pounds of muscle on me. I don’t give a fuck.
“You don’t have to go anywhere, Carter,” she says, stepping around me.
“The fuck he doesn’t,” I snap, reaching my hand out and pulling her back to me.
She glares at me over her shoulder, yanking her arm from my grip and Carter uses the opportunity to disappear up the stairs.
Liv pushes against my chest in rage, but her strength is no match for mine and I stay unmoving. I cock my head at her. “This what you’ve come back for?”
Her eyes search mine before she breaks into maniacal laughter. “Are you fucking serious?”
“Does it look like I’m joking?”
She lets out a frustrated growl as she storms past me and opens a door to a room off the hallway and steps inside. I follow behind her and my feet pause in the doorway as I take in the bare room.
Boxes are piled up high in the corner, each one labelled with different categories and my stomach drops.
“ This is what I’ve been doing, Grayson. Not that I owe you a fucking thing.” She steps closer, the look on her face full of violence. “That man you just punched?” she points to the stairs, “is my friend.”
I scoff again, not ready to accept that as an excuse. “Seems I’m not the only friend you like to fuck then, huh?”
Her head rears back as if I’ve slapped her and I instantly wish I could take the words back. “You’re unbelievable. First, you show up here after weeks of no communication. And then, you have the audacity to insult me. I don’t fuck every man that shows me a little attention. I’m not fucking desperate. You need to grow the fuck up, Grayson.”
“I need to grow up? You ran away.” I say, my voice raising an octave as my chest heaves.
She laughs in disbelief as she drops her head back. “I didn’t run anywhere. I sold this house. Carter helped me. I came back to clear it out. I was always coming back. You ran away, Gray. Not once, but twice. You ran after my accident, and you ran from your parent’s dining room. You,” she digs a finger into my chest, “are a fucking coward.”
“I almost lost you!” I yell, emotion burning my chest.
“I’m not yours to lose. You made that clear from day one.”
Her words are like a knife to the heart, and I slump back a step, my chest caving in on itself. “That’s not true and you know it,” I say, my voice barely above a whisper.
I see the fight leave her as her shoulders drop and she releases a harsh exhale. “No, Gray. I don’t know it.”
“Liv,” my tone is pleading, a desperation taking over as I see the guard go up in front of her eyes.
She shakes her head at me. “You should go. Go back to your hotel. Or Rosewater Creek. I don’t know, Gray. Just get out of my house. ”
I stare into her sky-blue eyes, searching for something, anything to show me I haven’t lost her completely, but she tears her gaze away and leaves the room without so much as a backwards glance.
And me? I do what I always do.
I run.