Chapter 18
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
GREYSON
Okay, in fairness, perhaps I have lost my damn mind.
Marriage? A real, legal marriage? What the hell was I thinking?
Is there a test for witchcraft? The longer I spend in Savvy’s presence, the more I believe that she might have cast a spell on me.
The walk up my driveway was faster than when we left. Cian must have put down the plywood that’s creating a path and making the hike less treacherous. At least I’m not covered in mud by the time I walk up the front steps.
I’m not even surprised to find Moose sitting on an overturned bucket, puttering around on the porch with a piece of wood and what looks like a paring knife.
“Grey.”
“Moose.”
He smirks at my cool tone. It’s why I like this old guy so much. He doesn’t ramble about nonsense like Pops does.
“Cian was up here a bit ago with an engineer. Structurally, the place is in good shape, but it’s got a bit of cosmetic work that needs to be done.”
“I figured.” The chairs that used to be here are probably swinging from the treetops, so I slide to the floor beside him and watch as he whittles something out of an old piece of wood.
“You and Savvy made quite the entrance in town today.”
So much for not using unnecessary words.
“I did not create drama. I gave a solution to a problem that my last name created long before Savvy was even born.”
Moose does one of his dramatic head nods in slow motion but says nothing. It’s his way of forcing someone to talk, but I don’t typically fall for it.
Monroe has me all out of sorts though.
“I didn’t have a choice, Moose. She may have made a mistake as a child, but it’s chasing her now because of her connection to me and my fucking DNA.”
“Hmm.” He flicks his knife, and wood shavings fall to the floor. “Have you ever thought about not taking on the past as if it’s your burden to bear?” He doesn’t look at me when he speaks, and it makes it easier to talk to the guy.
“Isn’t it though? Ace may have saved Savvy once and unknowingly put a target on her back, but I’m the one the media has been after since my father went to prison.
I’m the one with enough zeros in my bank account to draw attention as if I’m some dark prince with salacious secrets.
Savvy’s past proves that. She’s being dragged through the mud now because my name is attached to her story. ”
“You know, Greyson, sometimes in life, the only thing we can do is take accountability for our own actions.” His words roll off his tongue in a slow, soothing cadence.
“You don’t owe anyone anything more than that, and by becoming the fixer for everyone who has ever come in contact with the last name Wells, you’re only hurting yourself.
You have one life, son. Do you really want to live it constantly cleaning up after the devil himself, or do you want to live your life for you? See what your future could be?”
“Not everyone is given a choice in how to live their life, Moose. Some of us are meant to quietly pick up the pieces while eliminating further devastation.”
“Is that what you’re doing with Savvy?” Thankfully, there’s no judgment in his tone. It makes it easier to absorb his words. “Are you rescuing her by actively keeping her in the spotlight this way? Or are you clinging to her because you’re finally feeling what it means to be alive?”
My head hits the wall with a thud. Where Savvy’s concerned, I don’t know anything anymore.
“Go on now, grab your stuff, and get over to the Hideaway. I’m keeping an eye on Cian so he doesn’t wreck our sanctuary.”
“It’s okay. I told them I’d be back tomorrow.”
“And I’m telling you.” He points at my front door with the sharp tip of his knife.
“Get your shit and get over there. You’ve publicly claimed that girl, now there’s no telling what kind of fight you’re bringing to her door.
If Madi and Braxton’s situation taught us anything with those pushy reporters, it’s that you can’t leave anything up to chance. ”
I want to argue, but he’s right.
“She needs you, Grey. Maybe even more than you need her.”
“I don’t—”
“Don’t you though?”
“There you are,” Cian’s voice fills the silence. “Grab yer shite, and I’ll give ya a ride back into town. Your little Mercedes just sunk into a mud hole.”
“Jesus,” I mutter, but text Quinn to order me a new SUV. “Can this day get any worse?”
I take it back. This day can most definitely get worse, and I’m looking at it the second I walk into the Hideaway with Cian and Moose at my side.
People are everywhere. Fucking everywhere.
A small group of Sage’s teammates sit in front of the unlit fireplace, playing Monopoly—a mind-numbing experience I’d never like to have again.
Braxton is buzzing around the room with a tray of drinks.
Pops sits in his recliner with his hands behind his head and his feet swinging from side to side on the footrest, taking it all in.
Chief paces in front of the bay windows, nodding sagely as he stares into the darkness as if he’s the Secret Service. I can hear Sage and two of his football friends, Trevon and Ethan, laughing and talking loudly in the kitchen.
The only ones missing are Savvy and her friends, but the number of people in here is already giving me a headache.
I readjust the cufflinks holding my sleeve closed and inhale deeply. When I first moved to Happiness, I lived at the Hideaway with Braxton, Sage, Madi, and Pops, and that was an exercise in daily self-control.
Add in these extra people, and my entire head is about to explode.
“Uncle Grey, you’re back early.” Sage stands in the doorway to the kitchen, holding a tray of appetizers.
The room tilts on an axis I’m not equipped for, and I blink, willing myself to focus.
They all move around each other as though they’ve done it all their life. They’re a family with little to no blood relation among them. Uncomfortable tingling sensations dance across my palms.
“Yeah, I…” I don’t even know what I want to say, so I don’t bother finishing. Instead, I take the stairs two at a time until I reach the landing. Then I open each door systematically in search of…in search of Savvy.
When the hell did she become my touchstone?
When I don’t find her on the second floor, I race to the third while wiping my palms on my pant legs.
There are only three bedrooms on the third floor now. One is a primary for Braxton and Madi, and one was being used as storage the last time I checked, so I barrel toward the third door as though I’m shot out of a cannon.
I don’t intend to take the door off its hinges, but as it slams open against the wall, I grab it to make sure I don’t cause permanent damage.
Madi and Clover sit side by side on the bed, facing me, while Savvy sits cross-legged, giving me her back.
Clover startles at my aggressive entrance, practically jumps out of her skin, and starts to tumble to the floor.
Savvy and Madi grab her before I can reach them and haul her back to the bed with handfuls of sweater and sweatpants.
“Geez, Grey. You’re worse than the three-hundred-pound linebacker downstairs,” Madi says while smoothing out Clover’s clothing.
It’s truly unhealthy how easily that woman startles.
“I…apologize.” My teeth grind as Savvy continues to give me her back.
“See?” Savvy flicks her thumb in my direction without even looking at me. “Ventriloquist, am I right?”
“Are you drunk?” I feel my lips curl at the corners. That’s when I realize my pulse has evened out, my headache has evaporated, and my palms no longer feel clammy.
Clover snickers, then whisper-yells, “Totally a ventriloquist. Did he take lessons?”
“Savvy was just…filling us in.” Madi giggles, and the motion sloshes apple juice all over the bedding. She found an odd addiction to juice early in her pregnancy, and now she rests the half-empty cup on her blossoming baby bump.
Longing slashes across my chest as I stare at her protruding belly, but I force it away. There’s too much to deal with to focus on getting a baby right now.
Savvy still doesn’t look at me, and it stings—I’m not used to rejection. Well, fuck that. For better or worse, we’re in this together.
Stomping back down the hall and two flights of stairs, I yell. “Braxton. Sage. Meet me on the third floor. Now.”
As a child, I never dared stomp on stairs or slam doors. My father would have punished me, and the sick fucker enjoyed it too much for me to make it easy for him.
But ever since Savvy has inexplicably been woven into the fabric of my life, I’m lashing out in all the ways I’ve never done before. I can almost understand why teenagers do it now because the noise makes me feel marginally better.
“What’s up?” Braxton asks, jogging with much softer footfalls than my own, catching me before I reach the second floor. “Everything okay?”
“No, everything is not okay. I basically bet a woman to marry me, and now she’s drunk with two of her best friends on our bed when I need to lay down some ground rules for us.”
“Uncle Grey.” Sage chuckles my name and makes a wheezing sound.
If this kid is actively going to laugh in my face, I might lose my shit.
“Are you even listening to yourself? You can’t bet someone to marry you.
And it’s not the 1890s, you don’t get to lay down the law.
” His tone shifts to something more…contemplative, and it has me stopping my march back toward Savvy.
“If you don’t go at this like a partnership with Savvy, you’ll… ”
My shoulders tense up around my ears, ratcheting up the ever-present tension headache until I see stars.
“I’ll what?”
“You’ll lose her,” he says simply, then he turns sideways and knocks on the now-open bedroom door.
“Hello, ladies. I think my uncle is looking for some privacy with his fiancée but has lost use of his manners. Never fear, Uncle Brax and I are here to escort you to your rooms, because at least some of the Reyes men are still gentlemen.”
The little shit.