Chapter 22
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
GREYSON
“This is ridiculous,” Savvy complains through the bathroom door.
“I agree,” I say from our bed at the inn. I miss the solitude of my house, but I lie back and cross my arms behind my head, replaying everything that happened during the golf tournament today.
“I don’t understand how any of this is going to solve anything.” She’s been hiding in there for a very long time.
“It probably won’t, but it will bring in more money for Stillwater, and that’s what’s important right now.”
Her grumbled curses behind the closed door make me smile, even as I try to work out what was off about today.
It keeps coming back to Kristen, and that rips the smile from my face.
I haven’t been able to find a single connection between Kristen and me or Savvy, so it wouldn’t make any sense that she’s attempting to sabotage us, but that’s what my gut is telling me.
It also means that Braxton was probably right, and I can no longer trust Quinn either.
The bathroom door slides open, and my jaw drops as Savvy steps over the threshold. “How the hell is spending thousands of dollars to attend a gala helping people who lost everything?”
She stands before me in a form-fitting rose-gold silk dress that makes her skin appear to shimmer.
“Grey?”
Blinking rapidly, I force my focus on her words. “What did you say?”
“How is this”—she scans her curves with her open palms—“supposed to help people who lost everything?”
Goddamn. She has no idea how gorgeous she is.
“Rich people like to get dressed up and flaunt their wealth. It’s a dog and pony show, but we do it because in the end, they donate money we can give directly to those affected by Hurricane Isolde.” My voice is pinched, and I’m beginning to sweat.
“Why can’t they just donate the money? Do you have any idea how much this dress cost?”
I nod, knowing exactly how much it cost because I chose it myself. Madi offered to help, because fuck knows I’ve never purchased women’s clothing before, but I know Savvy’s silhouette, and I knew exactly what I wanted to see her in.
Now I regret my decision because every person in attendance will see what I do—perfectly welded broken bits that create a beautiful masterpiece. She’s stained glass in human form.
“You look—”
But she holds up her hand to quiet me.
“Grey, this isn’t a date. You don’t have to placate me with empty words.”
My eyes narrow as I stand to my full height.
“I don’t say things I don’t mean.”
“This isn’t real. You don’t have to play pretend when no one’s watching.”
“I’m watching.” I speak harshly, tired of the bullshit. “Against all odds, I find myself wanting you, Savvy. We made a deal, and the deal is very real.”
Her eyes widen a fraction before she slips on a mask. She wants to hide from me, but I’m done playing these games.
“You want to fix me, Patch. That’s not the same thing.”
She’s trying to rile me up—it’s what we’ve always done. Push and pull. Fight and fuck. Well, she’s about to learn that there’s a whole other side of me that’s been created just for her.
I step closer, breathing through my nose to keep the irritation from bleeding into my tone. “If the roles were reversed and I dared tell you how you felt, what would you say right now?”
“I’d tell you to fuck off, that this thing between us is complicated enough. You’re in your savior era, and you see a damsel in distress, but the bogeymen don’t scare me anymore.”
She begins to squirm under my stare when I don’t reply.
I do want to fix her. I also want to fuck her, even though I said that would never happen again. I want to hold her, and I’m not a cuddler. I want her near me even though she irritates the living hell out of me.
I want to love her even though I’m not entirely sure I know how.
Despite all the contradicting statements in my mind, I want her because her messy colors make me feel more alive than I’ve been in—ever.
I don’t bend for anyone, yet I’m turning into a contortionist for her.
“Fine.”
“Fine?” she mimics. “What’s fine?”
“We’ll have to do this the old-fashioned way if you insist on being stubborn and not sticking to my plan.”
She takes a step back, and I move in tandem. She smells like seduction, and I know she tastes even better.
“What are you talking about now?”
My Firefly’s eyes glow as she scans every inch of the room. Is she searching for an escape? My cock twitches. I like the idea of chasing her.
I’m fucked.
Lowering my voice, I say, “You asked me if I know how to flirt.”
Recognition shines in her eyes before her cheeks flame hot.
“And if you won’t honor our agreement to try, then I’ll just make you fall in love with me.”
She snort-laughs, and images of her and us fill in the future I wasn’t sure I’d have.
One where she antagonizes me in the kitchen and I fuck her in the pantry. One where she sighs into my side while watching a movie and I carry her to bed after she’s fallen asleep. One where I tuck my body around hers as she sleeps every night for the rest of our lives.
Holy shit. I already fell in love with my enemy.
Savvy must see something in my face because her mouth opens but no words come out, and that lovely shade of blush careens down her neck.
“You’re serious,” she gasps.
“Deadly.”
Savannah Monroe is my future, even if she doesn’t know it yet.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Grey. This is all for show.
It’s too… Honestly.” Her arms fly into the air.
“I don’t even remember what the hell we’re doing this for anymore.
It’s never made sense. None of it. Why you went from hating me to protecting me in the blink of an eye.
Why you declared we’re getting married when we’ve never even been on a date.
It’s stupid to think people will ever believe that you’re with me, Grey. Don’t you get that?”
No, honestly, I don’t. “I was a coward.” Brutal honesty appears to be my strategy with her, and the wild beat of my heart agrees.
Her lashes flutter, and she drops her chin to her heaving chest. “What?” she whispers.
“I’ve wanted you since the moment you pressed your chest into mine and told me to back the fuck up.”
Brows furrowed, she bites on her bottom lip while staring up at me through long, thick lashes. “At the pub, your first night in town?”
I nod in agreement. “And every time you’ve challenged me since.”
Her sigh reverberates through her like the last ripples of a wave on a stilling lake. “Just because you want to fuck me doesn’t mean you want me, all of me. We can’t make it through a wedding without fighting—that can’t be the kind of life you want.”
“There you go again, making assumptions about what I want.” I ache to reach out and touch her, but the arch of her spine reminds me of a feral cat, so I give her space.
“I like fighting with you. I love making up with you. I enjoy that you challenge me, even if it irritates the hell out of me. What’s so wrong about that? ”
“Are you a masochist?” she fires back, still retreating.
“Only for you.”
“Did someone hit you in the head with a golf club and not tell me?” She scans the room, clocking the exits.
I smile, big and predatory. “No, but I do like taking care of you.”
“Why?” Her thumb makes its way to her teeth. She’s going to chew on that disgusting nail again, but I refrain from tugging it from her lips…this time.
“Why do I like taking care of you?”
She nods.
“Because I don’t think you let anyone else do it.”
“So you like the challenge?”
“I like you.”
“You’re giving me whiplash, Patch.” She’s using that stupid nickname as a shield, but it’s growing on me, and my skin buzzes with warmth every time I hear it. “How can you go from hating me a month ago to liking me today?”
“That’s just it, sweetheart.” I move in, pressing my torso into hers, cupping her chin in my hand, and tilting it up until her gaze finds mine.
“It didn’t happen overnight. It happened with each sharp lash of your tongue.
With every stolen moment when our friends were in the other room.
It happened between barbed-wire-laced words and gentle caresses. ”
“What did?” Her voice rattles as though she’s trying to suppress a tsunami of emotion.
“Us. I can’t pinpoint the exact moment we went from you and me to us, but we did, and it happened when all those fine lines between love and hate built a bridge from me to you.”
“You…” Her lip trembles, and I wrap my arms around her, holding her tightly against my bare chest.
“I’m going to tell you something I’ve never told another soul.” God, this is going to hurt.
She stiffens in my arms. It’s as though I can feel her walls rebuilding brick by brick.
“My biggest fear is ending up alone.” Blood rushes in my ears as I admit that.
Savvy’s arms are locked around my waist, and she squeezes me hard. Almost as though she can’t believe what I just admitted.
Truthfully, I can’t either.
“Why—why did you tell me that?”
“Because I realized something else today. You might be the only person I know who has more trust issues than I do, and I’m afraid if I don’t take the first step, you’ll never open the door to your heart.
Luckily for both of us, I’m okay with being a pushy bastard and breaking the lock you hold so tightly. ”
She frowns up at me. “Are you sure you didn’t hit your head?”
Laughter bubbles out of me. “I’m sure. But I will also try to be patient while you wrap your head around us.”
“You? Patient?” Her scoff lights my fire.
There is nothing I love more than bantering with this woman.
“Yes, I’ll try to be patient,” I reply.
There’s so much confusion floating in her eyes, I almost feel guilty.
“I think we should slow down. I—I don’t even know if I want kids, and you desperately do.”
I nod. “I do. In time, but if I’m being fully transparent here, since the hurricane hit, I haven’t really thought about babies or surrogacy.
I’ve been too consumed by…you, so that tells me that maybe I need to reevaluate my plans.
I wanted a baby because they inherently love you unconditionally.
Love any other way has never been on the table for me before.
” I shrug. “I’m asking for time, with you, to figure all that out.
In the meantime, we have a lot of other shit to figure out. ”
“You mean the DeVanes?” she guesses.
I scan her too-thin figure. And getting you healthy. But my latest research showed I shouldn’t force that conversation on her. She has to want to talk to me about it.
“Among other things,” I say. My attention catches on the ring box I placed by the bed, and I move to retrieve it.
“This isn’t…well, this is the ring I could get on short notice.
” A jeweler in London is working on the real one, but I think that will freak her out too much.
Before she can respond, I slip the single oval solitaire diamond ring with a pavé band onto her finger.
It’s too loose, but once she’s healthy again, it’ll fit perfectly.
“Jesus, Greyson. This is all moving too fast.” She pulls away, and I watch her go, feeling a sense of pride when she stares at the ring on her hand.
“I know. But now you know where I stand, and I’m about to put my flirting skills to work to win you over.”
“Who the hell are you, and what have you done with Drill Bit Grey?”
“Back to Drill Bit, huh?”
“It’s better than asshole.”
My bark of laughter sounds loudly in the silent room. It’s a rusty sound I’ll have to work on.
“That’s very true.” I hold my hand out to her. “Shall we go? Braxton and Madi are probably waiting for us downstairs.”
She mumbles something about a lobotomy but takes my hand.
Perhaps my directness has thrown her, but once I’ve made a decision, I rarely go backward, and now it’s full steam ahead to get her to agree to everything Happiness has to offer…with me.