Chapter 29 Grae
GRAE
I leaned back in my chair, staring at my computer. The letters had all started to blur together. My brain was mush. I liked to call it a hypo-hangover. There was fatigue, of course, but the worst was the brain fog. As if everything were coming at you in slow motion.
Footsteps sounded behind me, and I looked up.
Jordan lowered himself into Eddie’s empty desk chair. “How are you holding up?”
“Good,” I lied as I straightened.
Jordan simply stared at me.
I sighed. “I feel a little out of it.”
“You don’t have to be here. You know you can always call out if you need a day or two to recuperate.”
“I know. But if I’d stayed home, I would’ve been climbing the walls. It’s better to be here and busy. I’ll get good sleep tonight and be back to normal tomorrow.”
Jordan’s mouth pressed into a firm line, but he nodded. “As long as you’re sure.”
“I am.”
I expected him to get up and go back to his office then, but he didn’t. Instead, Jordan picked up a pen and began spinning it between his fingers.
“Is everything okay?”
He clicked the pen a few times. “I know this might be crossing a line…”
“But?”
He sighed. “Caden seems pretty intense around you.”
I studied Jordan for a moment. It might’ve been crossing a line if he were simply my boss, but we’d been friends for as long as I could remember, and I could feel his genuine worry. “I think it’s just that things have been intense in general.”
He nodded. “Law have any idea who might be behind this?”
“Not that he’s told me. I think they’re still waiting for test results on a lot of evidence to come back.” He was always complaining about how slow the county labs could be.
Jordan flipped the pen between his fingers in a staccato motion.
I just waited. I’d known him long enough to know that he was working up to something. He’d say it when he was good and ready.
“I don’t think this thing with Caden is a good idea.”
I bit the inside of my cheek. “Okay.”
Jordan stilled the pen. “Okay?”
I shrugged. “I’m not going to try to convince you otherwise. You obviously have an opinion about him that’s different than mine.”
Jordan’s jaw hardened. “He’s a player, Grae. In more ways than one. He’ll be gone from here in a matter of weeks, and then where will you be?”
“I’m not trying to be a jerk, but that’s for us to figure out. I don’t need to defend my relationship to you or anyone else.”
“I just don’t want you to get hurt.”
“And I might. Heck, I probably will. But that’s my choice.”
Jordan’s fingers tightened around the pen. “I’m not saying it isn’t. I just want you to be careful.”
The hinges on the screen door squeaked, and I looked up.
Wren stepped inside, her gaze ping-ponging between Jordan and me. “Sorry, am I interrupting?”
I pushed to my feet. “Not at all.” I crossed to my friend and gave her a hug. “What are you doing here?”
“Just wanted to check on you. See if you wanted to grab lunch.”
“Sure, I’m about due for a break.”
“You’re not supposed to go anywhere alone,” Jordan argued.
I sent him a withering stare. “I’m not. I’m going with Wren. In broad daylight.”
“I said I’d keep an eye on you—”
“I’ve got her back,” Wren interjected. “We’ll just go down the block to Dockside.”
“Fine,” Jordan clipped, shoving out of the chair and stalking toward his office.
Wren let out a low whistle. “What the hell was that about?”
I shook my head. “Let me grab my wallet, and I’ll tell you on the way.”
I got what I needed from my backpack and followed Wren out of the cottage.
She linked her arm through mine. “I feel like we need a Little Women night.”
“We might,” I said with a laugh. We’d watched the movie so many times we knew the thing by heart.
“Spill, girl.”
I sighed. “Jordan thinks this thing with Caden is a bad idea.”
She glanced at me. “So he has no idea it’s all pretend?”
I rolled my lips together, and Wren stilled.
“It’s not fake?” she squeaked.
“Things might have changed…”
“Start talking,” Wren commanded.
A laugh burst out of me at the image of my bestie with her slight pregnancy bump in opposition to her commanding tone. “Okay, okay.”
So, I told her everything. From how things had slowly started to shift, to the combustible night Caden and I had shared, to his admission of always having had feelings for me, to him staying up with me all night.
Wren sighed as she slid into one side of the booth at Dockside. “I won’t lie. It’s damn romantic.”
My cheeks heated. “I’ve never felt anything like what it was with him.”
Wren grinned. “You two have stored up some serious heat.”
Jeanie strode up to our table. “If it isn’t two of my favorite girls. What can I get for you today?”
Wren’s hand went to her belly. “I’ve got a serious craving for a cheeseburger and a chocolate milkshake.”
“Well, we gotta give that little babe everything they want,” Jeanie said with a grin. “What about you, Grae?”
“I’ll have the same. But a strawberry milkshake, please.”
“You got a bun in the oven, too?” she asked.
I’d just taken a sip of water and started choking.
Jeanie cackled as she thumped me on the back. “Not quite ready for motherhood yet?”
“Not quite,” I rasped.
“I’ll get these right out to you,” she said as she strode away.
Wren pressed her lips together to keep from laughing.
“It’s not funny. That could get around town in two seconds, and Caden would lose his mind.”
The humor slipped from Wren’s face. “He doesn’t want kids?”
I toyed with the edge of my napkin. “I don’t know if he does or not. This is all pretty new.”
Wren nodded, but a hint of worry had made it into her expression. “And Jordan’s worried you’re going to get hurt.”
I leaned back against the seat. “Everyone having an opinion about my love life is starting to drive me batty.”
“It’s because people care about you.”
“It’s more than that.”
Wren frowned. “What do you mean?”
I tore off a corner of my napkin, shredding it into tiny pieces. “Ever since I was diagnosed with Type 1, people have this need to protect me from everything. I know it comes from a good place, but it makes me feel like they think I’m weak.”
“That’s the last thing I think you are,” Wren said quietly.
I didn’t say anything.
She sobered. “But I’ve made you feel that way.”
I shrugged. “Sometimes. I feel like people question every decision I make.”
“I’m sorry, G. I think when we almost lose someone, when we know they’re at continued risk, we want to do everything we can to protect them. But I didn’t consider what that might feel like to you.”
“I’m not trying to make you feel bad—”
Wren held up a hand to stop me. “No. I need to know this stuff because I can’t change anything if I don’t know it’s happening. I know how trapped I felt when Holt wanted to basically call out the National Guard to protect me. I don’t want you to feel that way.”
Just hearing Wren say that she got it, that she didn’t want to make me feel weak, helped. “Thank you.”
She reached across the table and took my hand, squeezing it. “I trust you. You have a great sense about people. All you have to do with Caden is follow your heart.”
My eyes started to burn. “You jerky little B. If you make me cry in a public place, it’ll totally ruin my rep.”
Wren burst out laughing. “No tears. But I do want all the sexy details…”
I grinned. “That I can give you.”
We dissolved into all the epic girl talk I needed—the kind where I felt her excitement for me. There might have been a few squeals that brought eyes to us, but I couldn’t find it in me to care.
We paid our bill and headed out of Dockside and into the sunshine.
Wren hooked her arm through mine. “I’m happy for you, G. I’ve never seen you like this about a guy.”
“I’ve never felt this way about anyone before.”
A smile spread across her face. “You deserve this.”
A shadow crossed in front of us, drawing my gaze.
Rance’s hulking form towered over us as he scowled at me. “Call off your fucking brother.”
My spine snapped straight. I didn’t think I’d ever heard Rance curse before. “What are you talking about?”
His teeth ground together. “Don’t act like you don’t know. Lawson showed up at the station to question me. Do you know how bad that made me look?”
“I didn’t know. But he’s questioning pretty much anyone I have a history with.”
Rance scoffed. “Trust me. I’m regretting that now.”
“I’m sorry, but—”
“I don’t want your damn sorries. I want you to quit fucking up my life. Just remember, two can play that game.” And with that, he stalked away.