Chapter Thirty - Six
Chapter Thirty-Six
America
“How long have you been in love with Gray?” Indy asks me.
“A couple of months.” I stare at the texts on my phone.
He was afraid of getting his heart broken again. I don’t blame him. But he never meant to abandon me in a foreign country either. He was mugged and spent the night in the drunk tank. He had no way of contacting me.
But he got his sexy ass on a plane home as soon as he could just to tell me that he loves me. That he’s mine. And now he’s making sure that I know I’m not alone, even though I have to face the music—Indy—on my own. He’s willing to move home. He’s willing to try with Indy and Theo.
“Since you were all in Italy?” Indy asks from the front seat.
“Since—"
“Or since you were fourteen and you learned Korean from those K-dramas we watched? Do you remember Gray’s confusion when you marched up to him and he had no idea what you were saying?”
“It was just a joke,” I say quietly. “Back then it was a joke. How could I know what it really meant? We were only kids.”
But I did know. My feelings for Gray have always stayed the same. They have never wavered, never changed. Try as hard as I did to hide them, they were always there. And after the time we’ve spent together they’ve only grown stronger.
“Tell me the truth,” she says. “You wanted him, didn’t you? You loved Gray this whole time.”
I duck my head. My cheeks grow hot. “It wasn’t like that.”
“I don’t believe you.” She sounds sad.
Theo squeezes her hand, resting their joined hands on her knee.
“I don’t care that you’re in love with him,” she says, facing me between the seats. “I don’t care that he wants you. If anything, the two of you together… that actually would make me happy. He deserves to be happy. And so do you. It’s the fact that you and I… we’re supposed to be close.”
“We’re still the same America and Indy we’ve always been,” I say quietly.
“No, we’re not.” She wipes at her lashes. “Because I think you’ve been keeping things from me since we were teenagers. And I think maybe that’s why you moved to the UK.”
My throat grows watery. I swallow. She’s not wrong.
“Which means you moved to get away from me. From our friendship. And that makes me so sad.”
“I didn’t want to move away from you. I moved because I couldn’t be around Gray,” I admit. “Not when you were getting married. I’ve missed you so much. I’ve hated not telling you everything. It used to be easy to keep my feelings to myself. I told myself it didn’t need to affect us. But then this thing with Gray became a real thing, and the first person I wanted to tell was you.”
“But you didn’t tell me. You talked me around in circles. You told me you were dating that soccer player.”
“I was dating him,” I say. “I shouldn’t have been. And I knew it wouldn’t last when Gray showed up in town. And I couldn’t just tell you about Gray. He used to be yours, Indy.”
“And now I’m Theo’s.” She glances at Theo.
He smiles at her and lifts her knuckles to his lips. “I love you, wife.”
She turns back to me. “And I’m happier than I ever was.”
They really seem truly content. The way they look at each other. It’s so obvious that he adores her, and that she loves him.
“If Gray makes you happy, if you really believe there’s a future there… I don’t want to be in the way of that. I want to be on the side that supports you. I want the chance to be happy for you.”
“You’re really okay with this?”
“Yes.” We stop at a light and she unlatches her seatbelt and climbs between the seats to sit with me. “You’re my bestie. I want you to do what makes you happy.”
“Thank you.” I wrap my arms around her and hug her so tight. “I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you from the start. I promise I will tell you everything from now on.”
“Tell me all the details.” She wrinkles her nose. “Well, most of the details. There are some details I don’t need.”
I laugh. “Girl, you are not ready for all of those details.”
She moves to the other side of the backseat and puts her seatbelt on. “Just give me the PG version.”
By the time we reach the Dells she knows everything from Positano to now. We’ve run the gamut of tears and laughter.
She’s punched the front passenger seat a couple times too. When I told her about Everett’s unhinged belief that I’m literally his lucky charm and what almost happened that night. When I told her about Nathan dumping Dove in the middle of nowhere.
She looked pleased when I told her that Gray punched my professor. How he’d quit his job when things got real with Everett. And when he covered the bruises Everett left on me with hickeys, I caught the look she shared with Theo in the rearview. That I just won an argument look that she and EJ both get when things go their way.
She walks me to the room Dove and I are supposed to be sharing this week, though I have a feeling those plans might change now.
“I’m glad you’re here.” She hugs me, tears filling her eyes. “And I’m glad that he came here for you. My parents are going to be so happy to see him. EJ too.”
“And you? Theo? Doesn’t this make things awkward?”
“I’m not sure.” She rests her chin on my shoulder. “Does he still hate me as much as he did?”
“You’d have to ask him,” I say. “But I suggest we don’t leave our men alone together any time soon, because that could get ugly.”
“True.” She laughs. “Let’s make sure that doesn’t happen. But maybe he and I can sit down at some point and clear the air.”
I let myself into the room and drop my bags on one of the beds. Gray and Dove probably won’t be long, but I’m dying to wash off all that recycled plane air.
The water is scalding hot and I’m about to climb in when I hear the room door open and close. Gray’s sexy voice hits my ears a second later. “Rica?”
“In here.”
He appears in the doorway to the bathroom. “My beautiful filthy, sweet girl.”
His shirt sleeves are rolled up to his elbows. There’s something about arm porn that does a woman’s libido good. “Where’s Dove?”
“In the lobby. I paid for another room, but she’s trying to get an upgrade.”
“Got to have those penthouse views.” Although she’s hardly going to find a penthouse here. But a nice room shouldn’t be too hard to secure.
“For someone who lives in a tiny flat she does like to be flashy when she’s out and about.” He runs a hand through his hair. “But I don’t want to talk about her. Or Indy. Or anybody who isn’t in this room. I didn’t mean to leave you alone in Amsterdam. I need you to believe that.”
“I believe you,” I prowl toward him. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I press against him. “You came home for me. You came to the Dells even though Indy and Theo are here, and I know how much you don’t want to see them. Even if the next week is awkward as hell, we’ll be okay. And we don’t have to stay. We can go back to the UK. I can come home for vacays on my own from time to time.”
“No. I know you’ve been homesick. You need to come home. And you are my home. Wherever you are is where I’m going to be happy.” He curves both palms around my ass. “I’m going to buy us a house we both like. In a neighborhood we both like. I want you to move in with me. Actually… I want you to have my babies, but that might be jumping the gun a bit so we can come back around to that later.”
“Oh no.” I take hold of his jaw and suck on his bottom lip. “I definitely want to have your babies. We could practice right now.”
He grabs at the hem of his shirt and drags it up over all those statuesque muscles. His ribs are mottled with angry looking bruises.
“What the hell, Gray?”
“It must have happened when I was mugged,” he says.
“Do they hurt?”
“Not as much as it hurt to miss you.” He kicks off his shoes and unlatches the buckle on his belt. Pants and then socks come off before he shoves his boxer briefs down from his hips.
Scooping me up, he steps into the shower. He fills me in drawn out thrusts while our mouths meld and our tongues collide.
The feel of him moving inside me takes my breath away. Makes my insides molten and my clit throb. It’s not too long before I’m clenching around him. Coming so hard that I see stars behind my eyelids.
He groans against my neck. Nips my skin with his teeth and shudders through his own climax. “You make me happy, Rica. Only you. I have never been as perfectly happy as I am when I’m with you.”
“I hope you feel that way forever,” I say as he lowers me to my feet. “Because I’m going to. I’ve loved you since I was fourteen. I don’t think anything will ever change that.”
We finish washing up and climb out of the shower to get ready to join the others down at the pool. I pull out a turquoise bikini and put it on. He dresses in Bermuda shorts and an open button down.
“You left this behind.” I hand him his watch.
He looks at it for a long time. “I’ve had this watch since I signed my first client. I wanted to celebrate what I’d accomplished. It was expensive and frivolous and completely unnecessary, but I knew that every time I looked at it, I would remember the high I felt that day. What I was capable of. And what I wanted my life to be. I haven’t gone a day without it until I left it with you in Amsterdam.”
“I know how much it means to you.” It’s why I made sure to bring it home. I was going to give it to EJ to get back to him. But him being here is much better.
“It looks better on you.” He hands it to me. “I want you to wear it. It’s not a promise ring or an engagement ring or anything like that. At some point I’ll put a ring on your finger.”
“You will?” My heart flutters.
“I’m all in with you, Rica. Head over heels in love with you.” He cups my cheek and kisses me. “So yes, I can see us getting married, but there are some things I still want to plan out just right. Like getting down on one knee and proposing to you.”
My chest grows warm. My smile bigger.
He wraps both arms around me as tight as he can. “I’m here. I’m not going anywhere. This is where you belong.”
My heart is so full.
“Seeing it on you in Amsterdam made me realize you make me feel the same way. It would mean a lot to me if you would wear it until I replace it with a ring. So that even if I have to travel to build the business, or I can’t be with you when you need me, you can look at it and remember that’s how I feel about you. Know that I’m doing my best to get home to you.”
I thrust out my wrist. “I’d like that.”
He helps me with the buckle on the strap. “I like the way it looks on you. Cute. Sexy.”
“I like that it’s yours.” I twist it around, taking it in from every angle. It’s waterproof so I don’t have to take it off to go in the pool, but I probably will give it to him for safekeeping when I do since it’s so important to him. It means a lot to me too. “I’m wearing my boyfriend’s watch. You’re my boyfriend, right?”
He can’t hide his smile. “I hope that’s a given considering I’ve told you I plan on getting down on one knee.”
“You’re always on your knees, Mister Puss.” I press my lips together at the heated look he gives me. Warmth pooling between my thighs again.
“Unless you want to get stuck in this room you probably shouldn’t taunt me like that.”
“You’re right. We should join the others.” We need to spend some time easing ruffled feathers, and I haven’t seen everyone in so long.
He tucks my phone and the room key into his pocket. “Are you ready?”
“Awkward family vacation here we come.” I giggle nervously.
He opens the door and slams it shut. He starts to hurk.
“What is it?”
He points at the door and coughs into his fist. It takes him several moments before he can speak in a strained voice. “Jell-O cups.”
Sure enough there’s a shopping bag full of Jell-O cups on the floor in the hallway. I pick them up and deposit them in the bin, but not before checking for a note.
Prove you’re in love with her. Eat the Jell-O.
I smile as I go back to get Gray. He doesn’t need to eat Jell-O or prove anything to me. He’s already shown me how much he loves me.
***
These Heartbreak Nights: Dove and EJ’s story will be out in 2025.