Chapter 21
TWENTY-ONE
GRACIE
It’s good to be home.
And by that, I mean it was good to see Lana put my father in his place over the way he treats Cole.
If I had been on the fence about liking her, that definitely would have cemented it.
Things were awkward around the house for a while, my mom and me opting to hide away in my room and gossip like teenagers about my brother finally finding a girl who can handle him.
Our family dynamics are strained most of the time.
My mom and dad love us, and while my mom treats both Cole and me equally, my dad does not.
My dad loves my brother, but whereas he shows me love by showering me with it, he shows Cole it by pushing him to be better in everything he does, knowing that he’ll be taking over his position as CEO one day.
I love my father, I really do, but I’ve always hated the way he treats my brother and it was nice to see someone finally tell him how it is.
I’ve tried, but he always waved me off, as if I didn’t know any better.
Maybe now he’ll see it, or maybe he won’t, but I have hope.
Things are finally going well for my brother, and I hope my dad can see just how hard he’s been on him all these years and turn their relationship around before it’s too late.
I lay on my bed, debating what to do with myself. I’ve been up here most of the day since everyone kind of just decided to do their own thing today after spending the entire day together yesterday celebrating Thanksgiving.
Maybe I can hang out with Cole and Lana for a few hours? Or maybe they want to—
A thud sounds from the other side of my bedroom wall, and I swallow a groan.
“Not again,” I mutter.
Well, I guess that plan is out.
No way am I attempting to hang out with them when they can’t keep it in their pants for five goddamn minutes.
I’m happy for my brother.
Really, I am. But does he have to fuck his girlfriend so loudly when he’s in the room next to me?
If I tried that, he’d be storming in here and ripping the guy to pieces.
I heave a sigh and climb off the bed when they make no show of stopping and head out to the balcony. I close the door behind me and take a seat on one of the chairs set up out here before pulling out my phone.
I scroll through my socials for a few minutes, but that gets old quickly.
Normally I’d call Freya and see what she’s up to, but there’s been distance between us lately.
I hate lying to her and I’ve been trying to avoid her so I don’t have to lie, but in doing that, it’s only been putting more of a strain on our friendship, a strain that I have no idea how to fix without telling her the truth.
And that’s the last thing I want to do, if I’m being honest.
I’m Gracie Aston. The good girl. The sensible one.
I don’t want her thinking my lapse in judgement is anything other than what it is—one giant mistake that will not be happening again.
There’s only one person who knows the full truth, and that’s Noah.
I grumble a little to myself and pull up his contact before pressing call and putting it on speaker.
It rings a few times before he finally answers.
“Hey,” he says a little distractedly, and it comes out a little muffled as though it’s coming through a car speaker. Oh shit, is he driving? Why would he answer the call if he was dr— “Are you okay? What happened?”
I roll my eyes. That’s why he answered, always one to worry first and ask questions later.
“Sorry, I’ll call you back later if you’re driving. I was just bored.”
“It’s fine. One sec.” There’s silence on the line for a moment before his voice comes back, clearer this time. “So, bored of being home already, huh?
I huff a laugh. “Oh, it’s been entertaining, that’s for sure, but now I’m stuck sitting on the balcony because I had to get away from Cole and Lana’s sex noises and while the view is pretty, it’s borrrriiiingggg,” I whine dramatically, and his laughter fills my ears.
“You think that’s bad? Try living with them.”
“Nope. No, thank you, that sounds like hell. Where are you, anyways? Were you driving?”
He hums. “Uh huh. I just got to my parents’ place.”
My brows climb up to my forehead. He’s at his parent’s place? I don’t know much about Noah’s family, but I do know that he usually spends the holidays with one of the guys, so I figured he was going to Harley or Logan’s this year.
“You’re home? I thought you’d be with one of the others.” My heartbeat picks up and my gut drops. “Noah Archibald White—”
“That’s not my middle name.”
“—don’t you dare tell me that you spent the holiday alone or I’ll… I’ll…”
“What? What you gonna do, huh?”
I make a strangled noise in the back of my throat. “I know how to fight.”
“I know. I was one of the people who taught you how to fight. You really think you could go up against me and get the upper hand?”
“Well, no, but I’ll be really upset if I find out that you spent Thanksgiving on your own when you could have come here again. Is that what you want, Noah? Do you want me to cry?”
“Relax, little one,” he says soothingly. “I was at Harley’s and decided to come here for a couple of days before heading back to school.”
I let out a breath of relief before annoyance hits me like a tidal wave. “You couldn’t have just said that, could you? You got me all worked up for nothing!”
He snorts. “Babe, you wouldn’t let me get a word in edgeways.”
My brain momentarily glitches at the nickname.
Babe.
Babe.
Babe.
It’s fine.
He didn’t mean it like that.
It was probably a slip of the tongue.
The only reason it’s affecting me the way it is, is because it’s what he calls me when he isn’t calling me love. If it wasn’t for that, I would have breezed past it already.
I really need to stop letting him dominate all of my thoughts.
“Gracie? You there?” Noah’s voice snaps me back to reality and I clear my throat.
“Sorry, I zoned out. How long are you staying in town before heading back?”
“Gonna stick around until the day after tomorrow. What about you? When are you guys heading back.”
“Tomorrow if those two can separate long enough for Cole to drive,” I deadpan and glance towards my room, wondering if it’s safe to go back inside yet.
“You gonna be okay being back on campus for a whole day without me?” he asks, his tone teasing but there’s an underlying seriousness behind it too.
My heart warms. I have no idea what I would have done if I didn’t have Noah by my side these past couple of weeks, and I’ll never be able to express how thankful I am to have him.
“I’ll be okay,” I whisper and look out over at the forest. Memories from when we were younger spring to mind and I smile. “You remember growing up here? How much closer we all were back then?”
There’s a smile in his voice when he replies, “How could I forget.”
I feel weirdly emotional as I think back on the past, and I decide it’s probably better for me to get away from the house for a little while before the entire Aston clan descends on me to see what’s wrong if I suddenly start bawling my eyes out for literally no reason whatsoever.
“Thanks for talking with me, I’m gonna go but I’ll see you back on campus, okay?”
“You gonna brave the noises?” he asks with a laugh, and I cringe at the thought.
“Nope, I’m gonna go for a walk and calm my mind a little.”
There are a few seconds of silence on the other end of the line, and I can imagine him sitting there worrying his bottom lip as he thinks of what to say.
“Are you sure that’s safe?”
No, I’m not.
I don’t say that though.
“It’ll be fine. He very informatively texted me when we were driving up here that he’s basically waiting back at campus for me, plus I won’t be going anywhere I don’t know.”
“Gracie…” he starts, his tone conflicted.
“It’ll be fine, Noah. And if it isn’t, you’ll be the first person I call, okay?”
He sighs. “You promise?”
“Promise.”