6. Chapter 6
Harlow
“Do you wanna go out tonight?” I ask, letting the silky rose petals slip through my fingers. Gray is looking at me a little funny, and I’m not sure why. “We don’t have to. Just thought maybe it would be fun to go out.”
Finally, he comes further into the room. “Sure. What are you thinking?”
“Maybe we can go out and drink? Gamble some?”
I’m not a huge drinker, but I like to go out and have fun occasionally. Plus, we’re in Vegas, and I’m assuming all the couple-y things I had planned aren’t gonna quite work out with Grayson.
I’m nothing if not adaptable to change, though—ha—so maybe we need a night of drinking and slots instead.
Sitting down on the edge of the bed, Grayson nods. “Sure.”
“Now… or?”
Gray smiles. “Well, since you’re practically bouncing with excitement, I think now works. Wanna grab some food first?”
“Sure.” I stand up, tapping my fingers on my thighs. “When I was looking into visiting here, I looked for some food stuff. They have this place that sells gourmet bacon-wrapped hot dogs.”
Gray’s eyebrows shoot to his hairline. “You want to eat bacon-covered hot dogs and then go out drinking?”
I shrug. “Why not? Live a little.”
Grinning, he shakes his head. “I am living a little. I mean, I’m literally in Vegas with you.”
I still don’t understand that, though. I mean, I get why he’d come with me. But… “Why did you have this time already off? You never said.”
For a long minute, I’m sure he’s not going to say at all. Which is weird.
He sighs. “Well, it’s kind of embarrassing.”
Since when is that even a thing in our friendship? We’ve always shared everything with each other. “You don’t have to tell me.”
“No.” Gray shakes his head. “It’s just… you were getting married. And that made me sad, so I took the time off work so I could wallow a little.”
He’s looking down, not making eye contact with me. “You were sad that I was getting married?” His head snaps up, his mouth opening and closing without any words coming out. Normally, that’s my thing. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
“Why would you be sorry?” he asks. “That’s not your problem. It’s mine.”
“Uh, I don’t know if you know this, but you’re my best friend in the entire world. Of course your problems are my problems.”
It honestly makes me a little sad to think he doesn’t already know that.
“What would it have changed if you knew, Harlow?” he asks softly. “It’s not like you would have called off the wedding, and you shouldn’t have. I never would have expected you to.”
A harsh laugh bubbles up inside me and spills out. “Not like it matters since he fucking left me anyway.”
Gray’s face twists. “Yeah. I’m sorry.”
I shrug. “It’s not your fault. What was his problem, though?”
“I have no idea.” His face twists again, but this time in anger. “Sitting around acting like a kicked puppy when he was the one who kicked the puppy.”
I nearly choke. “Me? I’m the kicked puppy? Wow.”
Standing up quickly, Gray hooks his arm around my shoulder and tugs me to him, pulling me into a hug. I relax into him, sinking into his warmth as he buries his face in my hair and inhales.
“Regretting the whole ‘Don’t worry about your hair products’ thing?” I ask when he nuzzles the wild strands.
He inhales deeply again, then lets go of me. “Nope. I love your wild hair.”
My stomach does that same flip it did when he said that to me before. It’s true that I’m an attention whore and that I like compliments, but it’s just somehow even better when it comes from Grayson.
“Alright.” I gesture toward the door. “Well, I’m ready if you are.”
Gray pats his pockets, checking for his wallet and phone, and then he nods. “Yep, let’s go.”
When we walk out of the hotel and into the street, the heat hits us full force.
“Good thing you didn’t bring your hair shit. It wouldn’t have mattered.”
Hell, it already never matters, but it especially wouldn’t matter right now.
“What else did you have planned for this week?”
“Well.” My eyes are darting all over the place. There are people milling about and things everywhere to look at. Vegas really is perfect for a person like me who has no chill and a short attention span. “I planned a couples massage, and I wanted to get dinner at The Eiffel Tower.”
“Sounds perfect to me.”
I stop in the street and turn to look at Gray. “You want to do all of that? With me?”
He raises a shoulder in a little shrug. “Uh, yes? I thought that was the whole point.” Yeah, I guess it was, actually. “Is that all?”
“All the plans we had? Yeah. Why?”
Gray smiles. “You booked a week-long trip, and you only have a couple of things planned. I just didn’t know what else you were gonna do.”
Oh. I mean… “I was planning on being a newlywed,” I say, hoping that gets my point across. For the first time in literally ever, Grayson doesn’t get what I’m saying, and he cocks his head. “Sex, Grayson. I had lots of sex with my new husband planned.”
He inhales so quickly he chokes. On air? His spit? I’m not sure. But one second he’s staring at me expectantly, and the next he’s doubled over, hacking his lungs up.
“You okay?”
I take a step toward him, and he holds his hand up, stopping me. “Fine,” he rasps out, before clearing his throat and standing up. “Yeah, no. That makes sense. I don’t know why I didn’t think about that.” He scrunches his nose up. “I don’t really want to think about that if I’m being honest.”
Look, I don’t really want Gray to think about me having sex, either, but something about the way he says it makes me bristle a little. “Yeah,” I say, trying to laugh it off. “Anyway, I’m hungry, so…”
He nods. “Let’s go, then.”
The walk is pretty short, but I’m slightly sweaty by the time we make it there. We order our food, and I pay because I’m nice like that. Also because Gray has taken what should be an absolute shitshow of a time and turned it into something I can hopefully enjoy and have fun with.
We find a small bench to sit on while we eat. The hot dog is surprisingly good, and I devour half of it in just a few bites. I really was starving. There are never good snack options on planes.
“So, how are you holding up?”
I finish chewing my bite, then glance at Grayson. “What do you mean?”
He waves a hand through the air. “With everything.”
Ah. I glance down at my hot dog. It really does say something about me—not sure what, but something—that I’m more upset about being humiliated in front of all those people than losing Josh.
For a brief moment before the wedding, I wondered if I was even doing the right thing. The thing I wanted to do. And when Gray suggested I could tell Josh I needed more time, I felt… relieved. So relieved, because why hadn’t I thought of that myself?
But then I realized it didn’t matter. I’d never do to Josh what he did to me.
“I think I’m relieved. Does that make me awful?”
I look at Grayson again, watching as his jaw works while he chews. He’s always had a strong, angular jaw. I’ve always felt soft compared to him. He’s so—
“It doesn’t make you awful at all,” he says, cutting off my thoughts. “I mean, I wouldn’t have been surprised if you had been upset, but if you’re not, that’s valid too. You’re allowed to feel how you feel.”
“I think I’d be a lot more upset if I didn’t have you.”
Grayson laughs. “I don’t know about that.”
“I’m serious.” I rest my head against his shoulder. He stills for a second but then relaxes. “Being with you always makes me feel better.”
He turns his head, burying his face in my hair.
I close my eyes, soaking in the touch. For a second, it almost feels like he kisses the top of my head, and my stomach does a wild flip, but I can’t be sure with all my fucking hair.
I’m about to ask if he did when he stands, basically knocking my head off him.
He tosses the wrapper from his hotdog in a trash can beside the bench, then slips his hands into his pockets. “Are you ready to find a bar?”
I nibble on my lip for a second, then toss my own trash. “Yeah. I hear there’s one that has beer you can drink out of a guitar-shaped glass.”
That seems to surprise him. “I guess you really can find anything in Vegas, huh?”
“Guess so.” I shoot him a smile, then stand and hook my arm through his.