26. Chapter 26
Graham splashed cold water on his cheeks and stared into the dirty bathroom mirror at the face of a man about to do something terrible.
Austin.
Of all places, why there?
Dad wants me to see her.
The map was taking them within miles of Helen’s front door. It wasn’t an accident.
Was it?
Why would his dad include Lindsey on the trip if he wanted Graham to see Helen? Was the old man having a laugh? Was it a test to see if his son was so weak, he’d throw away a good thing for a chance to go back in time?
In the narrow hallway outside the bathroom, Graham’s phone glowed in his hand. He was a fool to keep trying. How many times did he have to prove it? She wouldn’t want to see him.
Would he actually go see her?
The thought was absurd and thrilling and filled him with hope for the first time in two years. She couldn’t ignore him if he showed up on her doorstep. Seeing her one more time might be what he needed to finally—completely and forever—let her go.
Who was he kidding? Hope had nothing to do with letting her go. Graham pulled up her number, pressed the button, and put the phone to his ear. It rang twice then clicked over to the voicemail greeting.
“Helen, it’s Graham. I’m coming to Austin.” He paused. “I need to see you.”
He ended the call and put his phone back in his pocket, knowing he’d crossed a line he never meant to flirt with.
Texting from a thousand miles away with no chance of reconciliation was one thing.
Calling from one state over knowing he’d be there in a day was holding a match above a fuse that would blow up his entire life.
There was a strange calmness in his resolve. He called. It was done.
Graham walked back into the bar without a story about why he’d been gone so long. He was just a man doing what needed to be done. She would understand, or she wouldn’t. Her call. If he knew Lindsey—
Lindsey?
Something twinged inside his chest as Graham watched them from a distance. He’d never seen her in another man’s arms, and he definitely never thought he’d find her in his.
Slow and sultry notes poured heat and sweat and sex onto the dance floor. Bodies gyrated and pulsed as a single organism with Lindsey in the middle, pressed too close to the one man she should never, ever touch.
The twinge was rage. And it sent Graham moving to claim what was still—at least for now—rightfully his.
He peeled through the throbbing mass of strangers and spun her out of Jase’s arms, planting his lips on her mouth. The look he flashed his brother said everything he couldn’t with his tongue stretching down Lindsey’s throat.