Chapter 26
GRAYSON
“Jessica!” Alvarez snaps. The scandalized look she directs at her friend from the front passenger seat says it all. One, she doesn’t agree and two, she’s embarrassed that I overheard. I know this because she’s blushing that mauve pink shade that seems to be a constant lately.
“What? It’s true!” Jess doubles down. “Sure you’re helping him, but what’s in it for you—”
“Technically, she’s right,” Letty interrupts. “When fake dating, both parties—”
“We’re not fake dating!” Alvarez insists. She avoids looking at me even when we’re at the light, but I’m watching her squirm in her seat. “It’s a one-time thing.” She finally meets my gaze. “Right?”
“Of course,” I grumble, annoyed for some inexplicable reason that she’s so adamant on this point. She can’t even stomach the idea of pretending to be with me. Not that I want her to. This shouldn’t even bother me. It doesn’t, I decide.
“You called out of both jobs for this,” her friend points out. The comment is obviously directed at me.
Letty, who’s sitting behind me, grabs my seat and yanks it back. “Girl, you called in?! You never call in. Did you get someone to cover your shift?”
“I didn’t have time.” Alvarez is looking miserable as she stares out the window. “I wasn’t sure—it was kind of last minute.”
This whole time she considered not coming with me. It’s what I expected. Why am I surprised then?
“All I’m saying,” Jess adds, “you should be compensated for your time.”
Letty hollers behind me. Between bouts of laughter she says, “You know who gets compensated for their time?” She waggles her eyebrows.
Jess sighs. “Dude. Everyone who works. At least they should be.”
“This isn’t work! I’m helping a...a, uh...”
“Yes?”
“A what?”
I’m listening intently but pretending otherwise.
“A friend! Anyway, both of you need to stop talking.” Alvarez doesn’t sound upset, but her cheeks are flaming red. Out of the corner of my eye, I see her take a deep breath before turning to me. She places her hand on my forearm. “Ignore them. Please.”
The last time she touched me before today, she had jumped into my arms to prove to my father that she had my back. Everything from that moment is vividly clear in my mind.
Her warm body on mine...
The scent of her hair, vanilla with a definite hint of coconut filling my lungs...
Those soft curves pressed close...
Everything about her wrapped itself around me.
I can’t help think back to the warmth in her eyes.
Different than when she sat on my lap at Leo’s Burgers.
Then, lust swirled in her green gaze. In that moment, she wanted me too.
But after the game, it was almost as if we shared a mutual understanding that we were in this together…
However, that’s beside the point. She’s not what I want. Not what I should want either.
On top of that, she’s missing work. Perhaps she deserves to know why I need her help.
“You asked about Lila.”
Her hand slides down, near my wrist now. “I did,” she replies. Her palm is warm over my knuckles. Even when I shift gears, she doesn’t move away.
“I know I was being nosy before, but you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to,” she says, her voice soft, her grip on my hand gentle, comforting.
“I wanna know!” Letty whispers, breaking some of the tension, but it’s Alvarez’s touch who soothes away my hesitation.
“I’m not going into great detail—”
“Boooo!”
Alvarez glares at Letty and it amuses me to see that look directed at someone else for once.
I clear my throat. “Lila messed with Big Mike.”
“What did she do?” It’s the first thing Jess says since asked to stop talking.
“Big Mike...” Letty sighs. “The tall, blond, Thor lookalike who plays right field.”
Jess snickers.
Letty sits back in her seat. “What I mean is his name is Michael Elias Svenson.”
I look at her in the rearview mirror.
“What? If I’m gonna be a sports agent I need to know the players.”
“Uh-huh,” Jess scoffs.
“Alright Gray-Gray, hit us with the dirty deets.”
I exhale, loud.
“Lila and I went to the same high school—”
“In New York?” Letty interrupts, then chuckles awkwardly. “Sorry I’ll be quiet.”
“We hooked up after prom,” I continue. Truth is, I regretted the moment it happened.
Alvarez slips her hand away. A part of me is relieved. Another part wants it back on mine. It’s fucking insane.
I shift gears to focus on that instead of the absence of the warmth she provided. “Told her it was a one-time thing. Didn’t matter though, after that, she showed up everywhere I went. She refused to accept that we weren’t a couple and would never be.”
“Why not?” Alvarez asks, tilting her head to the side. Just as quickly as she does that, she retreats, waving off the question. “Never mind.”
“Things got worse. Even got a restraining order.” Father was against it, but I didn’t know his plan at the time. Mom insisted, even drove me to the police station. Thinking about my mom sends that old familiar ache to my chest.
I crack my neck side the side. Fucking hate talking this much, like I want to hear my own voice or some shit.
“How bad?” Letty asks. “Fatal Attraction bad?”
“Something like that.”
Never watched that old movie, but I know the gist of it. And while Lila never harmed any of my pets, she broke into our house more than once.
“Big Mike may look intimidating, but he’s shy and keeps to himself. Last semester he suddenly had a girlfriend. No one in the house knew who she was.”
“It was Lila Jane?!” Letty’s eyes are wide.
“Let him finish,” Jess snaps.
Fucking wish I didn’t have to explain any of this. I make a left turn and continue. “This mysterious girlfriend, Lila Jane, showed up at our place. No one had met her until then. Lila Jane turned out to be Lila from high school. I wasn’t even aware she had transferred to Tower Lake.”
“Is that why you never call her Lila Jane.”
I nod once as I park my car on the street. I don’t want to get blocked in on the driveway. It’ll be easier to leave this way.
“What happened next?” Alvarez asks.
“Same as before. Showed up everywhere I was. Snuck into my room. It’s why all the doors have keypads now.”
Poor guy fell hard. I don’t share this detail. Or how his parents were planning to fly in from Sweden to meet her because Big Mike told them how much she meant to him.
“She used Big Mike to get to you,” Letty mutters. For once there’s no ounce of humor in her voice.
“Some of the guys teased him about a recent break up,” Jess mutters almost to herself. “Last year. He looked miserable.”
“Not everyone knows, do they?” Letty’s voice carries the anger and indignation I feel every time I think about it.
“No.”
He was embarrassed and humiliated, but mostly heartbroken. He didn’t want everyone on campus talking about it, so he asked those of us who knew to keep it to ourselves.
“She’s continued tormenting him,” I add.
“How?” Alvarez asks, her hands have turned to fists on her lap. I nearly reach out, but grip the shift gear even tighter to keep from doing so.
I shake my head. “I’ve shared more than enough.”
“How’s Selena involved in all this?” Jess asks.
I meet her eyes in the rearview mirror and I know this girl has Alvarez’s back on and off the field. I respect that.
“Last week Big Mike ran into Lila. She started going off again, running her mouth, and he must’ve had enough.
He snapped, ‘Doesn’t matter how much you want him, he doesn’t want you.
Just ask his girlfriend.’ Later, he apologized, said he panicked and made that shit up to piss her off. Turns out it did.”
“Oh, oh, was that when she ran into you two at Leo’s Burgers?!” Letty’s practically jumping up and down in the backseat. “It was, wasn’t it?!”
I nod.
“Okay,” Letty claps her hands. “One, fuck that bitch. And two,” she turns to Alvarez, “you gotta fucking sell it, girl. Do it for Big Mike.”
“Yes, but Lila Jane’s proven to be unstable,” Jess counters.
Her concern is valid. However, if I thought for one second Lila would harm Alvarez in anyway, we wouldn’t be here. They don’t know about my father or his threats, but my lawyers have made him aware of the recording I have. With that type of proof, he won’t dare do anything.
I shut off the engine and turn to the girl willing to help me out without having anything to gain. Her eyes meet mine, full of sympathy for Big Mike and trust for me. That’s a mistake. She shouldn’t trust me.
“If you’re not comfortable with any of this, just say the word.”
Even as I make this statement, I know what her response will be.
“We’re doing this,” she assures everyone and I see the determination written on her face. Green eyes meet mine and she nods. “Let’s go.”