Chapter Forty-Eight #2
I reach my car, throw my suit jacket in the passenger seat, and pick up my phone to text her. Then I throw the phone down. No. I need to see her. To beg forgiveness for putting her in that horrible position.
I put on my seat belt and start the car. Whenever I hit a red light, I curse under my breath. I need to get to Grace. I need to tell her how sorry I am. I’m sorry I put her in this position in the first place. She trusted me, and I let her down. I’ve always protected her, and now I’ve failed.
What if this is all too much for her?
I grip the steering wheel tighter. I need to get to her. I need to beg Grace to forgive me.
After what seems like an eternity, I turn down my street. I see Nolan’s car in the driveway, and what I suspect is his parents’ car right behind it. I park my car on the curb and sprint up the sidewalk, my heart pounding inside my chest.
Please, Grace, don’t give up on me, I think. Please, please, please.
I unlock the door and rush into the house, my eyes searching frantically for Grace. Nolan and his parents are sitting at the kitchen table, having coffee.
“Where’s Grace?” I blurt out.
“Wy?” My heart lurches the second I hear her voice.
“Upstairs,” Nolan says softly, tilting his head in the direction of the staircase.
I turn and sprint toward the staircase, and then I see her. She’s standing at the top, in my jersey, staring down at me.
I fight back tears the second I see her.
I run up the stairs, taking them two at a time, and when I reach the top, the first thing she does is throw herself into my arms. Her hands wrap around the back of my neck, her face pressed against my chest, and I wrap my arms around her, holding her as close to me as possible.
“Grace,” I say, my voice thick as I murmur into her hair. “I’m so sorry, baby. I’m so sorry. Please forgive me. I won’t let this happen again. I promise you I won’t.”
I feel her shift in my arms, backing up enough to look up at me, her teary blue eyes staring at me in confusion. “What are you talking about?” she asks. “What do I need to forgive?”
I move my hands to her face, swallowing against the lump in my throat. “Everything about tonight. I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”
Her expression shifts into one of complete confusion. And the second I see it, I know everything is going to be okay.
Thank God, thank God, thank God.
“Let’s go in my room,” I say, lifting one hand and caressing the back of her head.
She nods, and I lead her into my room. I shut the door behind us and immediately pull her into my arms again.
“I’m so sorry my dad verbally attacked you,” I say, my voice breaking. “Grace, I swear to you, if I had any idea he was going to do that, I never ever would have put you in that position. Please forgive me.”
She lifts a hand to my face. I close my eyes as I feel her run her fingertips along my jaw, and I lean my face into her palm.
“Wy, there is nothing to forgive,” Grace says, her voice soft and reassuring. “You had no idea he was going to do that.”
A shuddering exhale leaves my body. “What did he say to you?”
She hesitates. I can tell she doesn’t want to tell me. “I need to know, sweetheart,” I encourage.
Grace nods. “Okay. He told me he didn’t want me there. He said this is the year when all your hard work will pay off, and that I could derail your focus. He thinks I’m an unnecessary—and unwelcome—distraction.”
I clench my jaw as the anger claws at my chest again.
Grace moves her fingers over it, noticing my twitch.
“Rachel got very upset and began to raise her voice, and then Nolan walked up with his parents. He asked if I would like to come with them, and I thought that was the best thing to do. I could have argued with your dad, but there’s no need to do that in public.
Not when anyone can throw up a phone and record it.
I would never embarrass you like that, Wy. ”
“No, you wouldn’t,” I say. “My dad is the embarrassment.”
Her gaze grows questioning now. “Wy, what were you thinking when I told you I left?”
Now, as I stare down and see the love in her eyes, I realize I was an idiot to ever think she would leave me because of my family.
But I’m always going to be honest with her, so I tell her the truth.
“I was afraid you’d see how seriously dysfunctional my family is,” I admit.
“That even though you love me, this is too much to deal with. That you could do better—and you deserve it.”
Grace winces. She frames my face with both her hands and tilts my head at the perfect angle for her to stare up at me. “I love you,” she says firmly, her eyes now flickering with intensity. “There’s no amount of dysfunction that is going to scare me away. Not tonight. Not tomorrow. Not ever.”
I swallow down against the lump in my throat. She’s right. I need to trust her and trust the love she has for me.
“I promise this is the last time I will ever question that,” I say, my voice raw. “I do trust you, Grace. I believe in your feelings for me. And from now on? You’re going to have to tell me you don’t want me for me to believe it.”
She smiles at me. “That’s not going to happen.”
“I love you so much,” I say.
“I love you, too.”
“I’m sorry my dad was such an asshole.”
“You have nothing to be sorry about. Besides, I understand the overbearing parent, remember?”
I manage a small smile. She leans up and plants a simple kiss on my lips. I take one of her hands and pull her toward my bed. I sit down and pull her into my lap. I need to hold her close right now. Grace nestles against me, and I feel my body unwinding as her fingers sink into my hair.
“What happened with your dad tonight?” she asks softly.
I rub my hand up and down the curve in her waist. “I took him outside the arena and told him everything I’ve wanted to say for years. I unloaded on him.”
I relay what happened to her, and Grace continues to comb her fingers through my hair as I let the truth spill out of me. What I said. What Dad said. How I felt when it was over.
“I don’t know what kind of relationship we’ll have going forward,” I admit. “But now it’s an honest one. If he really wants to be my dad, I’ve given him the opportunity to do it.”
Grace shifts back on my lap so she can look at me. “I’m so proud of you. I know—I know—how hard that was to do.”
“I know you do. The thing is? I feel nothing but relief now. The weight is gone. I didn’t know how much his pressure was impacting me until it was lifted off my shoulders.
I mean, I know I might not have a relationship with him now.
Or ever. But if I was hiding everything I was feeling, if I was burying all the hurt and pressure to please him, it wasn’t a normal father-son relationship. It was toxic.”
I rub my hand over her thigh. “Thank you for helping me see that. For getting me to this point.”
“We both helped each other,” she says. “We were meant to find each other, Wy.”
“Do we have to thank Rob for us?” I tease.
She laughs. That beautiful, bright laugh that never fails to bring a smile to my face.
“Let’s not and say we did. Truthfully, it’s Professor Dickhead we have to thank.”
I snort. “Or my uncharged phone. Or the OCU scheduling software, which decided that boring-ass history class was a fantastic substitute for surfing.”
“Wy, look at all the things that had to happen for us to fall in love! We really are meant to be.”
I nuzzle the side of her face. “We are. I love you, Gracie girl.”
“I love you, Wy.”
I lift my head. “Hey, you were supposed to give me a better nickname,” I say, remembering one of our first conversations. “What are you going to call me?”
Grace rubs her hand up and down the nape of my neck. “You know what? I was wrong. You are Wy to me. Because you’re my Wy.”
I can’t help but smile as I kiss her, and my smile deepens as I feel her lips smiling against mine.
Truth be told, she can call me anything she wants as long as I’m hers.
Because she will always be mine.