19. Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Nineteen
T hose copper-colored eyes were just as penetrating through a TV screen.
Standing tall and confident in the most dashing blue suit was Grey. His generally effortlessly styled hair was now done with much more effort and product in it. His casual, routinely unbuttoned linen shirt was replaced with a stiffly pressed white-collared one and accompanied by a burgundy tie. His stance was somewhat protective as he stepped into the spot next to the most beautiful older woman I’d ever seen.
She wore a cherry red pantsuit that paired exquisitely with her black heels and matching red lipstick. Her arms interlocked with an older man who stood front and center on a patriotically decorated makeshift stage. The man resembled Grey a smidge, but in a colder, much harsher sense of the word. His face held little emotion, and his eyes were decorated with dark circles that no amount of makeup could cover.
I was still trying to piece together exactly what I was seeing when a banner flashed across the bottom of the screen. Breaking News: Stanley Prescott Announces Campaign for Re-Election as Mayor of New York City.
I took my gaze away from the TV, but the other prying eyes did not. Except Sam, of course, whose eyes were locked on me.
“Don’t say a word. I don’t want to hear anything you have to say right now,” I said, shaking my finger back and forth. “And before you ask, no, I had absolutely zero idea about any of this.”
She threw her hands up in surrender, her mouth hanging open in awe as she returned her stare back to the TV.
Shocked was a good way to describe my current state. I smiled at the fact that this, for the most part, confirmed Anthony’s suspicion of a family emergency.
Then, peering at the TV from under my eyelashes, I immediately felt anxious. The realization I’d allowed myself to let him decide my mood for an entire week stared back at me.
I’d learned, especially after losing Liv, that once you let someone in, even just a tiny bit, you gave them a string of your emotions, a way for them to have a little tug on how you felt or what you thought. And god forbid that person ever left you, whether of their own free will or tragically. Because if that happened, you ultimately lost one of your strings forever. And as someone who had experienced that, it was really hard to ever feel whole again.
I’d done too well for too long, protecting myself and my emotions, never allowing anyone too far in, so this idea that Grey had already infiltrated tiny fragments of my mind scared the living hell out of me.
“Well, I guess the secret’s out now…” Anthony’s deep voice trailed off in my direction.
“Secret?” I responded.
“Grey never wants anyone to know who his father is. He says it makes people treat him differently and he feels like he’s never able to make his own path because he’s always following in the footsteps of his father. That’s why he was so excited to come to Montauk this summer, because very few people know who he is. To most, he was just another guy from New York City.”
“I mean, it makes sense, but is being the son of the mayor really all that bad? I feel like those footsteps might lead to opportunities that others would kill for a chance at,” I stated.
“You haven’t met Stanley Prescott,” he ranted, allowing a tiny smirk to slip past the cracks of his lips.
Dad’s voice came from behind me. “MJ, I love you, but I don’t pay you to stand around and watch TV.”
“Very funny, Dad.”
“What has your attention anyway? I’ve never known you to watch the news.” He chuckled as he took another load of dirty dishes from the server’s station to the back.
Still partially trying to catch a few glimpses of the TV here and there, I went back to pouring shots and opening beers. It was in that moment that I realized just how different our lives were—Grey’s and mine.
“Can I get a Dirty Shirley? I feel like I’ve been waiting for forever,” a high-pitched voice shouted at me. The Jack Johnson currently playing through the speakers made it a little difficult to hear what she was saying, but I could tell she was annoyed. I recognized her. She was the girl Chris had been making out with earlier in the night.
“Yeah, of course. Dirty Shirley, coming right up.”
The blonde didn’t respond as I did my best to be quick with her request. Confrontation is my worst nightmare, and she looked like she could’ve medaled in it.
“Here you go.” I smiled in an attempt to please her.
She scooped the drink from the table and returned to a group of girls who somehow all resembled each other. Hair, tan, boobs. Hell, even their faces looked like they’d been deliberately modified to mimic one another.
Once everyone at the bar appeared satisfied, I made my way to Sam. “I was wrong about the girl Chris was kissing. She is, in fact, awful.”
Sam laughed. “I’m usually not wrong when it comes to reading people.”
“Oh, is that so?” I suggested. “If you’re such a good people reader, then what were your thoughts about Grey when you first met him?”
“Surprised you even care what my thoughts are,” she said as she wiped down the bar.
“I mean, I don’t really. Just more so interested in what you have to say.”
“He seems nice. A bit intriguing. But I definitely feel like he’s got some sad, damaged thing going on, or maybe he was just trying to hide the fact that his father is the mayor of New York City.” She pointed to the TV; his family still plastered all over the screen. “Either way, he’ll do just fine for a summer fling.”
“Ha. I’m not sure what we did the other night categorizes us as a summer fling, but glad to at least have the professional’s opinion, just in case,” I teased.
Summer fling.
At first, I wasn’t sure I was interested in one. I figured a one-night stand would be enough fun for me to get my fill and continue on with my mundane life. But would having Grey Prescott to play with for the summer really be such a bad thing? Granted, the amount of real estate he was already claiming in my brain might signify trouble later on down the road.
Holy shit. Whiplash. I was so conflicted.
“Liv?” I murmured under my breath.
Although, as I stood here staring at this pristinely put-together man on the local news, I was realizing that I may not have to worry about any type of summer fling at all. Hell, I may never see him again. As far as I knew, he could be spending the remainder of his summer in New York City with no intention of stepping foot in this town again, at least not for the foreseeable future.
The bar stayed fairly busy the rest of the night but started to die down around ten.
“I’m going to go take the empties to the trash and grab some refills,” I said in Sam’s direction as I held up the empty liquor bottles. “Why don’t you head home, you’ve been here a lot longer than me.”
“You sure?”
I nodded, regripping the black plastic bags.
“Oh my god, you’re the best. Anthony is going to be thrilled. He was hoping to catch a late movie down at the beach.”
“Then what the hell are you still doing here? Go.”
“Okay, okay. Bye.” Sam hugged me and was out the door.
“Love you.”
“Love you,” she hollered back.
There were still a few stragglers left, but being that one of them was Steven, my dad’s friend, and the other was Steven’s buddy, I was confident the place was in good hands while I took the trash out.
“Steven, I’m taking the trash out. I’ll be back shortly. Do you mind watching the bar?”
“You got it!”
“I’m still here, MJ.” My dad’s voice startled me as he walked in from the patio. “Don’t you go leaving this place under the supervision of someone like him.” Dad chuckled as he smacked Steven on the arm.
The two massive black trash bags clanked together as their weight seemed to grow. “I’ll be back.”
I pushed the back door open with my butt and stepped outside, and the music and commotion from inside disappeared. I was met by a warm salty breeze and the peaceful nighttime sounds that accompanied this little town. The roar of the waves in the distance. The chirp of the crickets singing their song. The sway of the trees as their leaves brushed together.
I set the heavy trash bags on the ground.
Sometimes it was little moments like this that brought me back to everything good about this place. That showed me there were slivers of Liv in every corner. But it was also moments like this that made it hard for me to ever imagine myself leaving.
This exact spot, for example. Liv and I had our first big fight. We both stormed off, swearing we’d never talk to each other again. But within two hours, we’d found ourselves back here, ready to apologize. I smiled, thinking about just how ridiculous that sounded now. If you asked me what that fight was about, I wouldn’t even be able to tell you.
Or the little bit of woods that resided directly behind The Wharf. She and I used to spend hours playing hide-and-seek, building forts—if you could even call them that—and lying on the ground, staring up at the sky, talking about what our futures would look like. Neither one of us would’ve ever predicted this.
A single tear built up in the inner corner of my eye, telling me I’d had enough time out here in the quiet. It was peaceful in spurts, but hang around too long and I was a blubbering mess.
I trudged toward the metal dumpster that sat in the back parking lot of the bar and sat one of the bags down before attempting to push the heavy lid up and open. I was trying to avoid having to put both bags down, which was a mistake, because now one of the bags was sliced open, allowing nasty restaurant remnants to seep out onto my white Converse.
“Shit.” I groaned.
“Need a hand?”
I jumped at the voice, looking around for the culprit, my eyes landing on him . He stood there with one hand in his pocket and the other tugging at his chest.
“My god. You scared the living hell out of me.”
“Sorry. I’ve been sitting in my car, trying to figure out how I was going to explain myself to you, and then I saw you come outside and knew this was my moment,” he said.
“You don’t need to explain yourself, Grey. I saw you on TV earlier.”
“Dammit,” he said. “That wasn’t how I wanted you to find out. I was hoping we’d have a chance to get know each other a little more before I dropped the whole ‘my father is the mayor of New York City’ thing.”
“It’s kind of hard to get to know each other when one party disappears.” The bite in my voice surprised me.
“I know, I’m sorry. I should’ve never left you the way I did that night. I owe you an apology.”
“Grey, it’s okay, you don’t owe me anything.” Together we maneuvered the bags into the dumpster with limited spillage.
“Yes, I do. Please just let me make it up to you.” His raised eyebrow and crooked smirk were enough to have me begging but I resisted.
“I have plans.”
“When?” he inquired.
“Tomorrow. All day.” I was lying and I didn’t even know why.
The excitement of him being here after thinking maybe I wouldn’t see him again was impairing my judgement. And selfishly, I wanted to see if he was going to work for it.
He cocked his head to the side. “You’re lying.”
I folded my arms across my body. “So what if I am?”
“Please. Just a couple of hours. There’s something I want to show you.” His voice was a little desperate, making the flutters in my belly react in full force.
“You can’t show me anything I haven’t seen before. I’ve seen every single inch of this town.”
His lips slipped into the tiniest smirk. “Want to bet?”
Puzzled, I responded, “A bet?”
“I’m willing to bet that I can show you something in this little town of yours that you’ve never seen before.”
“And if you win?”
“If I win”—something sort of seductive rolled across his face as he shifted his body from one foot to the other—“I get to finish what I started the other night.”
The bluntness of what he wanted was hot as fuck. But also, what was it that we didn’t finish? Because I was pretty sure I finished.
I couldn’t help but smile. “And if I win?”
“I’ll let you decide that one. You can tell me tomorrow when I pick you up.”
Fortunately for me, I knew he wasn’t going to win. I’d spent my entire life in this town. I could walk the streets with my eyes closed and still know exactly where I was at any moment. The skeleton of this town mimicked my own. I’d explored every crevice, every hidden path, and every secret beach within Montauk’s city limits.
So, what was my prize going to be? The unknown excited me.
“Fine.” I dropped my arms to my side, turning toward the bar. “Pick me up at noon.”
I swore I could hear the smile in his voice when he said, “Wear a swimsuit.”
With my back turned, I threw a thumbs-up in the air and walked away.
Chucking my keys on the counter, I looked at the clock on my microwave. It was just after eleven, which meant I’d have a chance to get plenty of sleep, so I was forcing myself to set my alarm for a morning run. The fresh air and quiet time alone with my thoughts would be necessary before my little hoorah with Grey.
As I got ready for bed, I slipped out of my work clothes and into my favorite oversized T-shirt, washed my face, and brushed my teeth, all while replaying my encounter with Grey over and over again.
Should I have said something different? Should I not have agreed to go with him tomorrow? What was his end goal? And what in the hell was I doing?
“Liv, help!” I begged. “One minute I want to have fun, let loose, and fuck Grey Prescott. The next I’m trying to push him away and never see him again. It’s giving serious whiplash vibes.” I laughed out loud at my comment. Liv used to always say I struggled with commitment, and clearly, she wasn’t wrong.
The problem with Grey was that I just couldn’t say no to him.
And while the idea of him was fun, the idea of him leaving at the end of the summer scared the shit out of me. I rarely let people in, and in the off chance I did, it wasn’t usually temporary.
My thoughts unraveled as I crawled into bed and turned out the lights. I lay there, staring up at my swirling ceiling fan, and wondered to myself as the breeze whipped my hair whisps around, tickling my cheek… What was it about Grey Prescott that made me want to be around him so much? Why was he so damn intriguing?