Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 128307 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 642(@200wpm)___ 513(@250wpm)___ 428(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128307 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 642(@200wpm)___ 513(@250wpm)___ 428(@300wpm)
“Then why are you throwing it away for her?”
Now that the edges are worn, Grayson can’t hold back. “Because she deserves closure as much as I do. She deserves to know what happened to her baby sister—”
“So I was right. She’s just another charity case.”
“No.” Grayson shakes his head so fiercely I imagine my favorite hair products overtaking the tomatoey paste that coated our pasta. “It is the thought of anyone else giving her the happiness that will come with that closure that tears me apart. I want to be the reason she smiles, not a prick who only works a case with her because he wants to get into her panties.”
The effect of his words is immediate. Cameron freezes as the hard lines scouring her face with wrinkles soften. “Case?” She looks sick, like being a law-abiding citizen is the lowest of the low. “You followed in your father’s footsteps? You joined the bureau!”
Grayson shakes his head, but it is too late. Cameron knows the truth.
“After all he did, you still followed his life plan!” She pulls away from him, huffing. Considering what arsenal she has to toss out, I’m shocked when she goes for the weakest ammunition. “He threatened to press charges against me when we borrowed his car to spend the day at the beach.”
For every truth told, more follow. “You stole his car, Cameron. You didn’t borrow it.”
She laughs in his face as she digs her phone out from beneath the mess on her entryway table. “Because you wouldn’t. You give off bad-boy vibes, but you’re as soft and pathetic as the other fools I left behind.”
“The other fools you left behind?” The accusation in Grayson’s voice is as high as his brows. “Exactly how many fools are we talking about, Cam?”
Cameron’s laugh is bitter and full of hate. “Oh, please. You can’t preach morality when you brought your side piece to your girlfriend’s house for dinner.”
“Macy and I are friends.”
The whoosh of a message being sent sounds down the line before Cameron’s shouted words. “Stop lying, Grayson!” There’s no doubting her stability when she throws her hands in the air and screams. She’s manic. “Walking through glass isn’t a friend taking care of a friend.” She steps up to him, chest to chest, stomach to stomach. “You were never like that when we were together. You never looked at me the way you look at her. Even when someone pulled a hessian bag over my head, you didn’t show one tenth of the worry you displayed when she cut her foot.” She rolls her eyes during her last four words.
“That’s not true.”
“It is!” she screams in his face. “Because you love her more than you ever loved me. It’s obvious from your expression.”
I caution Grayson not to fall into her trap, that she’s only throwing out bait to keep their fight alight, but I still tear up when he fails to deny her accusation this time around.
Does that mean what I think it does? Does he love me? Surely not. He’s heeding my silent caution and following the rules that will keep this exchange safe.
There’s no way Grayson Rogers could love me. He’s Grayson, and I’m… me.
After a pfft cracks out of the speakers, Cameron sneers, “Your silence is extremely telling.”
“Then tell me what you want me to say, Cameron. Tell me what you need to hear, and I’ll say it. That’s how it always worked for us, right? You say jump, and I ask how high.”
She doesn’t deny his assumption. She doesn’t even flinch at the callousness in his tone. Her body language announces that everything he spoke is true. They were never equal partners. She led. He followed.
“I want you to tell the truth. Admit that you love her.”
“And what will that give you, Cameron?”
She hits him where it hurts. “Closure. It will give me the closure I need to fully move on.”
Grayson’s breathy chuckle breaks my heart. It is full of pain. “Like you haven’t already done that? How long did it take you to change your appearance, Cam? A year? A month? A week?”
I seldom hate strangers, but I hate Cameron when a flare darts through her eyes. She knew he’d search for her, but she made it harder for him instead of easier.
That’s callous. It’s cruel. That is not something a woman in love would do.
I gasp when the truth smacks into me. That’s why she’s accusing Grayson of never loving her, because it’s easier to blame than admit the truth.
“Stop skirting, Grayson. Just tell the damn truth.”
My eyes snap to the screen so fast that I grow dizzy when Grayson relents to the tension suffocating the air of oxygen by whispering in a soft, husky tone, “Yes. I love her.”
What?
There’s too much conviction in his tone, too much honesty on his face. If he’s lying, I need to hand in my badge immediately. That’s how convincing his reply is, and it has my blood pressure surging to an unmanageable level.