Page 125 of Tell Me It’s Right

Gracie is different.

She’s so different from Hailey I could laugh. She’s soft everywhere Hailey was hard, kind everywhere Hailey was cruel.

But Gracie and I, we’ve barely gotten our feet off the ground. This is still so new.

On the other hand, with Hailey, we’d had years of history, and look what good that did me.

Gracie smiles at me across the table as she takes another bite of her taco. I don’t think she has any idea how fucking cute she is. When she smiles, her nose crinkles, and her round cheeks shoot straight up. She just radiates pure light.

“Best tacos I’ve ever had,” she says.

She’s a terrible liar, but I think I did okay for my first time trying to make tofu.

“Are you excited about living in the city?”

She tilts her head back and forth as she sips her wine. “Intimidated. Portland is so small in comparison, and even then, my school wasn’tdowntown. It’ll be totally new to me.” Her lips twist into a shy smile. “I’m kind of scared.”

I reach for her hand across the table. “Everything new is scary. Then you get used to it, and it’s not new anymore, and it loses that power. Plus, you’re like the bravest person I know.”

She guffaws as if I’ve said something absurd.

I tilt my head to the side when I realize she’s serious. “I mean it. You didn’t knowanyoneon the West Coast before you chose that school. But you just picked up and moved about as far away from home as you possibly could. I know you were scared to do it, but you did it anyway.That, to me, is real bravery.” Her cheeks redden, and I squeeze her hand. “This is a new chapter for you, and it’s going to be amazing. I’m so excited for you.”

“Thank you,” she murmurs, “for being so great about all of this. It means a lot to me. I know this affects you too. And I know it’s probably…well, it might…” She grimaces as she fights for the right words.

“It is going to suck not having you around. Every day I walk into the shop and don’t see you, I’m going to hate it. I’m going to hate not being able to drive five minutes to see you, that I won’t be able to take you out as much as I want. I’m going to miss you every day.” She chews on her bottom lip, and I run my thumb over the back of her hand. “But I would hate it more if you stayed,” I murmur. “Because I know this is the right thing for you. And I don’t ever want to be the thing that holds you back.”

Her smile is small, sad, as she drops her gaze to her lap. Now that I’ve driven us into this somber mood, I’m not sure how to get out. But I don’t want to leave things on this note. Don’t want to leave them at all, actually.

“Stay here tonight. You can catch me up on all your zombie movie news.”

A spark flicks to life in her eyes.

I grin and reach for the wine bottle to refill her glass.

Chapter Forty-Three

GRACIE

“Gracie? You good?”

“She short-circuited. Give her a minute to reboot.”

“No one thinks you’re funny, Leo,” I mutter.

“Ah, there she is.”

There’s still a fifty-percent chance of me passing out, but the light-headedness fades, and the world around me slowly comes into focus. The worst part is Leo is kind of right.

I’ve been through Philly before. Not a lot, but enough. And as soon as I got the job offer, I spent hours scouring the internet for every detail of the area I could find.

But it wasn’t until we were actually driving through the city with my entire life in boxes that it hit me we aren’t just passing through.

They’re going to leave me here.

All by myself.

Everything here is so fast andloud.So many people. So much activity.

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