Page 4 of Those Heartbreak Scars

I should say something to Gray considering EJ and Dove aren’t going to carry on a conversation outside of the two of them.

“Look at him. He can’t stop touching her.” Gray shakes his head.

It takes a moment for it to sink in that he’s talking to me.

I watch my cousin thread his fingers into the loose waves tumbling down my friend’s back. Curl his knuckles and tug her head back.

“Whoa, I didn’t think he’d have something like that in him.” Gray chuckles. “At least not in public anyway.”

“Can’t say that I’ve ever wanted that much information about my cousin.” I wrinkle my nose. “But you’re right, he’s usually way too stuck up and straightlaced.”

“Your friend must be at fault for his personality slip.” Gray starts to loosen up, relaxing into the worn leather of the booth. “How long do you think it will last?”

“Hmm. I don’t know. We’re here for three days.”

“Do you think he can keep it up for three days?” Gray’s demeanor changes as we make fun of our friends. His expression softens.

“Probably not. It would take one phone call from work to make him all serious and vexed.”

“True.” A server swings past, and he grabs her attention, ordering another round of drinks though three of us haven’t finished the ones we have.

“We’re going to dance,” Dove announces, climbing out of the booth with EJ on her heels. He stares at her like he can’t see anyone else as he follows her to the dance floor.

“I’ve definitely never seen that look on him,” I say.

Gray’s brow wrinkles. “Me either.”

We fall into an uncomfortable silence. I don’t love it. It’s loaded with all the things that I want to ask him and all the things I want to say. “I’m sorry I didn’t call you. After—”

“You don’t need to apologize,” he says. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“It just felt like In—”

“How about we don’t talk about her.” He wraps his arm around my shoulder and pulls me into the kind of friendly sideways hug he’s always reserved for me.

The kind of embrace that I avoided those last few months before I moved away, because inhaling the scent of your best friend’s fiancé’s skin and wishing those small ounces of affection meant far more than they ever could is a big no-no.

He’s not for me. Will never be for me, and that is something I have learned to accept. But sitting here with him… without Indy… knowing she’s happy and in love with someone else, I lean into the hug a fraction too long. I cradle his scent in my lungs like it could turn into the very oxygen I breathe.

I should get up and walk away.

“Tell me about school,” he says, pulling back. “Tell me about your life now. Let’s stick to the present. I want to know about you.”

“I’m not going to school,” I say.

He arches back, his brows lifted. “Why not?”

“It’s been hard to concentrate recently. I failed most of my classes. And the class that I was doing well in…” I start to fidget. “I made such a colossal mistake, Gray.”

“Surely, it’s not that bad.”

“Oh, it was pretty bad.” I drain my cocktail and then reach for Dove’s since she hasn’t touched it.

“So you’re not going to tell me about it?”

“I’m not going to tell anyone about it.” Anyone else, other than Dove. “I don’t know how I’m supposed to tell my parents that I’ve wasted the money they spent on tuition. And I’m working in a coffee shop. You know how my mom and dad willfeel about that. They literally gave me every advantage. They encouraged and supported me every step of the way, and I’m throwing it back in their faces. Thanks for adopting me, guys. Here’s how much of a screw up I am.”

“You’ve been sitting on that for a little while then?” He raises one eyebrow.

---