Page 24 of Three Reasons

A plan begins to form in my mind, and I know we’ll need to give Gray the time and space she’s requested. I also know that if we wait too long, she’ll be lost to us forever.

In my mind, I replay the words written in her note and can see the pain in each syllable scrawled on the piece of paper. See the hope in her humour when addressing us. Most of all, I could see her desire for us to be in her future, the same way we know Gray will be in ours. She needs time, sure, but I think what she needs even more than that is to understand this won’t make us back off.

Going at her like a bulldozer isn’t the way to proceed, she’ll put up more resistance. What we need to do is ensure she knows that we'll wait for as long as she needs, but we aren’t hiding in the shadows, either. We won’t disappear and be content to wait for her to come to us. We’ll go to her and take the cues from her body language rather than her words.

The stubborn woman gets too far into her own damn head, and it's what’s got us where we are now. So, breaking down walls, one slow brick at a time is the way to go here.

Eli

“Fucking hell.” I've repeated it over and over to myself since Callan stormed out the door.

Shit wasn’t supposed to go down like this. We were moving at warp speed with Gray, and I take full blame, but she seemed to be on the same page after that moment in her shop last night.

Waking up to her letter, that was a fucking shocker. Yeah, she invited us to her place, told us she wanted the three of us but had to figure her shit out. It still didn’t make me feel any damn better. I want her here, now, not later.

Cleaning up the aftermath of our encounter with Gray leaves me slightly bitter and pissed off at Callan. That fucker has been running from his emotions for longer than we’ve been sharing women. I’m fuming that he’s doing it now, with the most crucial moment in our lives.

Claiming our girl.

I’ll give her a day to work through whatever shit she’s got happening, but no more than that. From the second my gaze landed on her, I knew she was meant for us. There is no one else,and I refuse to settle for anyone less than her. Now, all I need to do is convince Callan that we can’t give up. He needs to be a little more understanding with the shit she’s gone through. Hell, I need to, too. The fact everything’s happening so quickly doesn’t help any of us.

“Eli!” Callan calls from the front of the house. I’m surprised he’s back so soon. Usually, when he gets in one of his moods, he’s gone for hours.

Looking up at the clock, I realize it’s been just about an hour since he left. “In the kitchen!”

“She can’t stew for too long. If we leave her to her mind, she will talk herself out of whatever this is we’re all involved in. I fucking want her, and I won’t let her or my fucked emotions screw it up.”Well, he spun a three-sixty.

“Anything in particular change your mind?”

“That coffee shop we go to every fucking day? You can literally see her shop from there. How the hell have we never seen her before? It’s not as if we could miss her.” I’m happy to see anticipation light his eyes; that means he’s all in. And when Callan sets his mind to something, he goes full bore. “She’s meant for us. There’s no way we would have gone much longer without seeing her.”

“What’s the plan?” Excitement fills the air.

“We go get her.”

I like the way he’s thinking now. One problem, however. “We don’t know where she lives.” I hate to deflate my friend, but that’s a non-starter.

“I know… She does want us to come over, so all we have to do is wait for her to contact us, show up, win her over, and drag her back home.” He sounds like a mad scientist.

“You’re kidding, right?”

“Yes.” His head shakes. “I think we need to give her thetime she asked for. Don’t push too hard for more because I think she’s freaked out that we’re going to be just like her family.”

“What do you suggest?”

“Wait for that call. Don’t push, but don’t back down either. She needs to know we’re not leaving her in the dust. We are going to be here no matter what.” I realize my friend is right, but waiting is going to be fucking torture.

Gray

Regret isn’t a feeling I’m used to. Shame, embarrassment, anger, I’ve got them all down pat. But this regret thing, I’m not too fond of. At. All. Leaving Eli and Callan has my stomach in knots.

Walking through my front door, I lean against it as I fight the urge to go back to them. My life is a disaster with whatever the hell my father wants. And, so help me, if he expects me to marry some man I don’t know and most assuredly won’t like, I’ll scream his head off.

Fortifying myself when I see the blinking light on my answering machine, I press it and cringe. “Grace, this is your mother. Margo told me how disgustingly vulgar you were with her. I’m so ashamed of you. Your father is beside himself. A car will be there to pick you up at noon tomorrow. Be ready, Grace. Don’t make us come to you.” The click of her hangup makes me flinch.

Wait, noon? Today or tomorrow?Shit.

Scrambling to check the caller ID for the time she called, a knock answers my question, followed by the opening of a door I locked and my obnoxious brother, David.

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