Page 45 of Falling for Grace

He holds me to him, hugging me tightly as flashes of light explode around the car.

But what’s happening outside the car doesn’t matter because at this moment it’s just Brandon and me again in our little world.

“We need to get out of here,” he whispers after a minute, his hot breath hitting my neck, causing a reaction inside that I don’t want to acknowledge right now. “Are you okay to drive?”

I nod and pull back, but he still grips my hands tightly as we glance at each other. Tension think between us.

It’s like we’re teenagers again. He places a soft kiss on my lips, completely oblivious or just not caring about the surrounding flashes and the potential consequences.

Chapter 17

We sit in awkward silence as I drive.

Brandonfidgety, his fingers constantly tapping against the armrest. His unspoken questions building between us, the radio is on, but all I can focus on is the drumming of his fingers, the sound like annoying drums constantly pounding through me.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

“Brandon,” I snap, “Please, stop that incessant noise.”

“Still drives you mad huh?”

“Yes! It still drives me bloody mad.” Silence descends and I embrace the moment of peace, we pull up at a traffic light and I glance across as he leans forward and starts to fiddle with the radio. Seeing a smirk tug at his lips. He knows that constantly changing the radio station also winds me up.

He’s doing it on purpose.

“Jackass,” I mumble under my breath.

“Me the jackass? That’s rich coming from you, I get me Grace. But Mum, Dad, Jesus Grace even Danny? Why?” my eyes widen at his sudden outburst, and I look forward as he flops back to his seat. I remain silent. As now isn’t the time to have this conversation, and I know Brandon enough to know that he has a million questions to ask me, and this is just the tip of the iceberg. He’s angry at me, which is completely warranted. He’s angry at Danny, again warranted, but you know what Danny isn’t here, so he will lash out doubly at me.

He used to do that as a teenager, taking out his frustrations on me because I was the next best thing if Danny wasn’t about.

“Yeah, didn’t think so. Cause talking would be too god-damn easy right?”

“I get your frustrated at Danny, but that doesn’t mean you lash out at me.” I grate.

“Oh I’m fuming at Danny, but you, I’ve got questions as long as the M25 Grace.” The light changes to green and I have to turn my focus back to the road. “Thanks for answering all my calls and texts by the way.”

My shoulders slump and my hands grip the steering wheel more tightly, of course he wasn’t going to let the call from a few weeks ago slide.

“I wasn’t supposed to call you, I was pissed.”

“Pissed? Grace you were paralytic.”

“I wasn’t that bad.” I roll my eyes at his exaggeration; Brandon throws his sunglasses between us and snorts. He shifts and lifts his butt off the chair, pulling out his phone. He taps at the screen and holds it up to me.

“Look at this.”

“I’m driving Brandon.” But even as I say it I look across.

“45 minutes. That’s what it says. That’s how long I stayed on the phone listening to you incoherently mumble and puke your guts up. So don’t tell me that you weren’t paralytic.”

“What do you want me to say? I’m sorry for calling you when I was pissed, but I didn’t make you stay on the phone the whole time.”

“No you didn’t, but one I’m not an asshole, and two I thought that maybe, just maybe I’d get some sort of insight into the life that is Grace Bush because you’ve become a fucking enigma to all of us.”

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