Page 21 of Broken Grump

She licks her lips and shakes her head. “Never.” With a pause, she continues, “Sorry. You know I’m not good at this kind of mushy stuff.” After being raised by her “hug adverse,” as she puts it, Thai parents, physical affection has never been her strong suit.

But I still pull her into a close embrace. At first, her arms remain stiff at her side, but she eventually wraps them around me.

“See you later,” I say after releasing her and wiping at a tear falling from her cheek.

“See you.”

Chapter seven

Hayden

When we arrive ather house, I ring the doorbell several times before she answers.

But after she finally does, I see that she’s covered in speckles of pink and purple paint. Regardless, her piercing blue eyes are still as radiant as ever.

“Have you taken up a new hobby?” I ask.

She’s in denim overalls, with one strap unclasped, and a light green T-shirt underneath. Her dark brown hair is up in a bun on top of her head, but there are still wisps of long pieces hanging all around.

“Um, no. Just painting. You know, to make the place feel more like ‘me,’” she responds curtly while avoiding eye contact with me.

I deserve that treatment and much worse from her.

I nod. “Right.” From the moment I heard that she was going to be moving back into this house, I knew she’d make improvements like this. I couldn’t see her feeling at home in a place that was so dark, cold, and uninspired.

Back in the day, her room was painted mint green and covered with sketches by Frank Lloyd Wright. As for the bookshelves, they were filled with 3D models of her favorite buildings.

Teddy elbows into my ribs, bringing me back to the present moment.

Ow.I hold my tongue and rub the area that is now throbbing.

“Right.” I manage to pinch out of my vocal cords, even though it feels like the wind has been kicked out of me.

I can tell by her darting eyes that she’s confused about why I’m here. So, I gesture for Teddy to take command.

Taking my invitation, he says, “I’ll explain everything once we’ve found a more suitable place to talk business.”

Addie looks behind her before suggesting we could go into her grandfather’s old office.

Yes,thatoffice. The last time I’d been in there, I was making a life-long dream come true by finally making love with her. Although, things ended a bit awkwardly when we thought weheard someone coming in through the front door, and I had to scurry out the back with my pants still around my ankles.

Gosh.I want to hang my head in embarrassment at the thought.

I got caught by Noah and Victor. Fortunately, for him, he didn’t have to look too far in that particular scenario. To this day, they still torment me about the whole ordeal and refer to me as “Little Hiney Hayden.”

“Here we go,” Addie announces after opening the large, heavy doors.

It even smells the same as before, like cigars and old books.

Teddy then sets down the papers and opens them.

Her eyebrows furrow before sliding the tip of her thumb into her mouth. Her other hand balls up on her hip.

“Well?” I ask on bated breath—the cause of which I know is the anticipation of her reaction and also the recent blow I received from Teddy.

Finally, she says, “I—I don’t understand. I already know about the hotels, but you?” She eyes me from head to toe.

“Your grandfather and I were business partners.”

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