Page 55 of The Grief We Hold

I know I shouldn’t read anything into that, but it’s a little hard not to.

Grudge holds the door open for me so I can duck under his arm.

When I enter, I see banks of locked cupboards and Wraith standing with his hands on a large wooden block in the middle of the room.

“Hey, I got you some breakfast,” I say.

“You didn’t need to do that.” His words are surly.

“I know. But Ember said you hadn’t eaten, and I thought you might want something.”

He looks at the plate like I just served up a platter of shit coated in poison. “I’m fine. You need one of the guys to give you a ride back into town?”

His words hit hard. I don’t know what I thought the morning after a one-night stand with him was going to be, but it wasn’t this.

“Did I do something wrong by coming in here with food?” I ask.

Wraith barely makes eye contact. “Danger’s over, and Ma probably needs you at the diner.”

“I’m not on shift today.” I put the plates down on the counter. “I didn’t realize your definition of a one-night stand meant you would be a dick in the morning.”

He looks up at me, and the look in his eye catches me off guard. For all they usually look cold, they are now filled with…turmoil. “And I told you that you weren’t a one-night stand kind of woman. Stop playing at being an old lady bringing me food because you aren’t even close.”

And suddenly, I’m over getting half a life and trying to convince myself to be nice. I didn’t need romance and flowers, although a ride home would have been nice. What I didn’t expect was to be dismissed like something used and dirty over a plate of fried food.

“You know what? I’m clearly not the one who struggles with a one-night stand, but I’ll leave anyway, seeing as you don’t have the emotional range or maturity to handle one.”

He stands quickly and marches over to me. “You seem to forget who I am.”

I fold my arms. “No. You’re showing meexactlywho you are. I just don’t like what I see.”

I spin on my heel and turn straight out of the armory. When I push the doors open into the bar area, people are looking at me. Some are smirking. Two of the club girls’ mouths are open.

Fuck, they must have heard.

Now I’ve likely embarrassed him.

But I don’t have it in me to care.

I head toward the doors to Wraith’s bedroom corridor. The sooner I get my things and get out of here, the better.

Ember reaches for my hand to stop me. “He has his reasons.” Her words are quietly spoken. Concern filters across her features.

“Not to treat me like that, he doesn’t. And the mature thing to do would have been to talk about it.”

The double doors slam open again. This time, Wraith storms through them. “You don’t get to say shit like that to me and then just walk away.”

The room falls silent, but I snatch my hand away from Ember.

“You had your chance for a civil conversation five minutes ago.” With that, I head for the room.

“Raven, get your fucking ass back here.” His words fade as the doors close behind me.

Instead, I run down the hallway, back to his room. I grab my bag. I may have left a few things in the bathroom, but I am not stopping to pack them now. I ram my arms through the sleeves of my coat, then hustle through the side exit next to Wraith’s room.

It’s a four-mile walk back into town, and it’s pouring rain, but I just learned a really important lesson. I deserve it all and don’t have to accept less.

As I’m thinking, I slam into Grudge.

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