Page 16 of Deceiving Grier

“Did you notice anyone unusual hanging around, maybe watching the fire?”

“Now you’re sounding like a cop,” Lana said.

“Sorry. Journalism student. I’m nosy by nature.”

“Well, that makes sense. Most of The Square turned up to watch the fire and try to help, but no one really stood out to me. It was still summer after all, and The Square was still packed with tourists.”

Sawyer nodded. “That makes sense.”

“You weren’t wrong though,” Lana said, “about it being weird that no one saw anything. We have a security camera at the front of the shop that used to catch the side of their house, and whoever started that fire did it without getting caught on itonce.”

Had whoever started the fire gotten lucky, or had they known the camera was there? Maybe the position of the cafe’s security camera had been the reason the arsonist had set fire to the front of the house instead of the back or at the side.

“Well, I should probably get going,” I said, then lifted the coffee off the counter. “Thanks for this.”

“Do you know if Grier won his game?” Lana asked.

“No idea,” I admitted. “I haven’t seen him since he left the house this morning.”

“Go easy on him. He’s stressed about the game and school and all the work his family keeps dumping on him from their business.”

No wonder the guy looked like hell this past week. With everything he had on his plate, he’d been running himself ragged.

I was half-tempted to ask Lana about Grier’s family and their business because I knew there was something off there. For a guy who was about to leave school and walk into a guaranteed career, he didn’t seem all that excited about it. But I’d pried enough for one day. Besides, Lana clearly had a soft spot for Grier. She wouldn’t tell me anything she didn’t think I should know.

When I got home, Grier and Jett were in the living room. The former stretched out on the sofa, looking tired and disheveled but surprisingly happy, while Jett sat on an ottoman he’d dragged closer to the T.V. and played a video game.

“We’re going out,” Jett announced without looking away from the T.V.

I turned and looked down at Grier. “You guys won, I take it?”

“We did.” He grinned, and while he looked tired and his hair was stuck up at weird angles, this was the most relaxed I’d seen him. I liked him looking so content and at ease, and I knew I would like it even more if I was the one to make him look that way.

I really needed to stop letting myself think about him like that.

“I got my assignments in on time, we won the game, and I don’t work until tomorrow afternoon,” Grier added.

I noticed he didn’t mention the work from his family’s business, so I didn’t either.

“That’s why we’re going out tonight,” Jett said, attention still fixed on the game.

“Do you want to come?” Grier asked.

After the way he’d avoided me for the better part of the week, I was surprised he had been the one to invite me. Then maybe he hadn’t really been avoiding me, and it had all been in my head. He’d just been busy, I guess, with more than I had realized.

I should probably say no. I had work of my own, after all, but more than that, I should be the one avoiding Grier because the truth was, no matter how bad a decision it would be, Iwantedthe guy.

“I need to get changed, but yeah, I’ll go out with you guys,” I said instead.

Chapter Seven

Grier

“WhatthehelldoI have to do to get that man to notice me?” Jett grumbled, taking a swig from his drink, his gaze fixed on the man behind the bar.

“Who?” Sawyer asked, raising his voice to be heard over the pounding music.

The Dunes was crowded as usual, bodies pressed tightly together, and the din of voices and thudding music almost deafening.

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