Page 26 of Shot Through the Heart

“You don’t have to thank me for being your hype girl.”

“Not for that, although…yeah, maybe that too.” I laugh, shaking my head and motioning to where Harper sits on the living room floor with Zoey. “Thank you for helping with her so much. I wouldn’t be able to do any of this without you.”

Eva shakes her head but smiles at me. “Girl, you help out just as much with Zoey. Since you moved here, I feel less like I’m flailing about to make sure she’s taken care of or picked up from school.”

I shrug. “Still, it feels like you’re doing so much more.”

“That’s only because your work takes place on nights and weekends. But don’t cut yourself short, Stells. You picked Zoey up from school three times last week and made sure she was taken care of until I could get home. You don’t have to thank me because this isn’t about IOUs or tit-for-tats. We’re a team.”

And once again tears swell at the corners of my eyes. There hasn’t been a single moment that passes where I don’t think about how grateful I am for my small circle of people. Everyone always says that it takes a village to raise a kid, but I’ve found with the right couple people, it works out just as well. Sometimes even better. Eva’s been by my side for years now, but I never imagined we’d be bonding and relating this closely over raising toddlers together.

Eva’s eyes widen and she steps back dramatically. “No, no, no. You will not cry. Your makeup is too perfect to smear. Go on, get out of here before any tears fall.”

Her reminder is enough for me to laugh it off and hold back the onslaught of emotions.

“Fine. I’ll go. But sometime in the next few weeks, I’m taking Zoey for a slumber party so you get a night off.”

“Sure, sure.” Eva shrugs me off and practically corrals me to the door, barely giving me time to shout my goodbye to Harper.

When I got offered this job, agreeing to attend extravagant events was something I hadn’t thought twice about. Even after signing the contract with Greyson and seeing a gala listed as one of the events, in my mind, it wasn’t a huge deal.

However, past me is an idiot.

For starters, seeing Greyson waiting on the sidewalk in front of his building in a three-piece suit when my ride-share driver dropped me off seemed to short-circuit my brain.

That man has absolutely no right looking as good as he does. The kicker to it all is that he most definitely caught me checking him out.

Just as I spot Lilly and Ari coming out of the apartment building behind Greyson, the sleek black limousine that pulls up to the curb distracts me.

“You got a limo?” I ask dumbly, eyes wide as I try, and fail, to hide my shock.

Grey simply shrugs, messing with his bowtie as he answers. “The guys and I thought it made more sense than taking three separate cars.”

I nod, but the nerves in my stomach flutter to life once more. Back in high school, Greyson would have to go to black tie events monthly to keep his mom off his back, but it was never something he brought me to. Not because he was trying to hide me, or because I didn’t want to go, or that I refused to support him. My company at his mother’s fundraisers or galas was simply something we both agreed would not end well. I knew I would feel uncomfortable, and he knew he would get pulled away to mingle with his parents’ colleagues and friends, inevitably leaving me alone. So to keep us both happy, he would attend alone and mingle for a couple hours before smuggling a plateful of fancy hors d’oeuvres out and meeting me at my house.

The one night that the two of us could have come close to playing the part his mother would have approved of was prom. Except, neither of us wanted to go. Instead, we snuck away for the night and went to our camping spot.

Now, standing in front of a limo, both of us dressed up in a way that teenage us would have laughed at, I can’t stop the feeling that I don’t belong from whispering beneath my skin.

If I were seventeen, there’s no doubt I would have tucked tail and bailed. It’s a damn good thing I’m not that scared girl anymore.

Sucking in a deep breath, I give myself a silent pep talk, reminding myself of everything I have done to prove I’m capable of doing this job.

I’ve just managed to hide my shock and discomfort as Lilly, Ari, and Dominik join us.

“Landon’s helping Dean with his tie and then we can go,” Dom says, motioning behind him where the two are standing at the building entrance. I’m so caught up in watching the two guys fuss over a tie that I am not prepared for the shriek directly in front of me.

“Holy shit, Stella. You lookstunning!” Ari shouts while practically tossing herself at me for a hug. I try to brace myself but still stumble and am almost convinced we’re about to tumble to the ground, when an arm bands around my lower waist and keeps the two of us upright.

Ari finally releases me, not even noticing how close we came to meeting pavement as she rattles on about regretting picking a dress that required a bra. But I barely hear her.

The warmth of Greyson’s arm around my waist is still there and my heart skips a beat as his woodsy cologne invades my senses. I should move, slip out from his hold and not let him get this close to me.

Instead, I stay frozen at his side, breathing him in and nodding along blindly to whatever Ari and Lilly are saying.

It takes me until Landon and Dean join us for me to finally convince my one working brain cell that I need space between myself and Grey.

“Thank you,” I whisper without sparing him a glance and move to get in the limo.

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