Page 35 of Always Been Yours

We both know what she’s really asking:are you dating anyone?And it isn’t fair. She’s the one who voiced the idea of divorce. She’s the one who set us up with a lawyer and who moved out of the house, running back to New York City. I’ve never, and would never, cross those boundaries with her.

And even though tonight isn’t a date, it still feels like the start of something. Maybe my new life. Maybe a step into my old life. I don’t know but her place in it has changed. And I find myself hoping someone will soon be taking that spot.

So, I don’t answer. Instead, I gently end the call and I go upstairs to get ready to spend a night out in my hometown. And for the first time in a long time, I feel excited.

Chapter Twelve

Grady

I get to the Spotlight Lounge and immediately make my way to the bar. I’m feeling nervous to the point that I’m nauseous, and I don’t know why I showed up at all.

It probably had something to do with the way Lexi said, ‘don’t letusdown’.

I obviously know who she was talking about. And honestly, I don’t want to let Vivi down.

But I also have a weird feeling that Lexi didn’t let Vivi know about the invitation.

“Hey, what can I get you?” the young bartender asks, pulling me out of my head.

Looking over at the taps, I clear my throat. “Whatever IPA you have is fine,” I tell her, knowing that I should probably stay away from hard liquor if I’ll be seeing Genevieve tonight.

“You got it.” She returns a few moments later with a glass, letting me know that it’s from Clear Horizons, the woman-owned brewery next door. I give her my card to open a tab then take a seat at the end of the bar.

Waiting for Knox might be the best idea. Iknowthat Vivi likes him. She’ll be excited to see him even if she doesn’t feel the same way about me.

It isn’t Knox who finds me first, though.

It’s Hudson.

He slips into the stool next to me and gestures to the bartender for another beer.

“Hey,” he says in his low voice.

I give him a nod in acknowledgment, and we sit quietly while he waits for the bartender to bring his drink. She returns with something dark and creamy.

“For some reason, it doesn’t surprise me that you’re a stout guy.”

Hudson gives me a sidelong look and glances down to my glass. “Yeah, well it doesn’t surprise me that you drink beer that tastes like piss.”

A surprised laugh falls out of me. He’s one of the funniest and most sarcastic people you will ever meet when he opens up to you.

“I wouldn’t expect to see you here,” I admit to him.

He lets out a loud huff. “Lexi and Vivi threaten me every single time.”

“Threaten you with what?” No one’s ever had Hudson and Asher wrapped about their finger like Vivi, but she apparently told them once in high school that she was just training them for their future wives and children.

“To egg my house. Like fucking children.” He pauses and looks at me. “You know she would do it, too. She loved doing that shit with Asher.”

That makes me smile. It was quite the talk of the town when her tenth-grade biology teacher’s house got TPed after she didn’t place in the science fair. No one could prove it was her—Vivi’s way too smart for that—but we all knew.

“Lexi practically threatened me into coming tonight as well. Is that what I should expect?”

He chuckles and shakes his head. “No… I’m sure whatever they would have planned for you would be way worse. Let’s go, before you have to find out.”

I don’t consider what he means by that, but I follow him either way.

He falls into his seat at the table with his three siblings and Lexi. “Look who I found.”

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