Page 72 of Faking Romance

Roxy

I flip through the mail as Isla and Jocelyn chat over a cup of tea. Isla was nearby to do some shopping and decided to stop in for a visit. I have to admit, it’s nice to see her.

“So, you all ready for the official grand opening?” she asks me as she sets her tea down.

I shrug. I pushed the date back a bit. Sales have been a little slow and I really wanted to do something big, something different. I have a few authors ready to attend and sign, but it feels like it’s not enough and I’m getting nervous.

“Sort of,” I admit to my sister. I’ve been trying to be better about talking with my parents and siblings. They have shown over the past few months how supportive they are and how proud they are of me. It’s taking time to recognize that I have the same potential as all of them. But I’m getting there, slowly. My recent revelations are helping me.

“It’ll be great. I mean, if it’s half as good as your soft opening night, then it’ll be amazing,” she says.

I feel my cheeks heat a little under her praise. Fuck, I really am lucky to have such awesome siblings.

“So, what’s up with Gray? I saw him talking to you the other day,” Jocelyn prods.

“I thought you said you two broke up,” Isla says as she leans back in her chair.

Sighing, I run my finger around the rim of my mug. “We did.”

I have told my family that Gray and I just didn’t work out, but I haven’t said why. Jocelyn, on the other hand, knows everything. I’ve even called Tay to vent a few times. Not that it has made me feel any better.

I hear our mailman, Bernie Summers, humming as he drops some envelopes into the store’s mail slot. Must be a light mail day. Normally, I have bigger packages, and he comes in and drops them at the desk.

I walk from my apartment into the store and grab the mail from the little basket I secured by the slot to catch things. As I glance at the envelopes on my way back to my dining area, I see a letter addressed to Kasen Saddler. Frowning, I look at the return address. It’s blank.

Huh.

“What’s that look for?” Jocelyn asks as I sit down and rifle through the rest of my mail.

“Nothing, just got a letter addressed to Kasen. I suppose I can slide it under his door. I have no idea when he’ll be back,” I explain as I look down again at his name on the envelope.

“Has anyone heard from him?” Jocelyn asks.

“What’s going on?” Isla says as she looks from Jocelyn to me. I launch into the weird missing-neighbor situation or non-communicative-neighbor situation, and by the time I finish, I realize how badly I want to tell Gray that I got this letter.

“Why don’t you give it to Brayden or Hutch?” Jocelyn suggests.

“I guess I could. It’s so weird, right?” I state as I flip the letter over and then place it on the table.

Shrugging, she turns to Isla and asks her about her graduate program. The two fall quickly into a conversation about grad schools and my mind drifts to Grayson. When Richard cheated on me, I was heartbroken. I thought I’d never find a man as good as him. I thought I was undeserving of love.

But then Grayson came into my life. The last two months he burrowed his way into my heart. He was kind and respectful…other than our meet-cute. He’s far from perfect, but so am I. The closeness I felt with him was unlike anything I’d felt before. When he listened to me, he heard me, truly heard me. The way he made love to me, the way he kissed me, it was all-consuming. I never would have thought he’d kiss his ex. How did I miss that? Was I so wrapped up in opening my store that I couldn’t see past it to what was happening in my love life? Maybe.

God, this sucks! Everything was so perfect for like two seconds. I had a great place to live. I had finally opened my dream store. I had a great employee, good friends, and wonderful neighbors, and I was finally starting to feel seen by my family. Everything was so much better, for a second. And Grayson was like the cherry on top.

My heart aches again as my mind recalls Gray kissing Lydia.

The memory is cut short when the bell on my store’s door dings. I peek around the open door between my apartment and my shop. Brayden. I frown because Brayden, other than quickly stopping by the soft opening, is not a romance reader and hasn’t been shopping in here.

“I’ll be right back,” I say to Jocelyn and Isla. Jocelyn leans forward in her chair, seeing Brayden, she looks curiously between us and then continues talking with my sister.

I close the door a little as I walk up to him.

“Hey, Brayden. What can I help you with?” I ask, looking around us as if the reasoning for his visit will become obvious.

He runs his hand through his hair, reminding me a bit of Grayson. He’s slightly shorter than Grayson, maybe closer to six feet, and has the build of a runner who might do a little weight training on the side. I can’t help wondering if there could be something more between him and Carly. They’d be so perfect together.

“I think you should see something,” he says as he pulls his phone out of his pocket. I watch him unlock it as he continues to speak. “I was friends with Gray when Lydia broke his heart. I was seeing this woman off and on and we all used to go out together on occasion. Lydia tolerated me because I was a doctor and I suppose for her, that’s socially acceptable. After what happened the other day, I texted her to tell her exactly what I thought of her behavior.”

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