Page 95 of Grace on the Rocks

She nodded, andBryanwas pretty sure now she was crying.

He foundGracehuddled against the castle’s outer wall, trying and failing to use it for shelter from the rain.Hisheart leapt at the sight of her, whole and hale, but the adrenaline was quickly converting his fear to fury.Hereyes seemed to light when she saw him, too, and then she dissolved into tears.

Without pausing to think,Bryancupped her face, proving to himself she was real.Hepressed her up against the old crumbling stone and kissed her fiercely.

She kissed him back, her breath sweet likeIrn-Bru, and for a moment, all of his anger and anxiety were forgotten, replaced by her jasmine and peach scent and the warmth of her tongue battling his, as the tightness in his chest finally loosened for the first time in over an hour.

When he stepped back to take a breath, she looked up at him with such vulnerability in her eyes, just for a flicker, before they turned hard, preparing for a fight, and just like that, his anger came roaring back too.

“You p-promised,” he shouted.

“You had no right to make me,” she argued, andBryanlooked around at their predicament in disbelief that she could still be so stubborn.

“I didn’t make you.You’rean adult,” he countered. “Evenif you don’t act like one.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I told you it was too dangerous, but you just do whatever you want, is that it?TypicalAmerican.”

“How dare you!Iwas trying to do something nice for my friend.Shewanted toseeit.Doyou get that?Whatit means to her?”

“You knowIdo.Butshe won’t be able to see anything at all if you get her killed!”

“It was a beautiful sunny day!” she hissed.

“AndItold you it wasn’t going to s-s-stay that way!Didyou not hear me?”

“Oh,Iheard you.”

“Did you not—did you not believe me?”

“No,Ididn’t believe you,” she replied, and it stung right down to his core.

He tried to make his throat work, but for a moment he just strangled on air. “Why?” he finally croaked.

“You were acting like a controlling jerk.Youcouldn’t be bothered to askEòghannto go with us?We'dhave been here and back in plenty of time.”

Bryan gestured at the island and the storm raging around them. “Eòghannwould have told you exactly whatIdid.Wouldyou have listened to him?Arehis words so much more p-p-persuasive than mine?”Goddamn his stammer, popping up as if to illustrate the point.

“He wouldn’t have tried to stop us, because he has a thing forWes!”

“Not enough of a thing!”Runninghis hands through his wet hair,Bryanwanted to scream in frustration.Wasshe trying to sayhedidn’t care enough about her to go with them, when clearly he cared enough to warn her offand then to come out in the storm after her? “Eòghannwould never have agreed to this.Ican’t get my head around whyyouagreed to this!Youwere just hell-bent on doing the opposite of whatIwanted from the momentIsaid no.”

Her eyes flashed dangerously telling him he’d hit a nerve.

“IfI’dinsisted you go, then would you have?—”

“I don’t need to be told what to do by an illiterate oaf who thinks he can read the sky!”

Bryan swallowed.

“Sorry,” she said immediately, her eyes filling with unshed tears. “Ididn’t mean that.”

“ ’Course you did.”Hetried to smile but was pretty sure it came off as a sneer. “Youwanted to be cruel and cutting, and you knew exactly how to hit your mark.Youcan’t take it back just ’cause you regret it.”Shemight not mean the words, but she’d meant to say them.Shewas lashing out like an animal that was hurting somewhere he couldn’t see, and he didn’t understand why.

Grace studied the ground.Theywere both soaked to the skin, and the rain ran down her cheeks like so many tears, and he kind of wanted to cry himself.Beforelast night, he’d thought she heard him in a way most people never did.

“Why are you here?” she demanded, but what was the point of admitting he cared for her now?Sheprobably wouldn’t hear that either.

---