Page 136 of Stay for Me

I was on my feet then, my hand going to the back of my neck. My next question came out cold. “Who is he?”

“Mags—”

“Who the fuck is my half-brother, Grayson?” I growled.

“Trevor Kensington, star quarterback for the L.A. Rams.”

Jesus.“Fuck,” I muttered.

“Again, you don’t have to do anything,” Grayson said, repeating the same thing he told me years ago.

“He’s safe.”

“Yes.”

I rolled my neck. “He’s well off,” I added.

For years, I worried about him.

“Being one of the top QBs in the nation usually comes with money. So yes, Mags, he’s well off.”

“Need to call, Diana,” I told him after a view minutes of silence, moving back into the house.

As I shut the door behind me, he said, “So glad you two finally gave it a shot.”

“Finally pulled my head out of my fuckin’ ass,” I agreed, moving into the kitchen to grab a glass of water, my stomach in knots.

“Diana is a strong woman. She’ll take this well. Lean on her, brother. You deserve it.”

I said nothing, filling my glass with water from the tap and then downing half of it. I braced my hand on the counter. “Told her about Ashley.”

Movement sounded on the other end of the phone, a door closing, and I knew he was moving away from Carrie. This meant Carrie didn’t know about my ex-wife. This meant that my best friend let that memory die. “What did she say?”

“Got sucked in, Gray,” I told him. “Got sucked back in. Diana said something that triggered me, and I—suddenly, I was in your truck and you were dropping me off at the house.”

“Fucking hell,” he muttered. “Are you okay?”

“That was the first time I thought about that woman since leaving her. It came out of nowhere, and when I got out of it, Diana was there, waiting patiently.” My mind went back, the gentle look in her hazel eyes warming me.

“What did she say?” he repeated.

“Nothing. Told her I never loved Ashley, that our marriage was a way for both of us to leave that shitty little town we grew up in.” I paused, turning to face my living room, leaning back against the counter. “Diana is the only woman I’ve ever loved.”

“I know. I’ve known that for a long time.”

“But she will never know about my family. She will never know my old name. None of it, Gray. You hear me?”

“I hear you.”

“That boy is dead,” I whispered. “He’s been dead for nearly seventeen years.”

“Then don’t dig him back up,” he replied simply. “Diana isn’t going to make you do so either. You set that boundary with her, and if she truly loves you like I know she does, she won’t cross it.”

She wouldn’t, but that didn’t mean Trevor would. “I don’t know if I want to open that door, man,” I admitted.

“Then don’t. All I’m doing is giving you the key. Now, call your woman. Tell her we said hi.”

Despite the half-brother shit, this was the best weekend of my life. She was finally mine, I was hers, and the future I thought I was destined to have, one filled with nothing but loneliness, had faded away.

---