Page 73 of Stay for Me

Nothing had changed. All I did was close a door that should’ve never been open.

“Bullshit.”

My spine snapped straight. “Don’t,” I warned.

In the background, I heard Carrie’s sweet voice. followed by a loud meow.

“No, you little shit, it isn’t time for breakfast,” my friend clipped.

“You better be talkin’ to the fuckin’ cat and not your woman like that, Gray,” I grunted.

I heard some shuffling and then—

“Hi, Mags,” Carrie greeted softly, sounding tired.

It was late, and I knew Grayson had waited until she was asleep before he called me. After my call with Diana, I finished my work and ate dinner with Mason and Harmony at their place before riding back to the barn and getting Midnight settled. Then, I headed to my cabin, the place I’d spend the rest of my lonely, damned life, and called Grayson. All I could hear was Diana’s cracking voice, all I could picture were her tears.

Those were worse than the memories of war, worse than the sounds of bombs and guns going off.

I knew then, I’d take going back into a war zone over having to hurt her like that again.

But it was done.

She could finally move on.

“Mags?” Carrie called, snapping me out of it.

“Sorry,” I murmured. “Hi, Carrie.”

“You don’t sound like yourself,” she said. “Are you alright?”

I blinked. “What do I usually sound like?”

“Like my grumpy friend,” she answered immediately, her words striking me. “But you don’t sound like him right now. What’s wrong?”

I pushed off the worktable and bent to grab the near-empty bottle from the floor. “Long day, Carrie. That’s all.”

“You know you can talk to me, right?” she prompted.

If I wasn’t currently rotting from the inside out, I might’ve smiled. Carrie, the broken girl with a heart of gold.

“I’m alright. Promise.”

“Is this a bullshit promise or a serious one?”

“Considering you aren’t here to do the stupid pinky shit, I’ll let you take your pick,” I rumbled, taking my seat again. “Where’d your man go?”

“Pinky promises aren’t stupid.”

“Carrie.”

“Yeah?”

“Need a distraction, not an argument,” I told her before lifting the bottle to my lips, taking a swing. The liquid burned my throat, but I wasn’t fazed. This was the first time I’d drank this much in a single setting in a long time, the last time having been the night Grayson and I got our deployment orders.

“So you aren’t okay,” she surmised gently, knowing how it was between Grayson and me.

I tipped my head back, staring up at the metal ceiling, my eyes studying the grooves. The truth weighed heavy on my tongue, and yet? I couldn’t give it. If anyone else knew about her, my Diana, I would never be able to forget.

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