Page 130 of Stay for Me

“Okay, you came, you met her. Now get the fuck out.”

“Mags,” I scolded on a breath, my head snapping in his direction.

He ignored me, jerking his head to the door. “Get gone, Gray.”

“He’s your best friend,” I reminded him gently.

“He’s also a pain in my ass,” my cowboy tacked on.

“Everyone is a pain in his ass,” Carrie teased. “Except for you, Diana.”

“Correct,” he confirmed, nodding once. “Now, Carrie, I love you, but you and Gray need to leave.”

“But we just got here,” she said, looking at me, pleading.

I looked from Mags to the couple and back to Mags. “They can stay for dinner at least, Mags.”

His eyes dropped down to our still-full plates on the coffee table. “Need to remake it,” he grumbled.

“We can order pizza,” I offered.

“You get pizza out here?” Grayson asked.

“I can get the twins to bring it out here, I’m sure,” I said, reaching for my phone.

“Those greedy fucks will stay for the pizza, Diana. Hell the fuck no,” Mags sighed.

“Stop being a grumpy bitch,” Grayson shot out as Carried leaned in and whispered, “They bicker like old men.”

“Yeah, I’m going to kill my best friend,” Mags decided casually, rubbing his hand over his short beard.

“Try it,” Grayson threatened.

I couldn’t tell if they were joking or not.

Carrie shot up, taking my hand. “I’m taking her with me,” she announced, guiding me to rise to my feet. “We’ll be outside while you men bicker over stupid things.”

Mags looked to the floor, muttering something underneath his breath as I was dragged by him. My hand shot out, cupping the side of his neck. His eyes shot back up to mine. “You okay?” I asked softly, Carrie waiting for me at the door.

After a moment, he nodded, grabbed my wrist, and brought my hands to his lips, kissing my palm. “Yeah, I’m okay.” He dropped my hand and jerked his chin. “Go talk to Carrie, baby. She loves you already.”

The second we were on the porch, she turned to me, brows furrowed. “I know you’re going to ask, or you’ll want to ask.”

I blinked. “Uh—”

“I know this because if I was in your shoes, I’d want answers. I’d want to know what the hell those guys were discussing in the kitchen,” she clarified.

“It didn’t look like much of a discussion,” I deadpanned, looking back to now closed front door. “It looked like Grayson was doing all the talking.”

Carrie pressed her lips together, looking out into the field. “I told him to wait on it,” she murmured after a moment. “I told him to let Mags have his time with you before…”

When she said nothing else, I leaned forward. “Before what?”

“I can’t tell you,” she rasped, tangling her fingers together and shaking her head. “I wish I could, but it isn’t my business or place to do so. This is Mags’ life.”

“So the information has to do with Mags?” I pushed softly.

She gave me that and nothing else. “Yes.”

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