Page 40 of Grumpy Darling

“Don’t you have anything better to do with your time than harass me?”

“Sure I do,” Parker replied. “This is a party. You think helping you is the top thing on my priority list?”

“Then why are you here?”

“You haven’t left me much choice. You’re standing in the corner being all moody and scowling at anything that moves. I don’t need girls being any more terrified of you than they already are. It’ll mess with my game.”

I guess that explained Parker’s reasons for helping me. You could always count on him to be self-motivated.

“Also, I figured I should probably tell you Paige is here.”

“What?” My eyes darted around the room.

“Yeah, and she’s already talking to Damien.”

“Why didn’t you lead with that!”

Parker’s face lit with a devious grin. “I just needed to make sure Matt was ready with the camera.” He stuck up his thumb and posed beside me as Matt turned his phone in our direction. “Figured we could frame this and call it, ‘The Moment Grayson Realized He’d Made a Catastrophic Mistake.’”

“Get off me.” I shoved him away. “Where is she?”

“In the kitchen.”

I marched toward the door, but Parker trailed after me. “Ha, I knew you’d pick interference! Easiest fifty bucks I’ll ever make.”

I ignored my brother as I stormed in the direction of the kitchen. But as I approached the room and caught sight of Paige and Damien, I came to a sudden standstill. They were smiling at one another, and he was laughing at something she’d said. My heart was racing, but for all the wrong reasons. I wanted nothing more than to barge in there and tell Damien Stone to return to whatever hole he’d slithered out of. But I couldn’t do it. If this was what Paige wanted, I couldn’t ruin her chances with him. I couldn’t interfere. God, how I wished I could.

My shoulders slumped as realization hit me: I was out of time. I’d had years to take my shot at happiness with Paige, but now it was too late. She and Damien might only be talking at this stage, but if Paige planned to kiss him, then surely it was inevitable. I thought Damien was one of the biggest tools in Ransom, but not even he was stupid enough to miss an opportunity with Paige. She was the best thing about this place.

I tried to tell myself it was just a kiss. That it didn’t mean anything. But this felt like so much more than that. For years I’d wanted Paige and I’d done nothing. Reed was right. Now, I was potentially going to lose her completely, and I would regret my inaction forever.

I started to turn away, so I could leave them in peace, but then a strange sound erupted from Paige’s lips. It was a bizarre combination of a giggle and a squeal. I froze. Oh no. Not her nervous laugh.

It was only now, when I looked at her more closely, that I realized how uncomfortable she was. Her smile was strained, and her eyes looked a little crazed. She kept tucking her hair behind her ears and nodding as Damien spoke. My grandma used to drive around with one of those Elvis Presley bobblehead dolls on her dash, and Paige was giving the figurine a serious run for its money.

I knew things must be dire when her infamous nervous giggle escaped her lips yet again. I cringed, unsure whether to feel embarrassment or sympathy for her. As much as I didn’t want things to go well with Damien, I didn’t want them to go this bad. Just when I thought the interaction couldn’t get any worse, she went to take a sip of her drink, completely missed her mouth and spilled the entire thing down her front.

Shit.

Damien tried to help, but Paige simply yelled something about the bathroom and fled. I wasn’t far behind her as I raced across the kitchen to try and catch up. She was too quick though, and disappeared down the hall before I got a chance.

I swore under my breath, knowing how much she must be freaking out.

I wanted to check on her, but my urgency to go after her felt like more than that. Just watching her talk with Damien had been a form of punishment I never wanted to endure again. I didn’t want her getting flustered and nervous over another guy. If she was going to squeal with laughter and spill a drink down her top, I wanted it to be because of me. And I wasn’t sure I could sit back and do nothing anymore.

I’d always kept a barrier between us; always tried to ignore my feelings because I knew I didn’t deserve her. But Reed’s words kept playing in my head on repeat. If I stood back any longer, I could lose her forever. Maybe that spilled drink was a sign. It had given me one final chance.

I caught sight of Bonnie and rushed to her side. “Have you seen Paige?”

“She’s in the bathroom,” she replied with a grimace. “It didn’t go well with Damien...”

“Good.” I cleared my throat when I realized I’d said the word out loud. “I mean, uh, I’ll go see if she’s okay.”

Bonnie smirked, as if she could read all my deep, dark thoughts. “What a great idea.”

I hurried past her before she could scrutinize me any further. Paige’s friend had a nasty habit of asking questions I didn’t want to answer, and was an expert at uncovering secrets people had no intention of revealing.

Luckily, there was no line outside the bathroom when I reached it, so I knocked on the door.

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