Page 54 of Could Have Been Us
“I hope you’ll find a way to be happy for me,” I tell him, removing a piece of lint from his shoulder.
“You’re making me feel like an ass.”
“Okay, how about a turd?” I counter.
He smiles—reluctantly. “Jack? Really?”
“I know he’s your best friend, and if you really don’t want me to date him, then I won’t. It might break my heart, but for you, Gray, I will.”
“Don’t do that,” he says, defeat in his voice. “I just need a few days, okay?”
“Okay.”
“What did Josh and Alex say? I bet they were shocked.”
“No one seems surprised.”
His voice gets higher. “What?”
“Did you really never see it? The way we avoided each other? How hard it was for me to be around him, and the excuses I made to avoid him? Come on, Grayson, not even you are that oblivious.”
“Maybe I am.”
I give him a soft smile. “Or maybe you just wanted to be.”
“If it goes bad . . .”
“You won’t have to choose.”
If there’s anything I can promise, it’s that. I won’t make Grayson pick between us. Oliver said it would be the hardest part for him to reconcile, so I’m taking it away from him. I know that, no matter what happens, Jack would never make Grayson choose either.
I’ll do whatever I have to do so that neither of them has to bear that burden.
“There wouldn’t be an option. You’re my sister.”
“And he’s like a brother to you.” Gray looks over at Jack, a scowl on his face, and I laugh a little. “You’re being stupid.”
The song ends, and he kisses my cheek. “I know you say it wasn’t like that, but he lied. He had opportunities to tell me and didn’t. For that, he deserves to sweat it out.”
Men. “For how long?”
“Until I’m not ready to rip his head off.”
* * *
Jack and I are sitting in his car because Oliver is inside my condo.
“Are you okay?” he asks.
I turn quickly. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“You didn’t say what happened with your brother.”
“Grayson will be fine. I think he just wants to make you worry,” I say with a grin.
“Sounds like him.” Jack pauses. “So,” he says, tilting his head to the side as our eyes meet.
“So.”
