Page 51 of Shattered By Grace

I’m done playing this game.

Tristan stepped closer and grabbed her by her arm, his breath warm against her ear as he whispered,“Come on, Grace, don’t tell me you’re above a little fun.”

Fuck this, fuck him.

Without a word, she spun on her heels, her movements sharp and deliberate, no hesitation, her knee collided with his stomach. Tristan let out a sharp grunt, his smirk faltering for the first time.

Victoria stood over him, her chest heaving with barely contained fury. She’d had enough.

“How’s that for a little fun?” She murmured before storming off to the locker room.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Victoria let the door slam behind her. She sat down heavily on the bench, burying her face in her hands. She tried to shut out the chaos of her thoughts, but the feeling of being watched crept over her, prickling the back of her neck.

“You can’t give me a moment’s peace, can you?” she spat, ripping out her earphones and spinning toward him. “I don’t have anything to say to you...”

Her eyes met his. Tyson. Tall, cold, and as unreadable as always, but there was something flickering in his gaze, something raw that caught her off guard.

Tyson’s gaze didn’t break, his jaw tight as he took a step closer. “You think I want to be here?” he bit out, his voice low and strained. “You think I don’t know how messed up this is?”

His words hit her like a punch to the gut. The anger, the frustration, it was all wrapped up in that sentence, but there was something else, something that made her chest tighten in ways she didn’t want to admit.

She started to open her mouth to say something, but he shook his head stopping her.

What the hell?

“You make me feel things I’ve buried for years, and I hate it. I need it to stop. It’s distracting, and I can’t afford to be distracted.”

She could see the internal war behind his eyes, the tension in his every move. Torn between what he wanted and the loyalty to his brother, it was all spilling out, raw and unfiltered. She felt something inside her shift. Sympathy, anger, and something she couldn’t name.

“I know you and Tristan have this thing, everyone can see it. But I…” His words faltered, frustration seeping through his voice.

“What are you doing here, then?” she challenged, her voice sharp, though the slightest tremor betrayed her. “No one’s forcing you to be here.”

A bitter chuckle escaped him as he shook his head, almost self-mocking. “You don’t get it, do you? It’s not that simple.”

He closed the distance between them, his hands gripping her waist, pulling her flush against him. The heat of his touch sent a jolt through her spine. He stared at her, eyes dark, as if she was both the answer and the problem.

“I can’t…no, I won’t…let myself get lost in this. You deserve someone who can choose you, and that’s not me. It’ll never be me.” His breath was hot against her cheek, and the pain in his eyes was unbearable.

The words hung heavy between them, and she could feel the truth in them. Tyson would always choose duty, loyalty, family. Those things were stitched into his very soul. And it stung. For a moment, she’d wanted to believe he could choose her, even if it was a dangerous lie.

“I haven’t picked anyone,” she shot back, her voice steady but firm. “Your brother doesn’t own me. No one does.” She needed him to hear that.

Does he know something I don’t?The thought barely formed before his lips crashed against hers. It wasn’t soft or gentle. It was fierce, full of unspoken need and frustration. There was nothing gentle about it, just frustration, hunger, and everything they couldn’t say. It was a kiss meant to burn. And it did. Victoria’s breath hitched, her hands gripping his shirt, desperate for something solid as the room spun. But even as she kissed him back, she felt the distance that would always be there.

When he finally broke the kiss, he stepped back, as if the moment had shattered something inside him. His breath came in ragged gasps, eyes flickering between regret and raw desire. “I shouldn’t have done that,” he whispered, his voice thick with torment. “But I needed to know... just once.”

Victoria stood frozen, her lips still tingling from the kiss that was already slipping away like a dream she couldn’t hold onto. The memory of the night at the club still hung in her mind, the pull she’d felt toward Tyson undeniable in the heat of the moment. But now, in the quiet of the gym, she saw things more clearly. Tyson wasn’t the Locke brother she wanted. She knew that now,though she wouldn’t admit it to herself.

With one last, lingering look—haunted, conflicted, maybe even broken—Tyson turned and left. The door clicked shut behind him, the sound hanging in the air, sharp and final, a reminder of what could never be.

Victoria let out a shaky breath, her heart racing in the aftermath. Her face was wet with tears, the first of many she didn’t have the energy to stop. The tangled mess of her life, the way it all came crashing together here. She wiped at her face with the back of her hand, but a question echoed in her mind like a drumbeat.

Why did you come back to this city?

Pulling out her phone, Victoria quickly texted.

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