Page 73 of Crash and Burn
"She's worth bragging about," Mason said proudly.
There were only a few people left at tables in the corner, and they seemed to be enjoying their privacy, so the five of us gathered around the bar to chat until it was officially time to close.
"How did it happen?" Bree asked, waving between Grant and I. "Who gave in first?"
"It was a sort of mutual giving in," Grant said with a slight smile. "You know that moment when you look at someone and just can't imagine being without them for a second longer?" He gave me a soft smile. "It was like that."
"He makes it sound so romantic," I teased. "It actually started with a childish pillow fight, to be honest."
I had thought that after closing I would have immediately wanted to drag Grant home and spend some more alone time with him. But I hadn't seen Bree in a while and I was still getting to know Evan, so it was nice to hang out with a group of friends for once. I used to spend so much time with friends, but most of them had moved away for school or were busy with their jobs.
Not that I could blame them. I practically worked every day too, and my odd evening hours made it hard to socialize. Hopefully now that Evan was getting the hang of things, Grant and I would be able to take some extra time off to spend with each other.
"I'm so happy for you," Bree said as she leaned over the table to talk to me. The guys were currently in a three-way debate over which of this year's award-winning local beers was the best. "I know you've had a thing for Grant for a while."
"We were that obvious, huh?" I asked ruefully.
"Just a bit," she nodded with a smile. "I didn't want to say anything because I didn't think it was my place, but you two are really cute together. The way Grant looks at you..." she sighed and faked a swoon.
"Mason looks at you the same way,” I said. "The guy is crazy about you."
"I know," she said fondly with a glance in his direction. "I'm crazy about him, too. We had to work through some things. Especially me." Her lips dipped down into a frown, before she brightened up. "But everything is great now." She nudged me with her shoulder. "And now you and Grant get to be as sappy and Mason and I are."
"We're trying to keep it low-key while we're working at the bar," I said. "Grant has a thing about putting on a professional face at work."
I thought back to the reason he and Missy had broken up. She had wanted to be lovey-dovey with him during photoshoot sessions, but Grant had been uncomfortable with that. I understood his concerns. As much as I would have loved to be able to throw my arms around Grant and plant a kiss on him whenever I got the urge, subtlety was important.
The final few customers cleared out and we did the last bit of clean up. We were just about to put theclosedsign up when one more person walked through the door, a tall, beautiful girl with long raven hair. She looked a bit like Missy, wearing crisp dark denim and a silky blouse. She scanned the room with equally dark obsidian eyes. They went wide.
"Grant!" Her voice was breathless and awe-stuck.
Grant turned in the middle of a conversation with Evan. When his gaze landed on her, his eyes went wider than hers. He stood still, stunned, as they stared at each other. The girl's lips trembled and her eyes turned watery. She took several steps forward, her kitten heels clicking on the floor.
"Alana?" Grant's voice was hoarse, disbelief overtaking his face.
"I can't believe I finally found you," she said, close to tears.
That was when she threw herself into his arms and…
She kissed him.
My mind went blank. I blinked. The scene in front of me didn't change.
I wasn't imagining things.
Some girl was kissing Grant.
My vision saw white, then black, and back to white.
It was just like with Missy all over again. A beautiful woman showed up at the bar and plastered herself to Grant.
Finally, after what seemed like hours but was probably only a few seconds of shocked silence, Grant pulled away, his eyes wide. She tried to cling to him but he took her hands and gently deflected them.
"Alana, what are you doing here?" His voice was still barely more than a croak.
"I came to find you." She leaned in close, as if to kiss him again, but he backed away.
"Why?" he asked.
