Page 63 of New Girl in Town
“Let me explain.” He held up a hand when I went to speak. “I need you to let me explain what that was, why those people were there.” He stopped and sucked in a deep breath. “Aurora, it’s not what you think.”
“So you didn’t spend the night partying and going home with a random lady friend?” I asked, fingers tight on my coffee cup.
His eyes widened and he paled. “What? No. Absolutely not. Where the hell did you hear that?”
“The internet.”
“You googled me?”
“Duh.”
He raised an eyebrow at me and I bristled under the look. “I didn’t have a lot to go on after last night, so maybe I did google you, but I didn’t see much and that’s because I don’t want to know. I don’t want to hear anything about what you did in New York, okay?”
“Aurora, that’s not fair.” He took a step closer to me, and I held a finger out at him.
“Stay there. I meant what I said. We are through. I’m not seeing you anymore.”
Grant looked like he had been punched in the gut, and he put a hand on the counter to steady himself. “I came back last night. I just got in now and came straight here, to explain what happened, to you. Those photos or whatever you saw were caught on my way to the airport. I didn’t party or go anywhere with anyone. The only place I wanted to be was here, so here I am.”
“You don’t understand.” I held out a hand when he looked like he might move closer to me. “I have a lot to think about and we can’t erase last night. That’s a fact.”
“I know that. I’m not asking you to erase it. I’m asking you to trust me.”
“I did that before and look where we are now. What would you do if you were me, Grant?” I whispered, blinking away the tears that threatened to fall. “I need time to think.”
“How much time?”
“I don’t know.” I cleared my throat and looked away from him. “I can’t be in a relationship with you now. Things are too...confusing. I need to just be on my own.”
“Are we still friends?” he asked, voice so wrecked that I wavered in my decision for a second and had to force myself not to cross the small space and throw myself in his arms.
“I don’t know,” I confessed. “But I’d be open to try.”
His shoulders sagged but he gave me a soft smile, one so bruised that it looked like it might break if he held it for too long. “I can, ah... I can work with that. I’ll wait.”
I nodded. “Thank you.”
“Goodbye, Aurora.” He gave me one last lingering look and then he turned, walking out of my apartment. The door clicked shut behind him and I sagged against the counter, my legs like jelly and my mind a mess. I hadn’t even been aware of what I was going to say when I let him into my apartment. My agreeing to try and be friends surprised me, but I found that I didn’t...hate it.
For the rest of the afternoon, I turned over his words.
The only place I wanted to be was here, so here I am.
The gossip rags on the internet had twisted things, which made sense given how early he’d shown up at my place. The longer I thought it over the more I wondered if I was being reasonable, a question that I raised the next day to Melinda over dinner.
“Are you being reasonable?” She sighed and turned her eyes skyward with a little shrug. “I think you know what I’m going to say.” The tone of her voice was no-nonsense, and I bristled at it because I had an inkling.
“You weren’t there,” I muttered, pushing my food around my plate and feeling like a petulant teen.
“I wasn’t, but from what you told me I’d say hear him out.”
“I can’t right now.”
She bit her bottom lip and leveled a look at me. “You want to explain why?”
“I can’t.” I shook my head and leaned back in my chair. “I can’t find the words to explain it right now. It’s like my head is just full of noise and all this stupid stuff from Dylan. I know it isn’t fair, so don’t give me that look. I do not want to make Grant pay for what Dylan did, but I can’t just pretend it didn’t happen and pick up where we were before New York, either.”
“Maybe you need some time to process it, which is why I’m glad you are giving things time to develop between you. Friends is good, Aurora.”
