Page 82 of Secrets That We Keep (Forbidden Descendants 2)

I opened my lashes and sighed at Gray. He had the same dark hair and blue-gray eyes as his sister, and it hurt like fuck to look at him. This ache tore through me in a violent rush that kind of made me want to bawl.

When I blinked at him, seeing first Bella, then Gracen, I wavered on my feet, and he clasped my shoulders between his hands as he said, “You going to be able to walk by yourself, or do you need help?”

With a scowl, I backed away from him and started toward the exit of the VIP room. “I can walk perfectly fine by my damn—”

Hissing out a shock of pain, I scowled at the corner of a table that had jumped into my path and hip-checked me in the freaking thigh.

Violent fucking furniture.

“Watch where you’re going,” I snarled at the table, nudging the obstructive shithead out of my path.

“Yeah, I think I better give you a hand,” Gray announced as he wrapped his fingers around my upper bicep and guided me away from the table before the two of us came to blows again.

I made a face at the table before sniffing Gracen’s way. “I still would’ve tripped over it, even if I’d been sober.” This room was

like a minefield; I wasn’t sure how anyone could navigate it.

“Right,” Gray agreed in a cajoling tone. “Of course you would have. But wow, did turning twenty-five hit you that hard or what? This makes two weekends in a row you haven’t been able to hold your liquor.”

That’s because liquor wasn’t meant to be held; it was meant to be drunk. Hello.

“You just don’t understand,” I tried to turn to him and explain as we walked along, only to run into his shoulder.

“Dude! What is wrong with you?” Tightening his grip on me, Gracen tried to straighten me back out, but I kept facing him until I reached out with both hands and clutched his face between my palms.

“You’re like a brother to me, do you know that?” I asked.

“Uh…” His brow furrowed in absolute confusion. “Yeah,” he finally added before briefly touching the side of my head and adding, “You’re like a brother to me too, man. Now could you stop creeping me out with the touchy-feely shit? It’s fucking weird.”

“Yeah,” I said with a nod and slowly dropped my hands. “Yeah. I can do that.” But the longer I looked at him, the shittier I felt. I knew he was worried about Bella, and I could alleviate his concern with probably three simple words.

I’m her secret.

But I said nothing.

“Sorry,” I mumbled, apologizing for more than he could ever know.

He patted my back in forgiveness. “It’s okay. Now let’s get you home.”

I don’t remember much of the rest of the trip to his car. I can only hope I didn’t vomit on his leather seat. They couldn’t be that cheap to clean.

The next thing I knew, a hand was nudging my shoulder. “Hey, Fox. Wake up, man. You’re home.”

“What?” My head lolled across the seat I’d been sleeping against, and I opened my eyes to peer out the passenger side window into the dark night.

For some reason, I expected to see Bella’s house, but when I took in my own brick apartment building, I groaned in misery.

This didn’t feel like where my home was. She was my home.

But I was cognizant enough to know I couldn’t tell Gray that was what I wanted, so I fumbled for the door handle, mumbling a bleary, “Thanks.”

“You going to be able to make it to your door okay?”

“Yep.” Fresh air spilled into the interior as I spilled into the night. “Take care.”

“You too,” he called just before I shut the door in his face. Straightening to my full height as best as I could, I faced the building and lumbered forward.

Not sure how I made it to my apartment in one piece, but I even managed to unlock my door and open it before I collapsed inside and shoved it shut behind me so I could prop myself up against it.

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