Page 69 of Paths
“Did I freak you out?” he asks, his brows puckered, honestly concerned about what I’m thinking.
“Yes.” His frown deepens and even though I’m still catching my breath, I quickly add, “But not in a bad way. In a surprised and sort-of-pleased way that I could do something for you when you needed it. Even though I didn’t do anything.”
“You did.” He kisses me again softly before changing the subject. “You ready?”
“I think I’m going to need to touch up my hair and makeup.”
His eyes move over my face in a way I know he doesn’t want to go to dinner, and he pulls me tight with one arm but the other goes slack. When his hand comes around, he smirks as he puts his index and middle fingers in his mouth. I feel my eyes go big as he tastes me, sucking his fingers clean.
When he slides them out of his mouth, he licks his lips and leans down to kiss me quick before letting me go. “Hurry up, baby. I’m hungry.”
He gives me one more devilish grin before leaving me in the bathroom. When I finally turn to the mirror, I smooth my dress and groan at my hair. My makeup fared well, but I cannot go to a dinner in my mother’s house with my ex in attendance wearing sexed up hair.
But, I think I like the way I look being sexed-up by Grady, and we haven’t even had sex yet. I run my fingers through my loose, chunky curls turned away from my face, trying to piece them back together. Since I wore the dress for Grady, I’m thinking my half-sexed hair fits it well.
Although he might’ve relaxed me for a short time, it makes me ache to think about what he said. I don’t know much about what he went through when he was injured, but I do remember his anguished eyes and desolate demeanor during the weeks while I was a creeper. To know he found some sort of comfort in me during that time? That makes me feel funny, and not in a bad way.
I reach for my lipstick as my stomach twists and turns. Between learning that Grady considered me his lifeline before I even knew him, having dinner with Weston and his parents, and dealing with my mother, the night seems impossibly long. Grady did say he’d handle tonight, after all.
Knowing all the possible scenarios, I might just let him.
Chapter 19 – I’m Attached
Maya –
As we round the pool from the guest house through a path of cleared snow in the cold December air, I’m not sure what’s louder—the sounds of my heels on the stone patio or my heart pounding in my chest.
“Relax,” Grady says, squeezing my hand as we approach the French doors to the back of my parents’ house.
“Stop telling me to relax,” I clip. “The more you tell me to relax, the more I can’t relax.”
“Okay,” I hear him say with a smile as we walk up the steps. He moves ahead quickly to open the door for me. “So don’t relax. We’ll get through the night either way.”
I turn to look at him, rolling my eyes, before stepping inside the formal living area. Grady trying to relax me in the bathroom made us late, and my mother doesn’t do late unless it’s her. She’s always late to social events—she thinks she’s just that important.
“Well.” I hear her voice the minute we step over the threshold. “We thought you decided not to attend your own homecoming dinner.”
I do what I trained myself to do years ago—change my expression to an impassive one since I know it pisses her off. “We went for a run. And I didn’t know this was a homecoming dinner. We’re leaving tomorrow, so for all it matters, it could be a going away dinner.”
My mother narrows her eyes before turning to a server I’m not familiar with who must be new. “Lidia, make my daughter a cosmopolitan and take his order.”
Of course, she wouldn’t ask what I’d like to drink, but arguing would be exhausting, so I don’t.
“Maya.” I cringe and turn to see Weston heading straight for us with a crystal highball glass in his hand filled with his favorite scotch, but his eyes—angry and hard—are on Grady. Grady’s fingers tense on the small of my back, but other than that, I don’t notice a change in his demeanor whatsoever. Across the room, Weston’s parents are standing with Joe, all of them watching us with bated breath. My father is nowhere to be seen—I’m sure he’s still at work.
“Wes,” Grady greets my ex-fiancé like they’ve been friends for years before I have a chance to say anything. Without letting me go, Grady offers his right hand. “Never thought I’d see you again after our last meeting.”
Weston doesn’t take his hand, and I slip my arm inside Grady’s suit jacket to give him a squeeze. He knows about Weston’s shady side, there’s no reason to antagonize him. We need to get through dinner with as little drama as possible. It’s the only way to handle Weston.
Weston glares at Grady right before his eyes move, and I shift my weight at the way his eyes rake over me. I wonder how I ever found him attractive. Now, he just looks like the slimeball he is.
“You look beautiful,” he says, and pins me with an intense look. “We need to talk.”
I tip my head and sigh. “I didn’t want to talk to you when you came all the way to Virginia. I’m only here to see Joe, so don’t ruin my visit. I have nothing more to say to you.”
He leans in closer and lowers his voice. “I get it. I made a mistake and hurt you. But it’s over. It’s time to fix this—you know we are meant to be together. Give me five minutes alone to explain.”
I lower my voice for only him to hear. “Explain how you were fucking someone else while you were engaged to me?”
