Page 64 of From Grumpy to Forever
He opened and shut his mouth, and then, to my surprise, Grayson shook his head. “I know you’re both crazy for each other.” He shrugged before crossing his arms over his chest. “She makes you smile in a way I’ve never seen you smile before. Not even when…well, not ever. And that’s all I need to know, Reid.” He paused, rubbing his chin and assessing me for a moment. “Unless, of course, you have something more you want to tell me?”
I did. Of course I did. Gray was my best friend. I told him everything. He was my sounding board for every important decision I’d ever made in my life. Keeping him in the dark on this had killed me.
I took a breath. “Gray,” I started. “Avery and I—mother fucker.” A flash of movement across the fairgrounds caught my attention. Instantly, all thoughts of confessing the truth to my brother were gone. There was only one thing that mattered.
Avery.
“What?” Grayson turned to see what I was looking at and saw it a second later. “Is that him?”
The look on my face must have given my brother the answer he needed because he put a hand on my arm to still me. “Don’t make a scene, Reid. It’s not worth it.”
“I’m not going to make a scene. Why would you even say that?”
“Because you look like you’re about to tear his head off, man. And trust me when I say that is not a good idea. Not in front of the entire town, and not in front of Avery. You don’t want to do that, Reid. You know you don’t.”
Dammit.
I shook off his touch. “Fine.” He had a point, even if I didn’t want to admit it. I was a grumpy asshole. That wasn’t a secret—Avery knew that. But what she didn’t know was that I also had a temper when someone wronged someone I loved, and I didn’t want her to find out. And hell, that was mostly because I never wanted to see her wronged.
Because I loved her.
The realization slammed into me, causing me to take a step backward.
Fuck. Me.
I loved Avery. I loved my wife.
Yes, I knew I was developing feelings for her. But love? I wasn’t sure how to process that.
And standing in the middle of the Sprout n’ Shout, surrounded by everyone I knew, wasn’t the time or place to attempt to figure it out. Especially when Jacob had spotted my gorgeous wife and was cutting through the crowd, headed directly over to her.
I couldn’t see the look on his face or what he was saying to her. But I didn’t need to because Avery’s body language said everything I needed to know.
Chapter Thirty-One
Avery
“This one needs full sun.” Lauren thrust a potted plant of some kind into my hands. I’d lost track of all the different types she’d already pointed out, but I was pretty sure we’d already seen one just like this. “It’ll be great next to the porch,” she continued. “Maybe three or four of them alternating in colors would be nice. Speaking of colors, have you thought about a color palette yet?”
“A color palette for the garden?”
“I know, I know.” She laughed and took the plant from my hands. “We should have discussed that before we started shopping, but I got carried away.”
“That’s okay.” I turned, dumbfounded, toward the wagon Lauren had borrowed about ten minutes earlier. It was loaded with all kinds of smaller plants and flowers. The bigger shrubs and even a few trees that she’d picked out were being held behind the tables. Lauren suggested we send Reid and his brothers to pick them up later, and I couldn’t argue with that. As it was, I was starting to think we should abandon all our selections for them to haul back to the inn later. Especially considering I was starting to hit my limit with gardening.
“You know what?” Lauren led me by the arm away from the table. “You look like you might need to get out of the sun.”
“Is it that obvious?”
My new friend laughed. “I tend to get excited about gardening,” she said. “And I know not everyone is as passionate about plants as I am. I’m sorry. I can be a bit much sometimes.”
“No.” I stopped her. “You’re just the right amount. Honestly. I’m just…” I scanned the crowd, suddenly missing Reid’s solid presence at my side. It caught me off guard how much I’d grown used to having him close by. We’d spent so much time together over the last few weeks. It was funny because we hadn’t even been separated very long, but I missed him.
The ridiculousness of it struck me as funny, and I threw my head back in a deep laugh.
“Oh yeah.” Lauren grabbed my hand. “We need to get you out of the sun for a bit. Come on, we’ll get you a drink.”
Happily, I let her start to lead me through the crowd. But we’d only made it a few steps before a familiar voice sent chills down my spine.
