Pain swept through me, a vicious flood taking out everything in its path. The idea of walking away from Grae and not having her in my life, even in this limited capacity, was almost too much for me to take. Even though I knew I should, I didn’t think I was strong enough.
“Tell me you hear me,” Nash gritted out.
“I hear you.”
He clapped me on the shoulder. “I’m always here for you. Whatever you need. If you decide you can trust me.”
Guilt churned low in my gut. “I’m sorry, I—”
“Don’t apologize. Just know I’m here whenever you’re ready. And don’t make my sister collateral damage.”
I jerked my head in a nod.
We put away our gear and headed up the stairs.
Music sounded from the kitchen; some oldies tune that was all sunshine and rainbows…the opposite of my current mood.
We followed the sound and the scent of something delicious. As we came into the room, I stopped short. Grae wore a pair of my basketball shorts that looked more like pants and a T-shirt that could’ve been a dress. Her hips swung back and forth as she sang loudly and off-key about walking on sunshine as she pulled something out of the oven.
Setting the casserole dish on the stove, she turned around and shrieked. Her hand flew to her chest. “Geez, make a little noise when you enter a room, would you?”
Grae’s eyes narrowed on my face, and then her gaze snapped to her brother. “What the honeysuckle is wrong with you?”
22
GRAE
Caden’s cheekwas already turning colors, and I knew exactly who was responsible. I stalked over to Nash and gave him a hard shove. “Seriously?”
He stumbled back. “What did I do?”
“Punched Caden in the face from the looks of it.”
Nash winced, sending Caden an apologetic look. “I’m sorry, man. I didn’t mean to get you so good.”
“So youdidmean to get him?”
“We were sparring.” Nash tried to excuse himself.
I held up a hand. “I don’t want to hear it. If you’re pissed that I’m staying here, talk to me about it. Don’t punch Caden.”
An arm came around me, and Caden pulled me into him. His chest was still damp with sweat, but he smelled like damned spring rain. “I’m okay, Gigi. We were just burning off some energy.”
I looked up at him, searching. There were shadows in his eyes, ones I was desperate to know the source of. “He shouldn’t be hitting you in the face.”
“Caden socked me in the jaw,” Nash muttered.
“Shut up,” I snapped at him. “Don’t think I won’t tell Maddie what you did.”
Caden choked on a laugh. “You don’t mess around.”
“No. I don’t.” I sighed. “Come on. Let’s get some ice on that. Sit.”
Caden obeyed, taking a seat at the massive kitchen island. Nash followed suit.
I searched through the freezer and finally found a gel ice pack. Wrapping it in a thin towel, I handed it to Caden. “Keep this on your cheek for twenty minutes.”
The corner of his mouth kicked up. “Yes, Nurse Hartley.”
