“I don’t expect you to understand, Grayson, but my heart physically can’t take it. I’ve been here less than twelve hours, and already I feel like I’m suffocating. All this stuff with my mom, this town, this house and…” My voice trailed off, unable to finish my sentence.
“And what?” His voice came out thick with emotion.
“You know what.”
“No, I don’t. Say it.”
“And you.”
My words hung in the air, as the tension around us grew thicker and thicker. I hadn’t been this close to Grayson in years. The proximity to him felt new and familiar at the same time. Our energies were different, yet they still mingled together like they always belonged.
Grayson took that moment to brush a stray hair that had fallen from my bun away from my face. The motion made me gasp. This was not what I had been expecting. When his fingers brushed my skin, I felt the familiar sparks that had always been there between the two of us.
Grayson seemed to lean in closer, and my brain immediately stopped functioning, losing all rational sense. He brought his lips mere inches from my own. I could smell the peppermint on his breath. I only needed to lean in, and I would be kissing him.
Did I want to kiss him? If I did, what would happen then? My eyes flicked to his lips and then back to his eyes. He was watching me intently, holding me in his gaze.
Then like a bucket of ice-cold water, he retracted, and the trance was broken.
He took a few steps back and scowled at me. It was then that I noticed that my handbag was in his hand.
“Give that back.” I wanted my voice to come out hard, but it came out thick and low.
“You can get this back after the funeral. Staying two more days won’t kill you, Jade. It’s the least you can do after abandoning Ethan. He had to deal with the shit show that you decided to leave behind.”
“You don’t know how hard this is for me.”
“And you don’t know how hard it has been for him. He needed you years ago, but you abandoned him. It’s time you start doing right by him. And it starts with this funeral.”
With that, he turned on his heels and left with my handbag in his possession. I didn’t try to chase him down, nor did I try to fight him. He was right.
Ethan had only asked for a week of my time. He needed me here to help deal with our mother's funeral and help him during the grieving process. Ethan had held my hand through some of the toughest things I had lived through in my life. The least I could do was be there for him now.
Luckily, I had left my phone in my pocket. I pulled it out and dialed Ethan’s number. He answered after the first ring.
“Hey, you okay?”
“Hey,” I greeted, “yeah, I’m fine. I just wanted to know if you needed me to do anything? You know, for the funeral.”
“No, everything is pretty much arranged at this point. I will need help packing up Mom’s room, though, but we can do that tomorrow. You can just rest for now.”
“Umm…okay that’s fine. I can help with that. I better let you get back to work. I will talk to you later.”
“Okay, bye sis.”
Then he hung up the phone.
I plopped onto the bed, feeling uneasy. I was staying for Ethan, and I knew I could get through these few days if I just focused my energy on being there for Ethan and not on my surroundings. Then maybe I could get through this trip.
I thought back to earlier today when Astrid had herself up against Grayson. I would be lying if I said the sight didn’t bother me. It did. I hated the fact that she was up against him like white on rice.
Out of all people, he had to pick Astrid. The one person who had dedicated her entire life to making me miserable. The funny thing was it had all been because of him.
Astrid had it in her mind that I was trying to steal Grayson from her when, at the time, I and Grayson weren’t even a thing. She’d had this delusion that I had tricked him into falling in love with me.
Then, when we did eventually start dating, her torment got even worse until Grayson had to step in. After he had barked at her a few times, she left me alone, but everything had gone downhill from there. My life just seemed to shatter after that.
Grayson started working at his dad’s shop, and my mom was falling deeper and deeper into depression. Nothing was the same after that summer.