“I’ll go talk to her,” I offer when Devon doesn’t say anything else.
Devon shakes his head. “Gracie!” he bellows.
Her padding feet tell me she’s taken off her shoes right before reappearing.
“You and I are going on a picnic on Saturday.”
Her eyebrows shoot up in surprise, but Gracie smiles. I love her smile. If smiles could light up a room, I would say that hers does that. But then it fades, sadness glittering in those brown eyes.
“How long is Owen going to be mad at me?”
“He’ll get over it. You know that. Are you hungry?”
Gracie shakes her head. “I’m going to lay down.” She goes back down the hallway.
I turn to Devon with an arched eyebrow. “Will he get over it?”
Devon doesn’t look at me. Instead, he stares at the hallway entrance. “I don’t know. Owen has a lot of anger and shit he’s got to work through. Plus, that girlfriend of his doesn’t help matters at all. She’s a bitch, and I don’t use that word much to describe females.”
I shake my head in bafflement and finally get up, deciding that I am going to talk to her. I don’t say anything to Devon and instead just make my way down the hallway. I draw up to the last door on the right. It’s cracked open and has a sliver of light pooling beneath it. As I stop right in front of it, I hear her sobs drift out, and my chest clenches. Slowly, I push open the bedroom door and step over the threshold. I’m met with a room that looks like it belongs to a teenage boy who never left. I can tell it's Devon’s childhood room, and I guess that his father has never bothered to change it.
Gracie’s sitting on the edge of the twin-sized bed, bent over with her face in her hands, sobbing into them. I stalk over to her and sit down, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. She pulls away instantly, so I drop my hands, not wanting to press it and upset her by doing something she’s uncomfortable with.
“Want to do something tomorrow?”
Gracie wipes at her face and draws her head up, blinking profusely. Her brown eyes glitter in tears, making them even more beautiful. In a sad way, which is.
“I can’t be with just you,” she croaks.
I’m not surprised. But I don’t want to tell her that.
“I want Devon too. Owen too, but I guess I’ll never get that. Kind of deserve it, I suppose,” she snivels, dropping her eyes to her folded hands in her lap.
“And what about Jasper?” I tilt my head a little in curiosity. “You seemed to like him.”
She draws in a breath of air and exhales slowly, it shaking. “I don’t know. I like him and Luke too, but I don’t know yet.”
I nod in understanding and reach out, placing my hand on top of her two folded ones. “There’s nothing wrong with that. Look, I want to be with you, Gracie. I want you to be happy and if that means I have to share you, then so be it. I’m not going to just walk away. Besides, you owe me a second date still.”
She giggles at my reminder and sniffles, leaning onto my shoulder as she turns her hand over, so our palms are clasped together and intertwining our fingers.
“You can come in,” she says loudly as the floorboard creaks outside the room, alerting me to our listener.
I look up and nod at Devon in greeting, trying not to move, so Gracie isn’t disturbed on my shoulder.
“So, we have to share you?” he asks, but there’s relief in his voice.
I look at him in surprise, eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. Is he really relieved to know that we must share her? Devon seems like the type of man who would not want to share his woman with any other man.
Gracie lifts her head and leans forward to look at Devon. “Yes. I’ve made my decision. I can’t be with just one. If you don’t want to—”
“I do,” he cuts in and moves further into the room. “I just wanted an answer, Gracie. That’s all I’ve wanted, and now, we can move forward and figure things out.”
“You don’t mind sharing me?” she asks curiously.
Devon inhales with a shake of his head, looking torn down. “To be honest, I do. It’s going to take some time not to be jealous of another guy touching you.” His eyes flicker down to mine and Gracie’s folded hands. “But I will work on that. If this is what you truly want, Gracie, I’m willing to be part of it. I want to be with you. I want you happy. I’m happy simply having you back, and I really don’t want you feeling so confused about yourself that you turn back to drugs or booze for answers.”
Gracie pulls her hand out of mine and stands up, holding it out for Devon now. I watch as he hesitates just for a moment before taking it. Gracie tugs lightly and leads Devon to sit down on her other side. Gracie kisses him first, and from my position, I see his fingers snake through her hair and hold the back of her head. Gracie turns to me when they part, and I don’t hesitate to lean in and kiss her as hard as Devon had done.