I wrinkle my nose. “That’s… a way to put it, I guess. We ask Gracie what she wants to do. We communicate, like I said before. Gracie has to be part of it, so we can’t just draw rules or anything up right now. We find out what she wants to do as well. It isn’t going to be easy. It’s doable, just not easy.”
Owen sits forward, his full attention on us this time. “I don’t do guys,” he states flatly.
I stare at him, unamused. He has never once given off being gay or bisexual, so his claim isn’t surprising. “Then you don’t do guys. Have sex with Gracie only.”
He stares at me for a long moment. Neither one of us moves, and nobody says anything.
Suddenly, Owen stands and takes a step toward me. He might be younger, but he sure does know how to make an older man cower. Maybe it’s the whole cop demeanor, I don’t fucking know, but I back up anyway. He’s as tall as I am but a lot more muscular. More… menacing. Especially in his anger.
“Gracie deserves the best,” he warned me, his teeth clenched together to make it sound somewhat like a growl. “I don’t want no prissy guys traipsing into her life that are going to hurt her.”
“We don’t want to hurt her,” Jasper counters, and I feel his hand grab my shoulder before pulling me back. “Seriously, man, that’s the last thing we want for Gracie.”
Owen looks between Jasper and me, jaw set, before taking a long step back. He shakes his head and turns, rounding the couch before disappearing down a narrow hallway to what I assume would be the bathroom area. Maybe bedrooms, I don’t know. I haven’t gone further than the living room by this point.
A rap on the door turns our attention to it, the tension in the group pressing on all our shoulders, so it’s a much-needed reprieve.
Jasper’s the one who breaks the somewhat silence and pushes himself forward to answer the door. Gracie stands on the other side with another young woman and a man. I assume these two are the Marcy and Landon that Devon talked about for a moment. Gracie looks annoyed, with her arms crossed over her chest as she glowers at all of us.
Her friend nudges her and pushes her over the threshold. She staggers for a moment before righting herself, Marcy and Landon following. Landon closes the door behind the three of them and then turns to face us, eyeing Jasper and me warily. He seems as young as Colton and yet, not just quite. He has sharper features than the diner boy, which means he might be a few months or so older at least.
Is he part of this too? Five guys is one thing, but I think six is pushing it. And a chick? No, I don’t think Gracie would want a chick. Especially after all the bullshit that has happened.
“Hi,” Gracie greets Jasper and me. “This is my nephew and my best friend,” she motions between them.
Relief swarms through me at realizing that Landon is family. I can handle five of us guys, but I don’t want to do more than that. I already feel the pressure with the five of us as it is.
I catch Marcy’s eye. She doesn’t look so happy. If anything, she seems suspicious. Then again, Gracie did just say she’s her best friend. She’s probably more protective now because of everything that has happened.
Colton gets up and offers Gracie his seat, which she ignores as she takes an armchair at the side of the couch, ignoring the rest of us. She’s obviously still upset, and I can’t blame her after all she’s been through.
“Gracie, about Adrianna—” I start but am stopped when she puts up a hand.
“It’s done with,” she tells me, but she doesn’t look me in the eye. “Just let it go, please.”
I don’t say anything. I don’t nod or agree or anything else. I simply stare at her, waiting for something else to be said, but the tension has now overflooded into discomfort. Nobody knows what to do or say, including me. I have answers for a lot of things, but even I’m not sure what to say to this.
Chapter54
Gracie
Iwait for what seems like an agonizingly long time. I’m bored out of my mind, but I don’t dare say anything now. I don’t want to press the subject. Really, I don’t even know what I’m supposed to say. I was right. I didn’t do any drugs, and I didn’t drink. As far as I’m concerned, everybody else owes me a ton shit of apologies and maybe a platter of vegetarian enchiladas. That wouldn’t be a bad apology. But nobody has said shit to me. I think that’s what I’m most angry about; nobody has even tried apologizing to me.
I’ve been sober for months now, almost an entire full fucking year. I get why nobody believed me but finding out they were wrong should’ve pushed them to apologize to me for pointing fingers. Nobody has. Not a single goddamn person. Not even my parents have called to apologize.
I need a meeting. I need to get my head clear. I need to do something to make the buzzing stop. But for the moment, I can’t get up or do anything. I don’t necessarily want to right now anyway. I want somebody to fucking say they’re sorry to me. But the guys are quiet. I don’t know why it bothers me so much. I know I did wrong before, so many goddamn times, but that doesn’t mean I don’t deserve to be apologized to when wrong was done to me. Does it?
“Thank you for bringing her home,” Devon finally speaks, turning his attention on Marcy and Landon. “And keeping her out of trouble today.”
Marcy grabs Landon’s hand, intertwining their fingers as she squeezes her arm and looks right at me. “We do for family, don’t we, Gracie?”
I crack a smile this time and nod in agreement. The two look adorable together, and I am happy that Marcy has found somebody who makes her happy, even if it is my nephew. Landon turns his head and kisses the top of Marcy’s.
“We should get going. We have a couple of days left before going back to school and a bit of packing. Going back with more than we came.” He snickers with a shake of his head. “And Marcy starts her new job in a couple of weeks when we get back, don’t you, babe?”
Marcy’s face lights up, and I sit forward. This is news to me. Nothing about this was mentioned all fucking day. Then again, it was sort of focused on me the entire time. My stomach twists with guilt, knowing that, once again, it was all about me. I really need to start paying better attention. Marcy deserves to have the spotlight on her, especially at times like this. It isn’t only about me, and it’s not fair if I take all the attention away.
“I got a call a couple of days ago for confirmation. I’m going to be an elementary music teacher!” she says happily, bouncing on her heels.