His phone vibrates and he reads the screen. “Really? Thanks, man.”
“No problem. Just do me a favor and don’t go falling in love in twenty-four fucking hours like the rest of the guys?”
Major runs a hand over his jaw, smirking. “I can’t make a promise like that, Grady. Can you?”
I laugh it off as I leave, but deep down, I know I fell in love with Georgie that fast.
A bottle of tequila. A game of truth or dare. A hot tub. It could have gone down so much differently. We could be together right now.
Instead, I backed off. Away. She was only sixteen. I was twenty. The timing was wrong, even though it felt so damn right.
That was six years ago.
Six.
And nothing has changed. For me, at least. But Georgina is not the sort of girl to settle for a guy like me. She’s a woman who was built for bigger things. A bigger life. A man like me would only tie her down.
But now she needs my help.
Outside, I text her back. Where are you?
Georgina: At the apartment. I’m alone.
Grady: Gimme ten.
I jog back to the gym and get in my truck, driving toward her apartment complex. Georgina’s roommate, Valerie, left a few weeks ago to move in with Vance, and I wonder if that is part of the problem.
Then I remember comments from Vance over the last few months. She’s acting wild. Not herself. Never around.
It worries me, and as I drive to Georgie’s place, I hope that she hasn’t gotten herself in the sort of trouble that can’t be fixed.
When I get to the complex, I park and look at the crate in the back of my truck. There’s one watermelon left, and I grab it before I climb the steps to Georgina’s second floor apartment. She answers before I even knock.
“Grady,” she gasps, pulling me inside. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
“Yeah, and I brought you something.” I hand her the green striped fruit and she smiles softly.
“You’re truly one in a melon, Grady.” She tries to laugh, but I know it’s strained. Georgie’s regular laugh is loud — this one is flat.
I set a hand on her back as we move from the doorway. “Well, let’s see if I can help before you make that claim.”
Her eyes are rimmed in red and as I walk into her place, I take it in. The curtains are drawn, the lights are low, and there are empty takeout containers on the coffee table.
“What’s going on?” I ask gently as she locks the door. The place is a mess compared to how she usually keeps it. Something is clearly wrong.
“I’m so embarrassed. I’ve made a big mistake,” she says, dropping her head into her hands. “I hate this. Hate myself.”
“Don’t say that, Georgie.” I press a hand to her shoulder and she moves her hands, looking up at me. Her lips are so pouty and pink, her dark brown eyes so big, like a Disney princess’s. She’s in sweats and her curly blonde hair is a mess, but she looks so damn cute it’s hard to take her tears seriously. Georgie has always been a bit dramatic. A little over the top. It’s one of the reasons I find her so endearing. She is so unlike me, it draws me to her even more. She could be the wild to my safe. If only we had a chance.
“I’m not exaggerating,” she groans. “I’m in a jam and I can’t exactly call my brother.”
“Why? Because he’s with Valerie?” I ask, crossing my arms. “I’m just the back-up guy?”
I don’t know why I say it like that. So defensive. But being here, alone with her, is stirring up all sorts of things inside of me. The emotions I’ve kept buried for so damn long.
I want Georgie, I always have. And the idea that I’m only here because she can’t get a hold of her big brother — it kills me.
She looks wounded, stepping back, tears brimming in her eyes. “That isn’t what I meant. My brother would put me in handcuffs if I called him.”
That gets my attention. “Shit, Georgie, what have you done?”
Georgina
Grady’s looking at me like he’s scared. And he has a right to be. I’ve royally screwed up and once he knows the truth of it… I groan, knowing whatever hope I held for a future with Grady is gonna be gone before it ever began. He is way too good for a mess like me.