Gracie & Gray

Chapter 10

G R A C I E

I arrived early to the restaurant. Fifteen minutes early, to be exact.

The hostess guided me to a corner booth and placed two menus on the table.

As I sat down and waited, I tried not to fidget. I sipped my water. Scrolled through my phone. Browsed through the menu multiple times in a feeble attempt to distract myself from the actual reason why I was sitting here at the moment.

"Hello, Gracie."

I nearly choked on my drink. I would have recognized that voice anywhere. Low, deep, gravelly, yet—soothing. Like good sex on a lazy Sunday morning.

I glanced up and lost all my words.

***

"Oh, God. Gray texted you? Fuck!"

"Did you tell him... that you're keeping the baby, Lydia?"

"No, of course not!"

"What should I do, then? Ignore him?"

"No, no. I want you to meet up with him."

"What?"

"Yeah. Find out what he wants from me, okay? I wonder if he's having second thoughts about the baby..."

***

Gray looked nothing like I remembered.

He had always been a tall guy, standing well over six feet, but now his once lean form had filled out with hard lines and plenty of solid muscle. There was nothing boyish about Gray anymore. He was all man.

His black curls were buzzed in a high and tight fade, military style. His facial features were sharply defined and chiseled, and the time he had spent under the blazing Afghanistan sun left his skin darker and browner than before. Those soft gray eyes of his had never been more striking.

He stole my breath away.

Gray slid into the booth on the other side of our table. He glanced at me expectantly. It was my turn to say something. Try as I might to act less awkward, I couldn't quite bring myself to look at him. It felt too much like staring straight into the sun.

"Hi," I mumbled in his general direction.

A brief, uncomfortable silence followed.

Gray cleared his throat. "It's good to see you again, Gracie. Thanks for meeting me on such short notice."

I nodded absentmindedly. "Mm-hmm."

"I've been meaning to get back in touch with you for the longest time, but my deployments kept getting extended. I think I only spent a total of three weeks on American soil last year."

I blurted out, "It's fine! I don't mind!"

Gray looked somewhat taken aback by my outburst. I flushed slightly.

God, why was it suddenly so hard for me to converse like a functioning human being?

I reminded myself that I was a twenty-nine-year-old woman and not some pining teenage school girl.

I needed to get my act together!

I forced myself to look up at Gray.

His eyes immediately found mine. A tingle trickled down my spine.

I coughed. "Sorry. What I meant to say was... you don't owe me anything. I'm glad you seem to be doing well, though."

Another pause.

I almost cringed. The years had turned my childhood best friend and I into strangers. We were so out of sync now. It felt kind of painful.

Gray grimaced. He seemed to sense it, too.

"Gracie?"

"Yes?"

Remorse flickered across his handsome face.

"I assume... your sister already told you... about what happened... between us?"

My breath hitched. I averted my gaze. "Yeah... Lydia told me everything."

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"I don't know... I just... I know I fucked up really bad."

My eyes began to feel a bit watery. My chest grew tight.

Damn it.

This wasn't how our conversation was supposed to go at all. I didn't want an apology from Gray because I wasn't ready to forgive him.

I was here to get intel for Lydia. That was it. I needed to focus.

Blinking rapidly, I tried to regain my composure.

"So, um... about Lydia... are you planning to get in touch with her soon?"

He frowned. "No, not really. Why?"

"Why not?"

"Because... I'm not interested in her."

For some reason, hearing those words spill out of Gray's mouth really ticked me off.

I glared at him. "You weren't interested in her? Well, then, maybe you shouldn't have slept with my sister and knocked her up!"

Gray lowered his eyes. His shame was apparent. "You're right. I definitely shouldn't have done that..."

"Why did you ask me to come here today, Gray?"

He hesitated.

Then, in a low voice, Gray said, "I wanted to know why you didn't tell me about Craig... when you guys... broke up."

That shit happened more than three years ago.

I balked. "What? Why would I? My relationship with him had nothing to do with you."

Sadness filled his gray eyes.

"You know, I would've reached out sooner. Had I known."