Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 104766 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 524(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 349(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104766 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 524(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 349(@300wpm)
I’m back at Miranda’s for the weekend. It’s a safe space where we can have privacy. No one knows he’s coming—not my parents, not my roommates, not my brother.
Miranda is staying with Zero so Drew and I have the place to ourselves. I’ll sleep in her room, and he can sleep in her spare room, so it doesn’t have to be awkward.
My emotions are all over the place.
I had dared to hope that we could explore the possibility of something more, a real relationship beyond the secret we kept from Grady—but all that shattered, thanks to my brother’s meddling.
I still don’t know how to face Drew after this media debacle.
I glare at my phone, which mocks me with its silence.
Drew hasn't responded to my texts in hours. Did he already regret agreeing to visit?
Was he coming to talk about the mess my brother created, or was he planning to cut ties with us altogether?
My heart races, and I sink onto the couch, burying my face in my hands.
And just like clockwork, there’s a knock on the door.
I rise, wiping my hands on my leggings.
But when I open the door, it’s not Drew standing on the other side like I expect.
It’s Grady.
"Hey, Tess.” He lounges against the doorway, a smug grin on his lips. “You weren’t going to tell your older brother you were coming to town? How rude.”
"What do you want, Grady?" I snap, my frustration reaching a boiling point.
He saunters into Miranda’s apartment without an invitation, completely unfazed by my obvious annoyance.
"Just checking in on my favorite soon-to-be niece or nephew."
Oh, he’s a comedian now?
“You are literally the last person I want to see right now.” My hand still grips the door.
I don’t want to close it. I don’t want to be trapped inside with this asshole. I thought I knew him, but money does crazy shit to people, and my brother has proven he’s no exception to that rule. He took the first chance he could to make money off me.
Off his best friend.
“Maybe this wouldn't have happened if you weren’t sneaking around. Did you consider that?”
“What I do in the bedroom and who I do it with is none of your business.”
He makes a sound like a buzzer. “Wrong. It is my business. I’m your brother. And Drew was my best friend. Don’t you think I have a right to know if you’re screwing around behind my back?”
“How did this become about you?”
Seriously. I’d like to know.
“How does our sleeping together remotely affect your life?”
His eyes rake down my body. Of course they do because he’s immature and out to prove a point.
Grady raises his brows.
“Who even are you? Where is my caring brother? Why are you acting like this?”
Our parents are appalled too. It isn’t just me. Especially the afternoon they were served with a gag order from the matriarch of the Colter family, Isabelle Colter, so none of my family members speak to the press.
Well, too late for that…
"You fucking ruined everything, Grady. Drew and I had a chance, and now... now I don't even know where we stand."
“Whoa. Language.”
I couldn’t give a crap about my foul language. “You betrayed me.”
Grady meets my eyes.
His expression softens as if he hadn’t considered that before.
“You took money and sold a story about your sister not thinkin’ for one second about the shitstorm that might follow. And when I say shitstorm, I’m not talking about Drew being pissed. I’m talkin’ about haters and trolls sending me messages and emails and driving past my apartment at school. And kids on campus are calling me a gold digger. It’s been humiliating.”
And horrible for the baby.
The baby.
“The poor thing, I’ve been so wrapped up in the drama and media circus that I haven’t had time to enjoy the moment properly. Did you even know I didn’t know I could get pregnant? Doctors told me I had a slim chance, so the fact that…” My hand is on my stomach. “You stole the happy news from me. I couldn’t even tell Mom and Dad first.”
I glare at him, wanting him out of the apartment.
I’m anxious for Drew to get here and don’t want them to see one another.
What a freaking disaster that would be.
“Tess.” My brother looks stricken. "Tess, I didn't mean for things to happen like this. I thought putting it out there might force you two to confront the situation."
That is the stupidest logic I’ve ever heard.
What an idiot.
I shake my head, feeling a surge of frustration and sadness. "Confronting the situation is one thing, Grady. Ruining any chance of a future between us is another."
He rubs his temples, his smirk fading. "I messed up, okay? I see that now. But I don’t want us to be…I don’t want you to hate me.”
Too late.
I glare at him, my patience wearing thin. "And how exactly do you propose we salvage this mess? Huh? You’ve already threatened to beat the shit out of Drew a few times."