by Lexy Timms
To me, he was worth it.
He was worth the devastation he could cause.
Chapter 21
Grayson
After staying up all night talking and cuddling with Michelle, we decided to do our dinner date Thursday night. Which meant I needed to make a run to the grocery store. Michelle was sitting in the passenger’s seat of my car and somehow, it felt right to look over and see her there. Her hand rode the waves of the air as we drove through town, moving up and down and swirling around until I pulled into the store. She looked over at me and smiled that beautiful smile of hers, and then we traded places so I could go grab us some things.
She said she had some errands to run while I was in the store, so I gave her the keys to the car and told her to come get me in about an hour.
Then I pulled her into my lips for a kiss that made my cock harden against my pants.
I watched Michelle drive off, waving at me from the window. Every second I spent with her solidified my belief that I had done the right thing. Ever since I had made the decision to stay, a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I felt lighter on my feet and smiling got a bit easier. This town didn’t seem as dark and dank as it had been when I first traveled into town a week and a half ago. There was something about Michelle I couldn’t let go of, and as I turned to walk into the store I started running down the list of things we needed.
I really wanted to make her a very special dinner.
Walking up and down the aisles, filling the cart with things we would need over the coming days. A couple of spices. Some drinks. A decent bottle of wine, though I didn’t make it a habit of buying my wine in grocery stores. But still, I knew of a few brands that I’d allow to grace Michelle’s beautiful tongue. I placed a couple of bottles into the cart and continued up and down the aisles, running down the list I had memorized.
Filet mignon. Bacon. Pepper. Salt. Asparagus. Garlic cloves. Potatoes. Heavy cream. Fresh bell peppers. Grapes. Pancake mix. Buttermilk.
I was glad a healthy store of some sort had popped up in this small town. It even had some of the gourmet items I needed. The quality of the filet mignon was shocking, and the second I saw the fresh crab legs I almost keeled over.
Surf and turf.
That would be the perfect dinner date meal for us.
There was his want I felt to spoil Michelle. This small inkling that flared up every time I passed by something not familiar in this town. Like the freshly-made tiramisu sold by the square in the dessert section. Or the fresh cheeses that even made me salivate as I picked out a few small triangles to slice off with our wine one night. It was an unfamiliar feeling, wanting to do this for a woman.
But it wasn’t something that was unwelcomed.
“Grayson MacDonald?”
I furrowed my brow at the foreign voice as I turned around.
“Holy shit. You’re Grayson MacDonald.”
A woman started down the aisle with her cart, heading right for me. She seemed vaguely familiar, but not enough for me to place a name. I fixed a smile on my face in case this was someone recognizing me from my football days. Maybe someone who had moved to the town to take care of an ailing family member or something. But the second she got up on me, I recognized who she was.
Oh shit.
Oh no.
Her hand lifted up and her palm cracked down against my cheek. My eyes closed and the smile fell from my face as my head twisted off to the side. Connie Lee Thomas. The sister of Derrick Thomas.
A boy Andy and I relentlessly teased in high school.
“You sorry excuse for a man,” she hissed. “Do you know the kind of therapy my brother had to go through to shake high school off his shoulders?”
I gritted my teeth to keep from responding as my face slowly turned back towards hers.
“You made his life a living nightmare,” she said. “And I didn’t have the guts to stand up to you back then. But I promised myself that if I ever saw you again, I’d make sure it happened.”
I looked down into her face, seeing Derrick in her eyes as her nostrils flared with anger. People were peeking around the corner with their nosy-ass looks, trying to figure out where that horrendous sound had come from.
My cheek burned with an anger that filled my gut.
“Three years of therapy, Grayson. Three. You and Andy Prentice, the two of you are disgusting. You terrorized that high school at the expense of your own pleasure and you didn’t give a shit who you ruined in the process. The two of you were selfish, and for no other reason than the fact that you were both spoiled little brats.”
I bit down onto my tongue to keep from firing back at her.
“Go back to wherever the hell you came from. Because this town might be sinking, but at least we plugged the hole you and Andy created. And when you leave, take that pathetic excuse for a human being with you. Andy isn’t welcome, and neither are you.”
Then she stalked away, pushing her cart up the aisle as everyone stared with wide eyes and dropped jaws.
I felt the handprint glowing on my cheek and shame and guilt rising up my throat. I calmly finished my shopping, well aware of the outline making an appearance on my skin. I had gravely underestimated the reaction this town would have if I ever came back to it. I figured they had all forgotten about me. Like my mother had. Like my father had. But apparently, they hadn’t. Apparently, I had been such a shitty human being that this town was constantly on alert for me.
For Andy.
I sighed as I went through the cashier’s line, and I could tell he was checking me out faster than normal. Trying to get me out of there as fast as he could. I felt people’s eyes on me as I paid the man, then stuck everything into the cart and pushed it out into the parking lot. I stood there underneath the harsh Illinois sun and waited for Michelle, my head on a swivel as I searched for my rental car.
I had about fifteen minutes to kill before she was due to show back up.
Just because Andy liked me didn’t mean everyone else did, and Andy’s endorsement of my being back in town was probably what stirred up those emotions in the first place. People I thought I couldn’t impact at all I had actually impacted the most. And not in a good way. I started to wonder if this town was as relieved to see me go as I had been to get out of it.
The thought made my chest hurt.
I hated this place and all of the memories that came with it, but it was still my home. It was still the place where I was born and raised. And what did it say about me if my own home wanted me gone? Did I have a home if my home didn’t want me? If my own hometown wouldn’t accept me, then did that mean I never really had a home to begin with? I felt like that lost little seventeen-year old boy, freshly beaten by his father and filled with an anger and betrayal I didn’t know what to do with.
Maybe staying in town hadn’t been the best decision after all.
I knew I’d been an asshole as a child. A powder keg on the verge of exploding. I had been angry. Frustrated. Too big for my age and looking to take out my fear on someone else. Putting the fear of God in others was how I coped with my own fear once I stepped through the front doors of my father’s house, but that didn’t make what I did right. Admitting to myself that I had been a bully was hard because I had stepped in on my football coach many times when I thought he was bullying a member of the team. I’d made myself that buffer. Made myself that fence between angry coaches and innocent players.
It was hard to admit to myself that there was a point in my life where people felt they needed a buffer from me. But just because it was a hard pill to swallow didn’t mean it shouldn’t be done. It was obvious people were in pain because of my arrival in town. Haunted by my past actions enacted in high school, because I was a little shithead.
I put my hands to my mouth before sweeping them into my hair, taking with it the bullets of sweat appearing on my brow. I looked at my watch and saw I still had another five minutes. Five more minutes to dwell on my life as a teenager in this town and how mu
ch of a shitty human being I had been during those years.
The NFL straightened me out. College straightened me out. But that didn’t mean I hadn’t left this town with destruction in my wake. I’d used my anger towards my father and my hatred towards my mother to justify my actions, but that didn’t make them right. The idea of leaving that kind of pain behind—the kind of pain that stuck around for years while I prospered and garnered my billions—made my stomach turn.
I brought my hand up to my cheek and smoothed out the redness on my skin as I saw my rental car pull into the parking lot. I could only hope that when I left this town again, I left it with a positive interaction instead of a bad one.
Because if this town deserved anything, it was a little reprieve from the negative actions of those that inhabited it. Anton knew that. Something told me Michelle knew that. And it was time I started believing in that. No matter how much I wanted to leave this place in my dust, and no matter how many times I told myself I never wanted to come back, that didn’t mean I could discard it without caring about what those in town thought and felt in the process.
That was a lesson I didn’t understand as an eighteen-year old drafted for football.
But as a grown man, it was a lesson I’d make sure I carried with me.
Chapter 22
Michelle
I walked into the diner Stillsville boasted of. It was a place I frequented often. I had even worked there for a spell until Anton gave me the job taking care of his property, but a part of me did miss the place. There was always someone greeting me with a smile, ready to rush up to me and give me a hug.
Today, that person was Cecily.
“I’m so happy to see you!” she exclaimed, as she wrapped her arms around me.
“I’ve missed you too,” I said.
“I can’t believe that asshole kicked you out like that. I stuck it to him, you know. I do every time I see him.”
“Well, that makes me feel better, but you don’t have to keep doing that. He’ll get his whenever karma comes around,” I said.
“That’s a pretty cheery mood you’re in. Found yourself another man?”
I tried to keep the blushing to a minimum. I wasn’t ready to talk to anyone about Grayson. All I wanted to do was sit down and talk with a dear friend of mine. Well, she wasn’t ‘dear’, but she was the only other friend I had in town. And she was a friend whose advice I could use to make sure I wasn’t losing myself in this thing with him.
“Could we talk?” I asked. “Do you have a break you can take soon?”
“Brad!”
“What, Cece?”
“I’m taking a break. Can you get two coffees to booth four in the corner?”
“What do I look like, your servant?”
“Since I’m taking a break, yes! You look like a fine one,” she said.
I shook my head as she dragged me over into the corner. Booth four was a wobbly one, and people hated sitting there. So the staff made it their designated place to sit when they were on their break. We ate there, gossiped there, and scrolled through our phones there. And I was relieved when two sodas were placed in front of us and Cecily tuned her attention to me.
“Did I not say coffee? Whatever. Okay, sugar tits. Talk to me.”
“Sugar tits?” I asked.
“A customer called me that earlier. Figured it was a good one to throw around,” she said. “What’s on your mind? Talk to Mama Cece.”
“I liked ‘sugar tits’ better,” Brad said.
“Butt out!” Cecily exclaimed.
“Hey there, Michy. We miss you around here.”
“Yeah well, if things don’t pan out I might be looking for a job,” I said.
“Then let me know! I’ll gladly stick you somewhere. It’s part-time, but it’ll get you some cash.”
It was a nice offer, but I knew working at the diner wouldn’t get me any farther than it had gotten me before. Which was part of the rent in a decrepit place with a man like Andy with almost no money for other bills.
“So where have you been? Where did you go when Andy let you loose?” she asked.
“I’ve been staying at Anton’s house,” I said.
“You’ve been staying in the house of a dead man?”
“He didn’t die in the house. But it’s been nice staying there. I knew how to get in, so I did.”
“Does the place even have the utilities on still?”
“It does,” I said.
“I hear his godson’s handing out things of Anton’s to people in the community. Maybe you should shake your money-maker and get him to hand that house over to you.”
“Right. But even if he did, I couldn’t afford it without a job.”
“Well working here isn’t gonna give you that kinda money,” she said.
“I heard that,” Brad said.
“Good!” Cecily exclaimed. “So who’s footing the bills for the utilities if you don’t have a job and they’re still turned on?”
I bit down onto my lower lip and drew in a deep breath.
“Grayson. Anton’s godson. He’s staying there while he settles Anton’s estate. He offered me a place to stay when I barged in the night Andy kicked me out.”
I watched Cecily’s eyes widen before her face quickly returned to its cool, collected nature.
“Well that sounds like a good setup,” she said. “I’m glad you’ve got yourself sorted out. You know, except for the job thing. Are you sure you don’t need something? Even if it’s temporary? I’m working like a dog here, and when Brad says ‘part-time,’ what he really means is two hours short of full time.”
“I was really hoping I could talk to you about this Grayson situation, actually,” I said.
“Girl we’ve got all the time in the world to talk about that if you start this weekend,” she said.
She curled her hands around mine as my brows drew together. She really was darting around the subject of Grayson a lot. I didn’t really know his reputation around town, but maybe it wasn’t a good one? Or maybe she didn’t know Anton’s godson was Grayson?
“Come on. I’ve got money itching to go into the hands of someone. And the tips have been good lately,” Brad said.
He scooted into the booth next to me, shoving me over until he fit behind the table.
I didn’t want my working hours to encroach on the time I had left with Grayson, but they were offering me a job. And I had a past employment history here, even though it was only three weeks. It wouldn’t take me long to get that bike going again, so to speak. I didn’t have any other options in this city, and Grayson was bound to leave at some point in time. He made his disgust for this town known, which meant eventually, he would leave me behind.
I had to think about my actual future, and not just about my temporary one.
“Okay then,” I said with a smile. “I’ll start this weekend.”
“Thank fuck. Does this mean I can have Saturday off, Brad?”
“Can you come in Saturday evening for your first shift? Cece’s been begging me for Saturday nights off for a while now,” he said.
“It’s the highest-tipping night, but I need a break. Please?” she asked.
“What time do you need me?” I asked.
“Yes!” she exclaimed. “Finally. A Saturday night off. I think I might go town-hopping and find me someone to spend some time with.”
“You can keep that to yourself,” Brad said. “As far as time goes, just be here around six. You’ll get off when we close at two, and I’ll have an apron for you to wear.”
“Sounds perfect. I’ll be here.”
“I’m so glad we’re working together again. This place has missed you,” she said.
“To be honest? I’ve missed it as well. And thank you, Brad, for offering me the job.”
“Everyone kept asking me where your pretty little face went after you quit. If only they knew I liked dick.”
I shoved him playfully and laughed before he let me up. I gave each of them
a hug, then I headed back out to the car. I didn’t get what I came in for, but what I walked out with was a prospective future. I didn’t want to stay a waitress my entire life, but I did enjoy working at the diner when I did. I still wasn’t sure what I was going to do about a place to live, but I figured that clearing one obstacle meant I could relish in the victory before clearing another one.
But when I pulled into the grocery store, my mind focused on Grayson.
He was standing in the middle of the parking lot. Just standing there, staring off. I pulled up next to him and saw his eyes connect with mine. The look he gave me shivered me to my core, but I didn’t know why. He had this strange look on his face and this far-away look in his eye.
I hopped out to help him load up the trunk before he took the keys from me to drive.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
He nodded, but he didn’t say anything.
“Did something happen in the store?”
We drove in silence for a while before he finally answered.
“I ran into someone in the store I knew from high school,” Gray said.
“Is it someone you didn’t want to see?” I asked.
“I prefer to leave it in the past.”
I knew something bad had happened. I didn’t know what, but I knew it was reinforcing his want to get away. And suddenly, I felt relieved that I had taken the job at the diner. But it also made me wonder. Did Gray not have a good reputation in town? Maybe that was cause for Cecily’s shock whenever I mentioned I was staying with him.
“Are you sure you don’t want to talk about it?” I asked.
Gray pulled up into the driveway of Anton’s home before he shut down the car. He got out without answering me and left me sitting there. He popped the trunk and started gathering grocery bags on his arms until they were white and red and probably screaming in pain. I unbuckled my seatbelt and slid from the seat, trying to reach out for him to take some of the groceries.
But he stormed up to the porch and unlocked the door before barging inside.