His 2nd Chance (The Sumner Brothers Book 6)

by Lori Ryan

“Your mother sounds very smart. And I think your mother will help you through this difficult time. But you have to tell her.”

  “Okay,” she whispered.

  “Do you have your phone?”

  January pulled her cell phone from her pocket.

  “Add my number to your phone. That way you can call me any time you want.”

  January’s mouth fell open and she stared, wide-eyed at Sophie.

  “What?” Sophie asked.

  “You’re seriously giving me your phone number? To call you? Anytime?”

  “Well, yeah. We’re friends. Sometimes you may need to talk to someone.”

  January continued to stare at her like she was crazy.

  Sophie rolled her eyes, but she kept the movement playful. “You’re not going to pass it out to the media or anything are you?”

  “No,” January said, her face stricken. “Never. I would never do that to you, Sophie. I swear.”

  “Okay, good. So here’s my number.” She rattled off her cell number and watched as January entered it into her phone. Then she turned and clutched January around the shoulders. “Take our picture, that way you can put it in as my contact photo.”

  January stood stock still as if in shock.

  “Here,” Sophie took the phone and held it out, taking a photo of the two of them. She inspected the photo and nodded in approval. “There,” she said, handing it back to January.

  “I don’t know what to say.” January said.

  “Text me now so I can plug in your number.” Sophie reached to her back pocket. “Oh, shoot. I forgot, I don’t have my phone, Grant took it from me.”

  “Why?”

  “He wants us to have an undistracted time here in Colorado. I have to admit, it’s kind of nice. But you can still call or text. My sister has my phone. I’ll let her know that if you call, she should call Grant.” Sophie opened the bathroom door.

  “So, wait,” January said, stopping her, “Grant has his phone but you don’t have yours?”

  Sophie rolled her eyes. “I know. The things you do for love, right?”

  “You still love him?” January asked.

  Sophie glanced over her shoulder, taking in the young girl from head to toe. January had so many decisions ahead of her, all of which would change her life. Sophie only had one.

  “Yeah, I still love him. Probably always will.”

  January smiled. “Good, I like you two together. My mom says that forever love doesn’t always mean together love, though.”

  Sophie thought about that statement, realizing how true it was.

  January looked hopeful. “I hope for you and Grant it’s both.”

  So did Sophie.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Grant sat on the porch of the cabin, his feet propped up on the railing as he stared out over the mountain. He hadn’t realized how much he’d missed his hometown until he returned a few months before for Ben’s wedding. He really did want to live here, at least part-time. He just hoped Sophie did too.

  “How’s it going with Sophie?” Jake asked, walking out of the cabin and sitting down in a chair beside Grant.

  “I think it’s going well.”

  “You talked her into staying with you yet?” He laughed.

  “She says she wants to try.”

  “Oh, damn. That’s good news.”

  “I can only hope she still feels that way when we get back home.”

  “To the craziness that’s called your life?”

  “Exactly.” Grant let out a sigh. He really wanted to be with Sophie, but these last few weeks had shown him that he wasn’t in control. Relinquishing the keys to his future was terrifying.

  Jake leaned forward. “Have you told her what you did, about the video I mean?”

  “What video?” Emmett asked, walking out onto the porch. He pointed his thumb over his shoulder to the door. “By the way, you have no beer inside.”

  Grant turned to stare back at the mountain. “I’m not drinking.”

  “Like ever?”

  “Not ever,” Grant said. “Just, not now.”

  “Oh,” Emmett nodded, “I get it.” He nodded toward Grant’s mid-section. “Keeps the flag pole at half-mast?”

  Grant shot him the bird.

  “Hey,” Aaron yelled from the door. “When the package says preheat for ten minutes, I can still put the pizza in now, right? I don’t have to actually wait?”

  “Oh, my God,” Emmett slapped his head, “you’re a doctor, for God’s sake, and you don’t know how to put a frozen pizza in the oven?”

  “Kayleigh cooks.”

  “It’s fine,” Jake called in.

  “You’re an idiot, I swear,” Emmett said. “Grab me a soda and come outside when you’re done.”

  Aaron dusted off his hands and sat on the swing. “All done. Pizza’s in the oven.”

  “Thank God, I’m starving.” Grant’s stomach rumbled on cue.

  “So that’s a no on the soda?” Emmett asked, staring at Aaron, who was now swinging comfortably.

  “As Laney Boggs says, ‘That’s a hell no.’”

  “Who?” Emmett asked.

  “Is that the one-legged she-man you dated in high school?” Jake asked.

  “Fuck you,” Aaron groaned.

  “No.” Grant laughed. “She’s a character in the movie, She’s All That.”

  “So, she’s hot?” Emmett said, grinning like a fool.

  “No!” Grant and Aaron said in unison.

  Grant shook his head. “She’s All That is a cult movie from the ’90s. Laney Boggs is a character in the movie.”

  “Oh,” Emmett said.

  “Who’s the idiot now?” Aaron asked, raising a brow.

  Emmett stared his brother up and down. “Still you.”

  “Don’t ask me to stitch you up next time you slice your finger open on Ma’s sewing scissors,” he said.

  Emmett held a finger in the air. “That was one time. And I was like seven.”

  “That’s all it takes,” Aaron said. “One time to admit you used your mommy’s sewing kit to knit up your stuffed animal’s busted eyeball.”

  Emmett raised said affected finger, which happened to be his middle one. “Don’t talk about Haskey. I loved that bear.”

  “Probably still has it,” Jake said under his breath.

  Grant laughed along with his brothers.

  Emmett turned toward Grant. “So what video were you talking about?”

  Grant’s gaze went to his twin brother’s. Jake was the only person who knew the real truth about why he’d lost his shit earlier this year. Well, Jake and now Sophie’s sister, who had apparently had her sources, she said. It didn’t matter, he’d never tell Sophie.

  Aaron looked from Jake to him. “What video is he talking about?”

  Jake shrugged. “Your call bro, but you’ve got to know there’s nothing we wouldn’t do for you.”

  “I know,” Grant nodded, “it’s just, the fewer who know the better.”

  “Dude, you know we’d never tell anyone something you told us in confidence,” Emmett said.

  “Well,” Aaron said, “except maybe that one time when you dressed up in Ma’s clothes and called it ‘method acting.’”

  “Oh, fuck,” Emmett doubled over with laughter, “I forgot about that. Damn, did anyone take any pictures? We could sell that shit to one of those rag mags and make a fortune.”

  Grant stiffened.

  Jake stared at him, eyes wide.

  The laughter died down. “What?” Emmett. “What happened? Oh shit, were there pictures somewhere, of you and Soph?”

  “Worse,” Grant whispered.

  “Soph and someone else?” Aaron asked.

  “Worse,” Grant repeated.

  Emmett leaned forward. “What the hell could be worse than that?”

  There was a long silence before Grant answered. “Video.”

  “Holy, shit,” Emmett murmured. “Seriously?”

  “Of you and S
ophie?” Aaron asked.

  Grant shook his head, his stomach roiling.

  “She cheated on you?” Emmett rose from his chair.

  Grant motioned for him to sit. “No, she didn’t cheat.”

  “Then what the hell?”

  Drawing in a deep breath, he steadied his voice. “When Sophie and I first separated we kept it under wraps. Our managers did a good job hiding it from the press. I honestly thought she’d come back after a week or two.” He let out a humorless laugh. He’d been so cocky and conceited, taken so much for granted.

  “Man, you don’t have to tell us, Grant,” Aaron said. “It’s obviously pretty painful.”

  “Hell yeah he does,” Emmett argued. “We want to help you, bro.”

  Aaron nodded. “We’re here for you, anytime, you know that.” He stared at Emmett, eyes narrowed. “Whether you tell us or not.”

  Grant nodded, wondering if he should. Maybe it would be good to have his brother’s support. It had always killed him to know his family thought he was an immature asshole who assaulted his manager for no good reason while burning through millions of dollars.

  Grant dropped his feet to the porch and leaned forward, staring off at nothing in particular. “When it was apparent that Sophie really wanted a divorce, my manager and I had to come up with a plan.” He laughed humorlessly. “Isn’t that ridiculous? When you’re a celebrity you have to plan out how to take a shit so no one misconstrues it.”

  Emmett laughed.

  Grant turned to stare.

  “Sorry.” Emmett held up a hand.

  Grant chuckled too. “No, actually it is funny. Sad, but funny. I mean, these fuckers go through your trash to find dirt on you. It’s like you’re under a friggin’ microscope all the time.”

  “I can’t imagine,” Aaron said.

  “Me either,” Emmett agreed. “I’m sorry man.”

  “So any way, Don—”

  “Your manager?” Aaron asked.

  “Yeah, Don Bellinger, he came up with this idea to save me in the eyes of the world.”

  “I’m assuming his idea was horrible,” Emmett said.

  “Worse than horrible. It was unconscionable,” Grant said.

  “I never liked that asshole,” Jake said.

  Grant drew in a deep breath. “With good reason.”

  Aaron stopped the motion of the swing and sat forward. “So what happened?”

  “Don said I would be public enemy number one if the world found out that America’s sweetheart dumped me. I was reeling at the time, still unable to comprehend that Sophie was really gone.” Not to mention the fact that she’d had another miscarriage, but he hadn’t mentioned that to anyone, not even Jake.

  “He said we had to stay on top of the rumors, put myself in the driver’s seat by steering the story, spinning it so I was the good guy.”

  “Which meant, Sophie would be the bad guy?”

  “Exactly,” Grant said.

  Aaron leaned back in his seat with a sigh. “And his plan was a video.”

  Grant scrubbed a hand down his face. “Not just any video.” He stared straight in front of him, unable to look his brothers in the eye. “A sex video.”

  “Of Sophie?” Emmett asked.

  He nodded.

  “And who?”

  Grant swallowed back the bile in his throat that threatened to choke him. “Roger Steele.”

  “Wait,” Emmett said, staring between all of them. “Her drummer?”

  Grant couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe.

  “Did they actually have a relationship?” Aaron asked.

  “She said no when we first started going out. I told her the dude was in love with her but she wouldn’t believe me.”

  Emmett scooted closer. “Were they really having sex, bro?”

  “No,” Grant said. “I think Don spliced together segmented pieces of Sophie and Roger, maybe candid shots from concerts and stuff, then mixed the footage with shots of other people in varying states of dress and sexual activity. He said all we had to do was give the illusion of sex, which apparently he did really well.”

  “Fuck me.” Emmett sighed.

  Aaron stood and leaned against the railing. “So, Sophie has no idea this video exists?”

  “No. None.”

  “Okay,” Emmett said, crossing his arms over his chest, “so what happened next, after your asshole manager showed you the video?”

  “Well, first I puked in the garbage can, which he thought was hysterical.”

  “What an asshole,” Aaron said.

  “I told him absolutely not, no way could he release that video. I would never do that to Sophie. That’s when he told me it was too late.”

  “Oh, shit,” Emmett stepped forward, “he’d already released it?”

  “Yep.”

  “So you beat the fuck out of him?” Aaron said.

  “Among other things.” Grant laughed with no humor, remembering the maimed pulp of a man left after he’d beaten the shit out of his manager. “I made him tell me which magazines he’d sold it to. He wouldn’t so I beat the fuck out of him more.”

  “Dude,” Emmett said, “you should have called all of us.”

  “I didn’t want any more people to know than necessary.”

  Aaron nodded toward his twin. “How did Jake know?”

  “After I beat him to within an inch of his life, I needed someone to help me.”

  “Good call,” Emmett said. “So what did y’all do next?”

  “Jake helped me get ahold of the magazine Don had leaked the video to. Thankfully there was only one. It was the more ‘reputable’ gossip magazine.” He laughed, flexing his fingers around the words. “We negotiated with them to not run it.”

  “I’m assuming for a large sum of money.”

  “Very large,” Grant answered. “Apparently they were in financial trouble and they knew the video would save them. We negotiated the terms, signed a deal and I paid them.”

  “A lot?” Emmett asked.

  “Everything I had,” Grant said. “Well, what was left over after paying Don off not to press charges against me.”

  “What a prick,” Aaron said.

  “Oh my God, dude,” Emmett grasped his shoulder. “That’s insane.”

  “It gets worse,” Grant said.

  Emmett released his shoulder. “How the fuck could it get worse?”

  “Don leaked a story to the press that I’d gone off the rails, lost my shit, gone bankrupt, you name it. He totally trashed me.”

  Aaron frowned. “Why didn’t you go after him? Sue him?”

  “I would have risked compromising Sophie. The video could have come out if I had stepped up and called him out.”

  “Holy hell,” Emmett sank back in his chair. “I knew all those stories couldn’t be right. But we never heard from you, and fuck, I’m sorry I never reached out to you. I just wish—”

  Grant held up a hand. “Don’t worry. I couldn’t have told you even if I’d wanted to.”

  Aaron turned to Jake. “I can’t believe you kept this from us all this time.”

  “And now, for an entire year, you’ve had to live with all this?” Emmett asked. “Watch her touring with that dipshit drummer.”

  “Yeah, hasn’t been easy.”

  “Hey,” Aaron scooted closer, “do you think Steele was in on it?”

  “I don’t think so,” Grant said. “He didn’t even know my manager.”

  “Maybe not,” Emmett said, “but you always said Steele had a thing for her. If he didn’t want you and Sophie to be together, that would have been the perfect opportunity.”

  “I don’t know,” he shrugged. “I think Don saw Steele as a good fall guy. It doesn’t matter now anyway.”

  Emmett leaned back on the railing. “You know, if you told her what all you’ve done—"

  “No,” Grant practically stormed. “I do not want Sophie to know. Swear to me that you won’t say a word. To her or anyone.” He stared around at his brothe
rs.

  “We won’t,” Aaron said.

  “Never,” Emmett added, “if that’s what you want.”

  Jake shook his head. “Won’t happen. You know that.”

  And he did.

  They sat in companionable silence for several moments.

  The buzzer from the oven pierced the quiet.

  “Pizza’s ready,” Aaron said, walking toward the door, stopping to pat Grant on the shoulder.

  “Hey, have you heard from the girls?” Emmett asked. Sophie and his brothers’ significant others had spent the late afternoon at Elle’s family’s resort spa.

  Grant was so grateful for the change in subject. Reliving the memory of what Don had done almost had him wanting to throw up again.

  Jake held up his phone. “Not yet.”

  “I’ll take that as a good sign,” Emmett said.

  Grant crossed one ankle over the other. “Well, at least Elle’s family owns the resort so they can’t get into too much trouble, right?”

  “Do you know my girlfriend?” Aaron snorted, coming back outside with the pizza.

  “Or mine?” Jake said.

  “Or mine?” Emmett added.

  “True.” Grant nodded. “For now, we’ll go with ‘No news is good news.’”

  Jake laughed. “Ma tells me it’s when Becca is quiet that I need to worry the most.”

  “She giving you more golden nuggets of wisdom for childrearing?” Emmett asked.

  “Well, I can’t count on you three,” Jake said.

  Something in Grant’s gut tightened at the reminder that he and Sophie had no children, and may never.

  “You and Elle going to try anytime soon?” Jake asked, looking at Emmett.

  “Dude, we’re not even married yet.”

  “Didn’t stop Max.” Aaron laughed.

  Max hadn’t come over. He was sticking close to Devlin as much as possible.

  “True.” Grant nodded. “Twins. What the fuck is he going to do with twins?”

  “Girls,” Emmett said with emphasis, “twin girls.”

  Jake dropped down in the swing. “It’s not so bad having a girl.”

  They all turned collectively and stared at Jake, narrowing their eyes.

  “Okay, so it’s bad. Somedays.” He paused and a smile spread across his face. “But some days…”

  “It’s amazing?” Grant asked, trying like hell not to be jealous.