First There Was You

Chapter 24: Greyson

July 10

Toronto, Ontario

Liam looks miserable today, more so than every other time I've seen him.

I drove down in the pickup truck that I'm part way through restoring. I'm so damn proud of this car, having bought it myself, slowly rebuilding it with my uncle's help. This week was the first week we'd had it out on the roads fully operational. It's rusted out and needs a paint job, but that newly rebuilt engine purrs like a kitten.

Okay, so more like a kitten with laryngitis but still, progress.

The only downside to the truck is that it has a three-person bench, which means it's a snug ride when you have two guys as big as Ry and I, so Elle was squished in the middle, leaning against my shoulder. I don't mind, and she hadn't complained, but I could tell she was less than comfortable after a couple of hours.

Now, sitting in Liam's room, I reshuffle the cards, getting ready to deal a third hand of Texas Hold 'em. We're playing with Elle's cookies as the stakes.

"Elle seems a bit frosty towards you, G-Man. Something you want to get off your chest?"

Liam looks over at me as he eats part of the cookie that's meant to be his chips, and I roll my eyes. Ry laughs at me, "He's not wrong, bro."

"Why does everyone, all of a sudden, want to talk about feelings? I thought we were here to play poker, like men."

Now, it's their turn to roll their eyes at me. Liam presses forward, though, "Dude, spill. That girl normally looks like she'd walk through fire for you, so what's the deal?"

Sighing, I come clean. "Chiara said some shit that upset her, and if I deny it, I look like an ass, if I confirm it, I'm probably not the type of person she wants to be with. I can't take either route, because not everything Chiara said, happened the way she said it, but I guess semantics don't really matter at this point."

Liam nods and puts his hand over mine as I fidget with the cards, stilling the restless action before he pulls away. "Fuck Chiara, she's a bitch. Do what you need to do to reassure Elle. I can tell she's got sticking power, you won't scare her off that easy. I like who you become when she's near you. I'd like to see more of that Grey."

"How do you and Sam do it?"

Liam looks at me with a twinkle of humor. "All sorts of ways, in all sorts of places."

Ry and I both snort, "Not what I meant, perv."

"What did you mean?" I can tell Liam understands what I'm asking, he's just being a pain and making me say it.

"I just feel like I'm going to keep hurting her, no matter how hard I try not to. She's so pure and perfect."

When I'd asked her last night if she still wanted to come today, she'd surprised me by saying, of course, she'd be coming. Like it wasn't even a question.

She'd pressed herself against me in comfort and support the entire drive down. It was the first time in nearly a week she'd willingly touched me. She was able to put away her own hurt feelings and uncertainty over our current situation to be there for me. How could I ever be worthy of her?

Liam and Ry both look at me with a combination of pity and a look that says I'm an idiot. Ry makes a gagging sound, and I punch him hard on his bicep.

"Just talk to her, Grey, open up for once in your life. You never know when you might not have the chance to again." Liam's voice is quiet, but he might as well be speaking through a megaphone.

My eyes jerk up to meet his, and I find him smiling. "Did you just..." I can't even say it.

"Did I just use the dying card on you to get you to fix your shit with Elle? Damn straight, I did. Pull your head out of your ass, Grey. I love you, but you can be so thick sometimes. As long as you're honest and talk to her, it will be fine. You'll see. Just don't bottle all that shit up until you explode, with you, there's no telling what the collateral damage will be."