Page 143 of Eight Years Gone
She swallowed as she shrugged. “I’m still trying to take it all in. But that went better than I expected. Not that I expected much of anything. How are you?”
“Officially convinced.”
She smiled again. “I don’t know what to do now. Do we just eat and go?”
Jagger sighed as he looked out the window before he met her gaze again. “Ultimately, that’s up to you. But I’m not sure that saying something to him here is necessarily the best call. This isn’t a simple situation.”
She snagged her lip with her teeth as she shook her head. “No, it’s not.”
“Maybe we should go to the apartment again and try to talk to Jessica.”
She nodded. “It’s probably best if she talks to him first—if she explains that I’m hoping to have a chance to get to know him. On their terms, of course.” She glanced toward the counter, realizing that Colton was looking their way.
Colton looked down, fiddling with his phone at the empty counter.
Grace blew out a breath as she met Jagger’s gaze again. “I don’t know how much I’ll be able to eat. You know I don’t have much of an appetite when I’m nervous.”
“So, we’ll take a few bites and get the rest to go.”
She opened her mouth to respond when Colton walked over with their pizza in a box, tossing it onto the table. “Feel free to take this to go.”
Grace blinked up at him as he stared at her with heat in his eyes.
“I thought I recognized you. Both of you.” Colton briefly looked at Jagger before his hostile gaze zeroed in on Grace again. “Steve’s daughter and the football star. I’ve seen pictures of the good doctor with you both online. Dear old dad.”
Grace’s stomach clenched as she found herself caught off guard by just how angry he was. “I’m sorry if we surprised you. I wasn’t sure what to do—how to introduce myself.”
Colton tossed out a humorless laugh. “He’s dead, so you decided to pop up. Better late than never, right?”
Grace flinched.
“Watch it,” Jagger said in an unmistakable warning tone.
Colton seared Jagger with another scathing look before he held Grace’s gaze. “Let’s make sure this is a one-time thing.” He gestured between the two of them. “I have no interest in knowing you. Any of you. We share some DNA, but you’re nothing to me. Don’t bother coming back again.”
Colton walked off, then stopped, looking over his shoulder. “Oh, and don’t worry. I didn’t spit in that.” He tossed his chin toward their pizza box.
Jagger stood. “Let’s go.”
Grace gained her feet, walking on watery legs to the exit as the other patrons at their tables looked at them.
She headed for the car, getting in the passenger side, holding Colton’s glaring gaze through the restaurant glass as Jagger started the engine and backed out in the tense silence.
* * *
Jagger headed back toward the interstate, glancing at Grace as she gripped her arms across her chest and stared out her window.
As complicated, long-lost sibling experiences went, that had to be about as shitty as they got.
He clenched his jaw, thinking of how Colton had spoken to Grace. It had taken all his self-control not to stand up and shut the kid up. But Colton had said what he needed to say, and Grace officially had her answers.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
She shook her head. “But I’m fine.”
He raised his brow because they both knew she was the exact opposite of ‘fine.’ “No, you’re not.”
She shook her head again seconds before she covered her face with her hands and started crying.