Page 52 of Really Truly Yours

When the waitress leaves with our orders, he folds his arms on the table. His bulky watch, made of some sort of steel and different than the smartwatch he often has on, clanks against the wood.

“I owe you an apology, Sydnee. Again. I was awful the other day.”

He’s apologizing? And days later, no less? “To Donny, not to me.”

Remorse saddens his eyes. “I overreacted. I was harsh with Donny, and I’m sorry you had to witness it.”

Time and again, Grayson surprises me. I find a smile. “It looks like the two of you made up.”

“We did.” A grin slips out. “You were right. The man’s got a wicked sense of humor.”

“And a good heart.”

He holds my gaze before nodding once. “And a good heart.” He spreads his hands, his giant ring flashing. “What can I say, I was skeptical.”

And hurt. “I understand. People claim lots of things, but real change is rare.”

In his eyes, tiny flecks of gold dust twinkle. “You’re smart, you know that?”

A rush of emotion sweeps over me. Grammy always said so, although for as many times as she declared it, Dad’s pronouncements to the contrary hang over me.

Hung. Past tense. I took any ceded power back from him a long time ago.

I flick a bead of condensation from my glass. Grayson’s compliment, if that’s even what it was, was idle talk. Look at me making something of nothing.

I take a sip of water. My heart pleads for him to look away. It takes an uncomfortable second or two before his gaze does shift to a row of televisions above the bar in the neighboring section. Baseball plays on two of the three screens. What does he see? A game he longs to return to? His career is young, and so is he.

An inquiry about his shoulder gets lost between my brain and tongue as our waitress slides a giant plate of gooey fries and a cup of ranch dressing between us. The mouthwatering food dares me to indulge.

He bumps the plate my direction. “Dive in.”

I cave, forking over a few fries. It’s worth the risk.

Grayson is still going strong on the appetizer when I silently declare myself finished. I dab the corners of my mouth and broach a different subject. “I take it your brother still doesn’t know?” Donny would have mentioned otherwise.

Grayson’s fork hovers over his plate like I’ve ruined his appetite.

“I’m sorry. It’s none of my business.”

His smile doesn’t connect to his eyes. “Of course you can ask, Sydnee. But the answer is no. Avery had a scare with the pregnancy that night. It wasn’t the right time.”

I assume Avery is Tripp’s wife? I noticed a wedding ring. “She’s alright now? The baby is okay?”

He nods. “It turned out to be nothing, but still, the timing...” He thumbs his glass. “Tripp is going to have major issues when he finds out, and he’s so excited about becoming a father right now.”

“How is Donny handling the delay?”

One side of his mouth lifts in a dry smile. “Better than expected. He wants to get his hands on that baby in a few weeks, and he’ll do anything to hold onto the possibility, including not setting Tripp off more than necessary.”

Setting him off? I’m not sold on this guy, Grayson’s brother or not.

“Okay, what face is that?”

“Face?”

He gives me the side-eye. “Yeah, that face.”

I touch my cheek.