Page 86 of Gravity

“Can’t,” he laughs. “Chair. B-bound.”

“God, I love your sense of humor at times.”

He chuckles a little more, dragging his eyes back to the water and watching his family. A weight I never knew I’d been carrying seems to lift from my shoulders, telling me that it hadn’t just been Asher I’d been concerned about when it came to Nora, but her father, too.

I’d always thought the phrase ‘things happen for a reason,’ was nothing but bullshit, and I certainly don’t want to use that saying when it comes to the man sitting next to me because what Pete has been through has no rhyme nor reason—just some pure fucking bad luck—but I question now if Nora was meant to come home for a reason. Not just for her father, but in some world of twisted fate, what if she was meant to come back for me—make me change and help me breathe? Because now, I finally feel like I can. I never want to go back to the hell I was drowning in before.

“Love. Her. A-all…ways,” he murmurs, holding my stare.

I grip his hand tighter, letting him know I’ve heard him loud and clear and that I give him my word. “Always.”

With a soft smile, he looks back toward the water and I suddenly want to join them all. “You wanna head back down?”

“Yeah. More. F-fun.”

“All right.” I get up and grab onto his wheelchair. “Let’s go have some more fun, old man.”

“Ass.” He chuckles as we head back down to the rest of them.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Grayson

With Pete’s words still hanging over my head, I decide to take some time out after being down at the shore with everyone. I reassure Nora that I am fine and tell her to go and have fun with her family, but the truth is, Asher is now playing on my mind after my conversation with Pete. And this time, it’s not to do with the fact I’m concerned about his opinion of my relationship with his sister. It’s purely to do with my respect for his family and how he’s put me in a position where I’m having to hide the fact he’s only gone because he can’t handle being here. I don’t like lying. I fucking hate that.

“Fucking prick,” I spit, hating that he’s got me this way.

“Who pissed on your parade?”

I look up to find Mark strolling toward me, Charlie now having joined the others down by the shore. “What do you mean?”

“It’s been a while since I saw you looking like a miserable shit. Wanna talk about it?”

“What do you do when someone has made you swear to keep a secret but the person you can’t tell is one you never want to lie to?”

Sitting down on the sand beside me, he exhales. “I guess you just got to do what you feel is right. You’re going to hurt one of them either way. You just have to work out who is more important in the long run and go from there.”

I know already who is more important, but the idea of being disloyal to my best friend makes the whole decision even harder. “Yeah, I’ll figure it out.” I blow out a heavy breath, not wanting this to dampen my mood any more than I’ve let it. “Sorry, ignore me. I’m good.”

“Thank fuck for that because I didn’t come down here to give you therapy. I want information.”

I frown. “On what?”

“On the woman you’re fucking. There has to be someone who’s got your moody ass to smile again. So, who is she?”

I laugh, my eyes still on Nora. “I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“Bullshit. I can tell by the look on your face that I’m right. There is someone isn’t there.”

I’ve never been able to hide the truth from Mark. I’m surprised he hasn’t caught me out before now.

“My girl is down there.”

Following my line of sight, his eyes widen when he realizes. “Oh my God. You’re fucking Nora?”

I don’t know why but his comment is like a blow to the chest. “You make it sound like she’s just a quick fuck to pass the time.”

“Is she?”