Page 86 of On the Breakaway

I add, “Maybe not fully yet, but deep down? She knows.”

“Earlier… what you said about yourself with Damon–”

“I was trying to make Harper feel better,” I cut in. “That’s all.”

He sighs, nodding once. It’s clear he doesn’t believe me.

And I am lying, so he’d be right not to.

“It’s not a big deal anyway,” I add, staring out the windshield. “Relationships end badly. That’s kind of how they work.”

“That’s cynical.”

“It’s realistic.”

I tick them off on my fingers.

“My parents were a disaster. Damon was a disaster. And now Harper and James, who were everyone’s gold standard for true love, are falling apart too.”

Grayson is quiet for a long moment.

Then he says, “My parents have been married for thirty years.”

I blink, rolling my lips together.

“They still dance in the kitchen,” he says with a small shrug. “Still hold hands everywhere. My dad still looks at my mom like she hung the moon.”

I hate how easily I can picture that.

I hate even more that even after everything, some small, reckless part of me wants to believe that it really exists.

“Okay,” I say. “So they’re the exception to the rule.”

“You really believe that?”

“Yes.”

Grayson studies me for another beat before huffing out a quiet laugh.

“What?”

“This might be the longest conversation we’ve ever had without fighting.”

I open my mouth with a comeback already loaded, but nothing comes out because he’s right.

“Huh.” I sink lower into the seat. “I guess I’m too tired to fight tonight.”

As if to prove it, a yawn immediately sneaks up on me.

Grayson’s expression softens.

“Go to bed, Avery.”

My name is Avery. Everyone calls me Avery.

But Grayson never does.

It’s always Chaos. Always some smartass remark or crooked grin designed to keep distance between us. Hearing my actual name from his lips makes the knot in my stomach tighten painfully.