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“Guys, I know he’s your brother and friend, but you can’t understand what happened. He made his point clear.”
“He didn’t mean a word he said, and you know it,” Claire reminds me. “Nick was put in a bad position, and he reacted stupidly. Men do it. No one regrets it more than him. He loves you deeply, and he’s desperate to show you.”
“He’s beating himself up with regret, Grace,” Bizzy says softly. “He needs your forgiveness.”
“I forgave him. He apologized, and I accepted. We had a nice dinner last night, where he explained his position, and I told him I understood. End of story. Now he’s trying to dictate my life.”
“No, he’s trying to show you how sorry he is, and he wants to spend as much time with you as possible before you leave.”
Suddenly, it hits me, and Logan’s words replay in my mind. “That’s why you insisted on helping me finish packing, isn’t it? Because Nick asked you to?”
Claire catches on first and hisses. “Fucking Logan! Wipe those thoughts out of your head right now, Grace. We are your friends, too. It was my and Bizzy’s idea to help you pack because it seemed like a good way to spend time with you before you leave for a few months. And it opens up some free time for you to spend with Nick before you go. This whole thing is a cluster-fuck.”
It’s on the tip of my tongue to argue, but I’m mentally exhausted with everything going on. Because now, I’m the one lying to everyone. Pretending that I’m still going to Seattle was the easiest way to leave things.
But spending time with Nick is going to make leaving so much harder. There’s no way I can explain this to the four people standing in front of me without giving away my secret, so I decide to let it go and stop questioning their motives.
“Where is Nick? He’s so adamant about spending time together, why isn’t he here?” I ask no one in particular.
“He had an important meeting,” Shaw tells me, his golden eyes shining brightly.
“Everything okay?”
“Yes, he’s meeting with Shannon Rails. He’s going to politely ask her to remove that video from her blog.”
“Will she?”
“We don’t know. It could go either way, but if she won’t, we’ll get creative.”
The image of the blonde in Nick’s arms pops into my head, and I wince.
“Did Nick tell you that Bizzy almost ripped that girl apart?” Claire asks me.
“He mentioned something like that.”
“Well, Shannon conveniently edited that part of the video out. It was the best part of the day.”
“Hardly,” Shaw mutters under his breath, and I catch him eyeing Bizzy unhappily. When his eyes drop to her stomach, I suck in a quiet breath.
No one else seems to notice, but her hand covers her lower abdomen, and I know. She spots me gawking, and her eyes grow wide.
I give her a small headshake and see the relief on her face. It takes all I have to stay standing without jumping for joy. She’s been very open about her dream to have a baby with Shaw. Not knowing if she could get pregnant has been on her mind for a while.
Seeing this silent interaction between her and Shaw makes my chest feel like bursting.
Bizzy’s pregnant…
I lock eyes with her and try to communicate without words how happy I am for her. She returns a small smile and winks.
My heart swells with happiness at the same time my throat starts to close painfully. I’m going to miss it. I’m going to miss every part of it.
Because when I saw that video…
When I found those emails…
When I figured out what Logan and Nick were doing…
I didn’t act rationally. I didn’t give anyone time to explain or apologize like my grandpa suggested. Instead, I called AIT and asked for reconsideration. Then I jumped on the first opportunity they offered.
