Page 17 of Waiting for Her

Of course I did.

I’m not an idiot.

Brandon is Mia’s twin brother and from what I’ve heard, she rarely misses a show. Which means Cole rarely misses a show. And as much as he’d hate to admit it, I still know Grady. I know he just finished coaching his first week of college football.

He’d want to unwind. He’d need to relax.

And he’d want to be around the people he loves.

I may have lied earlier when I made it sound like this was the first I’d heard of Brandon’s band. Okay. I did. I lied.

When I found out Brandon was in a band, I kind of became obsessed with following them. Not because I’m a creeper or because I had athingfor anyone in the band. Or because they had a connection to Grady, one I desperately longed for. But because their music isn’t just good. It’sgood.Like, they could be signing record deals, good. The fact he’d kept it hidden from the rest of his family shocked me, considering how close they are. But then again, maybe that’s why. From what my mom told me, he wanted to break away from family expectations and have something for himself. Can’t really blame him.

So yeah, I came to watch the band play because it was the first time I’d been in the same city they were playing in.

But Ihopedto see Grady.

And the rest of the family.

I watch as Grady swallows hard, shifts uncomfortably on his feet. He stares down at me while I tilt my head back to see him. I always cursed how short I was. Until I started realizing how it felt to be cradled in Grady’s arms. I felt safe, protected, and it might make me sound a little pathetic, but I liked being so small compared to him.

Even in high school, I knew he’d only get more attractive the older he got. I didn’t realize howmuchmore attractive. Everything he was at twenty is…more.His dark blond hair is a deep shade of brown, his shoulders broader. The cut of his jaw sharper. He crosses his arms over his expansive chest. I can’t help but notice the corded muscles in his forearms, the bulge of his biceps, the way the balls of his shoulders bunch up like they’re trying to burst through the fabric of his t-shirt.

“Are you for real right now?” Cole asks.

“Yeah,” he admits to Cole, eyes not leaving mine. Then, like a storm brewed up, his blue eyes darken and narrow. “She’s doing an article on me. Isn’t that nice?” he says in a tone I’ve never heard from him before. At least not directed toward me. It scares me a little, not out of fear of him hurting me, but of how much I hurthim.

The rest of the family stays quiet while he continues his stare down.

“See, if we were together, she wouldn’t have to do the story. She’d know it all. Hell, she wouldn’t even be allowed to do the story because she’d be a part of it,” he scoffs. “But, lucky for her, she wasn’t around. Not when we won the bowl games. Not when I survived the accident that almost killed me.”

I flinch, and for a moment, he relaxes his rigid stance slightly.

“Grady,” Cole murmurs, placing a hand on Grady’s shoulder trying to interrupt but he shrugs him off.

Cole has always been the typical oldest child. Level-headed and always had an air of calm about him. When we were kids, it was always Cole who would bring reason to any situation. But right now, it seems Grady isn’t interested in Cole’s older brother advice.

I swallow down the uneasy feeling bubbling up inside. He steps forward, and I inhale, taking in the scent I’ve missed surrounding me for the past six years. He’s so close, I can see the golden flecks in his eyes. The same eyes that used to look at me with a love that’s never been matched by anyone else. Now they only look at me with contempt. “No, Cole. This is great. Just great. Perfect, actually. Now she can see everything I accomplished without her. Because that’s exactly how. She. Wanted. It. Isn’t that right, Bri? You didn’t want any part of me. Maybe you never did.”

“No,” I whisper with a shake of my head, dying a little inside hearing how I made him feel.

I bailed.

And I’ve never tried to make him understand the whole story.

“Could’ve fuckin’ fooled me,” he growls. “You benefit from it now, don’t you?”

I rear back, feeling like even without touching me, he slapped me. He couldn’t possibly think… “Grady, I never asked for this assignment.”

“No? It just fell in your lap, is that it?”

“Actually, yes. Southern Michigan State told my editor they needed someone who knew the program and who they could trust not to do some weird exposé on you.”

“And that’s you, huh? I’m supposed to trust you now?”

I nod and swallow hard. “I deserve that, but yes, you can.”

He stares at me, his eyes seeming to soak in every inch of me. Much the same as I’m doing.

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