Page 89 of Just Let Go

She made a pouty face. “I thought you could use some company. You’ve got the day off, right?”

He stood, blocking the entry, but she quickly pushed him aside and let herself into the cottage. “I’ve always wondered what these little houses look like on the inside.”

Grady drew in a deep breath and closed the door. Apparently he had company. Too bad she didn’t bring lunch.

She walked around the living room, eyeing the space. “I heard all about Ryan and Lane turning Cedar Grove into a real town treasure, but I guess now I’m seeing it with my own two eyes.”

“Yeah, they did a nice job,” Grady said. And they had. Maybe it had felt a little like a prison at first, but he realized now Cedar Grove was the kind of place he wouldchooseto stay even if he weren’t sequestered in this small town.

“You should’ve seen them before.” Ashley stopped near the fireplace. “They were so run-down. Ryan saw something in them nobody else saw.”

She faced him then. “Kind of like me with you.”

“How’s that?”

“You know, everyone else has kind of given up on you.” She moved toward him.

Wait a minute...He took a step back, but she kept coming forward.

“I see something in you nobody else can see.” She was close now—too close. His mind flashed back to the night he’d driven her home after they hung out at the bar. She had been drunk—really drunk—and he’d practically carried her upstairs to her apartment, where he laid her on the couch. Her arms had been wrapped around his neck, and she pulled him close,thatsmile on her face. “Stay with me,” she’d said.

But despite his reputation, Grady wasn’t a creep. She was drunk and it was wrong—so he pulled a blanket over her and walked out the door.

But nobody would ever see that side of him online. Even Quinn assumed the worst of him.

Now, as she slid her arm up his, underneath the sleeve of his shirt, he straightened. She was very sober—and so was he—but it was still wrong.

Shewas wrong.

He took her by the arms firmly. “I think you should go.”

Confusion filled her eyes. “What?”

“You should go.”

She scoffed. “You don’t mean that.”

He held her gaze. “I do.”

“So maybe everyone was right about you.” She took a step back. “You are a disappointment.”

The doorbell rang again.

What the...? He just wanted to be left alone for a day—didn’t the people in this awful little town understand that? He groaned,walked back through the entryway, and pulled the front door open. And as soon as he did, everything within him wished he hadn’t.

Quinn stood on the porch with a bag of what he could only assume was food, a rare, kind smile on her face. His heart sank. He knew how this would look—Ashley in his house on a Sunday morning when he was still in his pajamas. He raked a hand through his hair.

“Wow, you look worse than I thought you would,” Quinn said.

“Well, I feel worse than that.”

He studied her. Jeans. Boots. Jacket. Scarf. Real.

Everything about her was real.

He wanted to invite her in. He wanted to tell her the way that stupid video had made him feel. He wanted to tell her that deep down, he was terrified what they were saying was right—he was done.

And he wasn’t sure who he was without skiing. Maybe nobody worth knowing.

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