Page 10 of Shattered Mind

I try to think back to what the fuck happened last night. We were at the fourth of July fair. Hunter’s brother was a dick. Wine. Lots of wine. And then, nothing.

I groan again.

My bedroom door creeks open and Savannah pops her head in, her expression amused. “Morning, messy.”

“Ugh. What happened?” My voice is hoarse as I form the words. I look down at myself, noting last nights clothes and a peculiar stain on my shirt and frown.

“Did I throw up on myself?”

Savannah laughs, handing me a glass of water and two aspirin. I take them gratefully, gulping down the water in one go. “Yep. Grayson had to pull over so you didn’t decorate the inside of his truck.”

I pause, my eyes widening in horror. “Grayson?”

Savannah nods, her expression way too eager. “Yep. He gave you a ride home. I believe you called him a… what was it?” she taps her finger on her chin thoughtfully for good measure, “Oh yes. A beautiful, grumpy shithead.”

I drop my head back against my headboard and cover my face with both hands. “Oh God.”

Savannah cackles before standing to leave, throwing a “breakfast is ready,” over her shoulder as she goes.

I pull my blanket up over my face and make a vow to God that I will never drink again.

CHAPTER 5

GRAYSON

ONE MONTH AGO

“Grayson, honey, can you take this down to the firepit for me please? Your father was supposed to come back for it while I finished preparing the salad, but he’s been gone thirty-minutes,” my mom says in exasperation as she loads my arms up with plates of food.

“How many people are you feeding, mom?” I ask with a raised brow.

She turns to me, her eyes confused, “Hunter’s bringing somefriendshome with him, and everything has to be perfect.”

“You mean, Savannah, Olivia and Reign?”

“Don’t know their names. All your father told me was he was bringing friends home and he was blushin’ like a teenage girl,” she says, turning her back to me and continuing her earlier task.

I leave the room without a word, arms laden with enough food to feed this wholedamn town and then some, before depositing it in the back of my truck and making the short drive to the firepit nearest to Hunter’s house.

There are two firepits on the ranch; this one, and the one outside my house that I built purely for my own use.

There’s something therapeutic about sitting in front of the flames alone with a beer. The only time I feel like I can think clearly and feel what I need to feel is when I’m staring into the flames as they dance with reds and oranges. The smell of burning wood tingling my nostrils and staining my clothes. The heat against my face serves as a reminder that I’m alive.

I pull up to the firepit, finding my dad and Killian already firing up the grill and I climb out of my truck, taking the food with me and laying it on the bench that’s been covered with a tablecloth.

“Your mom about done?” Dad asks approaching me wearing the apron Noah brought him for Christmas a few years back that says, ‘STOP STARING AT MY MEAT’. Conveniently, he only chooses to wear it when we have guests coming for dinner and if I had to guess, I’d say he’s doing it to embarrass my brother in front of his newfriends.

“Yeah. You going to pick her up?”

“Yep,” he nods, pulling the keys to his truck out of the little pouch at the front of his apron and heading towards his truck.

“I’ll be back in five,” he calls over his shoulder before climbing in and tearing off towards to main house.

I make myself busy, sorting and uncovering the food my mom prepared while Killian runs a brush over the grill, removing any remaining char from the last time we had one of these barbecues.

“So, he’s introducing them to the parents, huh?” Killian says, flicking his head towards Hunter’s house where him, Noah and the girls stand petting Luna, Hunter’s horse.

My eyes zero in on long black hair and tan legs and my dick twitches in my pants. Annoyance follows quickly, because as much as I find her attractive, I don’t want to.

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