Page 33 of Austen, Edited

Chapter 19

Greyson had taken a later-morning run after sleeping in Sunday morning. Abby had sent one text the night before saying she had to have brunch with her aunt and uncle and then she could do something later. He’d been trying to think of something fun to do while he ran, sprinting the last section of the street. But he’d slowed down next to a van when he saw Jeff Summers hugging Abby.

A bolt of jealousy ran through him, but as he took in her stiffness, he gritted his teeth. Abby had always been able to tell someone’s true intentions, and it made him feel better that she wasn’t willingly hugging Jeff. He waited until Abby jumped in the car and drove off before he walked to the back door of his house.

What was Jeff’s play? He’d asked about Abby before. Surely he wasn’t still interested in her. Greyson had done some digging on Jeff after the last time they’d spoken, and there was a lot left to be desired.

Jeff had been kicked out of three private schools in Maryland and had been caught with a drunk-driving charge only a month ago, which was probably the reason he’d been sent up to live with his father again.

Greyson was going to have to figure out where he stood on everything. And he was going to have to protect Abby.

He pulled out his phone, wanting to talk to her. “Hey! What are you up to?” He sat on his bed, waiting to see what she would say.

“Driving back to the dorms so Tiffany can have her car back.” Her voice was a little tenser than he’d expected, but he hoped it was all directed at Jeff.

“How was brunch?” he asked. He heard the small sound of another call coming in and saw Hannah’s name on the screen. Placing the phone back against his ear, he tried to push the fact that she was still trying to contact him out of his mind.

Abby groaned, causing him to chuckle. “I was put on show again. Of course, Aunt Lucille acts like I’m just the best thing to happen to their family when other people are around, but any other time, it’s like I don’t exist.”

“Who was the brunch with?” He bit the side of his lip, knowing exactly who’d been invited.

“The Summers. And of course, I had to sit next to creepy Jeff. Although, I feel a little bad for him. His stepmom is our age. That’s even worse.”

Greyson chuckled at the disgust in her voice. True Abby fashion to be blunt about trivial things around him. But she was never open about matters of the heart, or things that truly mattered, like how she really felt about her mother’s parole.

A few moments of silence passed before she said, “What are you doing? Do you still want to hang out this afternoon?”

“Yes, we’re still on for something. How about I swing by and pick you up around four? Right now I need a shower and to get a few things figured out with the app before I have to meet with you and Meg tomorrow.”

“Oh yeah. I almost forgot about that. Good luck. I’m glad it’s you figuring things out and not me.” She giggled, and Greyson felt it deep into his chest. He’d missed out on so much that he just needed to tell her he was falling for her and hoped they could make up for the time they’d lost. Or that she even felt the same.

“What else do you have this week?” Greyson asked, not wanting to hang up just yet.

She sighed, and he could hear the absence of the car engine around her. “Not a whole lot. I’ve got a bunch of papers I need to write for classes. That’s the biggest time suck this week. What about you?”

“Working on the app and then fixing the bugs for the computer system at work. The cook ordered one hundred boxes of corn dogs for one of the stadiums and only meant to order ten. My dad wants me to put a cap on the ordering section so it won’t happen again, something that can be overridden if necessary.”

As he thought more about it, his brain started trying to figure out the problem. It was something he hadn’t tried before, but it was definitely possible.

“Well, I’ll see you later.” Greyson hung up the phone, relieved that what he’d seen in the driveway hadn’t been a big deal at all.

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